THE   WOEKS 


OF 


HUBERT  HOWE  BANCROFT 


UNIVERSITY 


THE    WORKS 


OF 


HUBERT  HOWE  BANCROFT 


VOLUME   XXV 


HISTORY  OF  NEVADA,  COLORADO,  AND  WYOMING 

1540-1888 


/p^, 

(i  UNIV. 


ORHJ 


SAN    FRANCISCO 

THE   HISTORY   COMPANY,  PUBLISHERS 
1890 


*4 
,f3 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  Year  1889,  by 

HUBERT  H.  BANCROFT, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


All  RighLa  /Reserved* 


PREFACE 


IN' this  volume  I  have  grouped  together  the  history 
of  what  are  commonly  termed  the  silver  and  centen 
nial  states,  including  also  the  partially  intervening 
territory  of  Wyoming,  which,  with  Utah  and  south 
ern  Idaho,  whose  annals  are  related  elsewhere,  form 
the  central  division  of  our  Pacific  coast  domain,  extend 
ing  eastward  from  California  to  the  limits  of  the  field 
occupied  by  this  series.  Here  is  a  region  full  of  natu 
ral  wonders,  with  a  climate  and  configuration,  a  moun 
tain,  lake,  and  river  system,  a  fauna  and  flora,  a 
geology  and  mineralogy,  all  of  them  peculiar  and 
distinct. 

As  the  discovery  of  gold  peopled  the  state  of  Cali 
fornia,  so  did  that  of  the  Comstock  mines  draw  popu 
lation  to  Nevada.  Virginia  City  and  a  number  of 
smaller  towns  in  this  vicinity  sprang  up  almost  in  a 
night.  Year  by  year  the  output  of  the  great  lode 
increased,  eclipsing  even  the  glories  of  Potosi,  and  so 
reducing-  the  value  of  silver  that  men  be^an  to  sav  it 

O  Of 

would  soon  be  ranked  among  the  base  metals.  After 
the  advent  of  the  railroad  the  heaviest  machinery  in 
the  world  was  here  erected,  and  with  the  develop 
ment  of  two  immense  bonanzas,  the  total  yield  swelled 
into  the  hundreds  of  millions.  Elsewhere  in  Nevada, 
especially  in  the  Pioche  aud  Eureka  districts,  rich 
mineral  deposits  have  been  unearthed,  but  none  of 


vi  PREFACE. 

them  approaching  the  marvellous  treasures  of  Corn- 
stock. 

Next  to  her  mining  interests  comes  stock-raising, 
flocks  and  herds  thriving  on  the  nutritious  bunch-grass 
common  to  the  entire  region  between  the  Sierra  Ne 
vada  and  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Though  with  an 
average  rainfall  of  little  more  than  five  inches  a  year, 
in  places  the  soil  is  fertile,  and  the  climate  favorable 
to  the  production  of  cereals  and  fruits,  a  yield  of  30 
or  40  bushels  to  the  acre  of  wheat  or  barley  being 
not  unusual.  In  1860  there  were  less  than  100  farms 
in  the  entire  territory;  in  1889  there  were  over  2,000, 
with  about  10,000,000  acres  classed  as  irrigable  land. 

Since  her  admission  to  statehood,  the  political  an 
nals  of  Nevada  are  such  as  would  do  honor  to  an  older 
and  more  conservative  community.  Especially  is  she 
to  be  commended  for  her  liberality  in  the  support  of 
public  institutions.  Her  financial  condition,  also,  is  of 
the  soundest,  with  a  revenue  largely  in  excess  of  ex 
penditure,  a  surplus  in  the  treasury  amounting,  at 
the  close  of  1888,  to  about  $1,250,000,  and  a  school 
fund  of  equal  amount  invested  in  state  and  national 
bonds. 

In  the  same  year  that  witnessed  the  discovery  of 
the  Comstock  lode  occurred  the  great  migration  to 
Pike  peak,  when,  in  the  summer  of  1859,  an  army 
:>f  150,000  men  traversed  the  plains  between  the 
Missouri  and  the  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Of 
these  at  least  one  third  turned  back,  discouraged  by 
evil  reports,  and  of  those  who  arrived  on  the  ground 
probably  less  than  20,000  remained  as  permanent  set 
tlers.  But  here  was  the  nucleus  of  a  population,  and 
that  of  the  best  material  for  empire-building men 


PREFACE.  vii 

resolute  of  will,  inured  to  hardship,  and  with  all  the 
energy  and  adaptability  of  the  typical  pioneer.  As 
suredly  there  was  no  lack  of  resources  in  this  great 
and  goodly  region,  with  its  magnificent  soil  and  cli 
mate,  its  majestic  canon  and  river  systems,  its  series 
of  natural  parks,  its  gardens  of  the  gods,  its  virgin 
forests,  and  its  untold  mineral  wealth. 

Much  attention  has  been  given  to  irrigation,  several 
thousand  miles  of  canal,  with  branches  of  much  greater 
length  distributing  their  waters  over  the  thirsty  earth. 
And  yet  not  ten  per  cent  of  all  the  irrigable  land  in  Col 
orado  is  under  cultivation.  Within  recent  years  stock- 
raising  has  attained  to  the  second  rank  among  her 
industries,  and  is  probably  destined  erelong  to  surpass 
even  mining  in  aggregate  value.  In  manufactures  a 
beginning  has  been  made,  and  in  this  direction  also  the 
outlook  is  of  the  brightest.  The  public  institutions 
of  the  centennial  state,  and  especially  her  public 
schools,  are  second  to  none,  and  in  this  respect  the 
young  commonwealth  is  worthy  of  all  commendation. 
No  less  remarkable  is  the  character  of  her  legislation 
and  her  public  men,  the  former  never  being  disgraced 
by  the  misappropriation  of  the  people's  funds  or  the 
latter  by  deeds  of  violence. 

In  Wyoming,  with  the  awe-inspiring  grandeur  of 
her  scenery,  with  her  rare  geologic  formations,  her 
mountain  peaks,  among  the  highest  on  the  continent, 
her  magnificent  plateaux  and  rolling  plains,  her  gey 
sers  and  volcanoes,  and  her  water-shed,  dividing  the 
streams  that  flow  toward  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  we 
have  a  veritable  wonderland.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  the 
trapper  was  followed  by  the  gold-hunter,  and  the  lat 
ter  by  the  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  causing  this  region 


viii  PREFACE. 

to  bloom  forth  into  civilization  like  a  flower  in  the 
wilderness.  Almost  before  the  world  was  aware  of 
its  existence,  there  was  established  here  a  flourishing 
commonwealth — full-fledged  as  sprang  Minerva  from 
the  cranium  of  Jove.  With  resources  unlimited, 
though  as  yet  almost  untouched,  a  great  future  is 
assured  for  this  territory,  soon  to  be  admitted  among 
the  sisterhood  of  states. 

In  preparing  the  material  for  this  volume,  I  have 
consulted,  in  addition  to  all  the  printed  books,  period 
icals,  and  public  documents  bearing  on  the  subject- 
matter,  a  large  number,  of  valuable  manuscripts 
furnished  by  the  actors  in  the  scenes  which  they 
describe — men  representing  all  classes  of  people, 
from  the  pioneers  to  those  who  now  control  the 
affairs  of  state  or  the  channels  of  trade  and  industry. 


CONTEOTS  OF  THIS  VOLUME. 


HISTOEY   OF   NEVADA. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE   GREAT   BASIN.  pAGB 

Plain  of  Evaporation,  or  Elevated  Sink— Its  Situation— Prominent  Char 
acteristics — The  Name  Great  Basin  Inappropriate — A  Group  of 
Basins — Wonders  of  the  Region — A  Trapper's  Story— Caves— Cli 
mate— Atmosphere — Aridity— Sand — Storms  and  Cloud-bursts— The 
Mirage — Soil,  Configuration,  and  Scenery — Rain-fall  and  Tempera 
ture—Change  of  Seasons — Altitude  and  Geologic  Formation — Moun 
tain  System — Lakes  and  Sinks — Rivers — Springs — Deserts — Plants 
and  Animals — Birds  and  Fishes — Minerals  and  Metals — Soil  and 
Agriculture— Nomenclature 1 

CHAPTER   II. 

EARLIEST    EXPLORATIONS. 

1540-1833. 

Near  Approach  of  Coronado's  Expedition,  and  Especially  of  Pedro  de 
Tobar — Party  of  Spaniards  under  Anza — Wanderings  of  Father 
Francisco  Garces — Peter  Font's  Journal  and  Map — Mythical  Streams 
— Other  Ancient  Maps — Approach  of  Dominguez  and  Escalante  to 
Nevada — Peter  Skeen  Ogden  for  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company— Dis 
covery  of  Mary  or  Ogden  River— Advent  of  Free  Trappers— Henry, 
Ashley,  Bridger,  and  Green — Expedition  to  California  of  Jedediah 
S.  Smith— Nevada  Traversed  from  West  to  East — Influx  of  Trappers 
from  the  North— The  Wolfskill  Expedition— Parties  under  Nidever, 
Frapp,  and  Wyatt — Encounter  with  the  Savages — Joseph  Walker's 
Visit  to  California  and  Return — Ill-treatment  of  Indians — Meek's 
Statement— Something  of  Carson  and  Beckwourth , 26 

CHAPTER   III. 

PASSAGE   OF   THE    EMIGRANTS. 

1834-1846. 

Trapping  Becomes  General— Opening  of  the  Emigration  Epoch— The  Road 
to  California— Progress  of  the  Bartleson  Company  through  Nevada— 
Bidvvell,  Henshaw,  and  Nye— Belden,  Rickman,  Chiles,  and  Weber 

(ix) 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

—What  they  Severally  Said  of  It— Search  for  Ogden  River— They 
Abandon  their  Wagons— Friendly  Intercourse  with  the  Shoshones — 
Varied  Adventures— Dissension— Search  for  a  Pass— Over  the  Sierra 

Hastings  and  his  Book — Chiles  over  a  New  Route — Walker  Guides 

a  Party  into  California  over  his  Return  Route  of  1834— First  Wagons 
to  Traverse  the  Entire  Country — Fremont's  Expeditions — Elisha 
Stevens  or  the  Murphy  Company— Snyder,  Swasey,  Blackburn,  and 
Todd  Company — Sublette  from  St  Louis— Walker,  Carson,  Talbot, 
and  Kern — Expedition  of  Scott  and  the  Applegates  from  Oregon ...  46 


CHAPTER   IV. 

SETTLEMENT. 
1847-1860. 

Cession  from  Mexico — Advent  of  the  Mormons— Colonization — Mormon 
Station — Traffic  with  Emigrants — Intercourse  with  California — Gov 
ernment  Assumed — Land  Claims  Made  and  Recorded— Cattle  Trade, 
P^arming,  and  Building — First  Settlers — Petition  for  Annexation  to 
California — Movements  toward  a  Territorial  Government — Conflicts 
with  the  Latter-day  Saints — Political  and  Judicial J5 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE    COMSTOCK    LODE. 

1849-1860. 

Configuration — Placer  Gold — Early  Mining  in  Gold  Canon— Silver  Found 
by  the  Grosch  Brothers — Death  of  the  Discoverers — Comstock,  Old 
Virginia,  and  Associates— Johntown  and  Gold  Hill  Claims  and  Loca 
tions — Ophir,  Silver  City,  or  Virginia  Town — Discoveries  Elsewhere 
—Walsh  and  Woodworth— Testing  and  Separating — Introduction  of 
Mills— Processes— Description  of  the  California,  a  Representative 
Mill 92 


CHAPTER   VI. 

FURTHER    DEVELOPMENTS    ON    THE    COMSTOCK. 

1860-1888. 

Speculation  and  Litigation— Fight  between  the  Ophir  and  Burning  Mos 
cow—Violent  Fluctuations  of  Supposed  Values— Mining  Laws— State 
of  Society— Wild  Extravagance— San  Francisco  Stock-board— For 
tunes  Made  and  Lost— Miner's  Life— Association  and  Obligations- 
Yields  and  Dividends-TheBonarzaFirm,  Mackay,  Fair,  Flood,  and 
)'Brien— Manipulations-The  Sutro  Tunnel— Geology  of  the  Com 
stock  Lode 


CONTENTS. 
CHAPTER    VII. 

TERRITORIAL    ORGANIZATION. 


The  Name  Nevada  —  Area  and  Limits  —  The  Question  of  Boundary  _ 
Commissions  and  Surveys—  Difficulties  with  California—  Territorial 
Officers—  Governor  Nye—  First  Legislature—  Code  of  Laws  and 
Course  of  Legislation  —  County  Organizations  and  Officers—  Capital 
—Judicial  Districts  and  Judiciary  —  State  of  Society  —  Educational 
—  Newspaper  Press  —  Corruption  of  Lawyers  and  Judges  ...........  150 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

STATE   GOVERNMENT. 
1864-1881. 

Legislation — Movements  toward  State  Organization— The  Union  Party- 
Union  Sentiments— Military  Companies— Governor  Blasdel— First 
State  Legislature— Finances— Taxation— Struggles  for  Senatorships 
— Money  All-powerful— Governor  Bradley— Governor  Kinkead— 
Politics  of  the  Period — Monopoly  and  Political  Corruption— Silver 
in  Congress — Public  Institutions 176 


CHAPTER   IX. 

INDIAN     WARS. 

1849-1882. 

California  Emigrants  of  1849 — Subsequent  Deeds  of  Violence — Winne- 
mucca  and  the  Pah  Utes — Outbreak  of  1860 — Attitude  of  Young 
Winnemucca — The  Shoshones — Attack  on  Williams'  Station — Or 
ganization  of  Forces — Battle  of  Pyramid  Lake — Death  of  Ormsby — 
Movements  of  Troops — Further  Fighting — Continued  Troubles — 
The  Gosh  Ute  War — Treaties  and  Reservations. . .  ...  205 


CHAPTER   X. 

MATERIAL   RESOURCES   AND    DEVELOPMENT. 

1849-1886. 

Questionable  Value  of  Mines — Transportation— Roads  and  Railroads — 
Mail  Routes  and  Telegraphs — Stages — Pony  Express — Steamboats  — 
Fisheries — Metals — Book  Reviews — Agriculture — Climate — Whirl 
winds  and  Earthquakes — Flora  and  Fauna — Live-stock — Cattle 
Raising— Lands  and  Surveys— Counties  of  Nevada — Summary  of 
Resources— Society— Educational,  Religious,  and  Benevolent  Insti 
tutions— Newspapers— Bibliography  224 


xii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   XI. 

PROGRESS  OF  EVENTS. 

1881-1888.  PAGE 

Finances-Reduction  of  Expenses- Public  Buildings— State  Prison  War 
—State  University— Public  Charities— Educational  Affairs— Pro 
posed  Annexation  of  Southern  Idaho-Mining-Railroads—Politics.  310 


HISTORY   OF    COLORADO. 
CHAPTER    I. 

PHYSICAL    FEATURES. 

Mountain  System— Primeval  Waters— Upheaval,  Evaporation,  and  Gla 
cial  Action— Dry  Rivers — Flora  and  Fauna— Primitive  Man— Canons 
and  River  Systems— Series  of  Parks— Climate— Soil— Forests— Geo 
logical  Formations— Minerals  and  Metals— Gold  and  Silver— Coal 
and  Iron— Precious  Stones— Land  and  Water  Elevations 325 

CHAPTER   II. 

DISCOVERY  AND  OCCUPATION 

1541-1853. 

What  Coronado  Failed  to  do — Escalante's  Expedition — Spanish  and 
French  Occupation — Pike's  and  Long's  Expeditions — Early  Gold 
Discoveries — Adventures  of  the  Williams  Party — Santa  Fe  Trail — 
Trappers  and  Traders— Forts — The  Bents,  Vasquez,  St  Vrain,  and 
Others — El  Pueblo — La  Junta — Immigration — Fremont's  Efforts — 
The  Mormons  at  Pueblo — Military  Expeditions — Government  Sur 
veys  by  Gunnison,  Hay  den,  Wheeler,  and  King 338 

CHAPTER  III. 

GOLD  DISCOVERIES. 

1853-1859. 

Mythological  Mines — Men  from  Georgia — The  Cherokees — Hicks  and 
Russell — The  Lawrence  Party — Other  Companies — Auraria  versus 
Denver — The  Town  Builders  —Early  Merchants  and  Manufacturers 
— First  Guide  Books  and  Journals — Gold  Discoveries  on  Boulder 
Creek  and  Clear  Creek — Russell  and  Gregory — Central  City  and 
Fair  Play — Pioneer  Biography 363 

CHAPTER    IV. 

PROGRESS   OF   SETTLEMENT. 

1859-1860. 

The  Arkansas  Valley— Road  into  South  Park— El  Paso  Claim  Club- 
Colorado  City  Company— Irrigation— The  Fighting  Farmers  of  Fon- 


CONTENTS.  iiii 

PAGE 

taine  City— Canon  City— Clear  Creek— Pueblo— California  Gulch- 
Pioneers  in  the  Several  Localities — Oro  City — Leadville — Frying 
Pan  Gulch — Road-making— Mining  Developments — Freighting — 
Mail  Facilities — Pony  Express — Stage  Companies 387 

CHAPTER   V. 

ORGANIZATION    OF    GOVERNMENT. 
1858-1861. 

Bleeding  Kansas — Representative  from  Arapahoe  County — Provisional 
Government — Territory  or  State  of  Jefferson — Elections  and  Conven 
tions — Governor  Steele — Divers  Governments — Popular  Tribunals 
— The  Turkey  War — Squatters— The  Name  Colorado — Territorial 
Organization — Gilpin,  Governor — Boundaries — Condition  of  the 
Country — Seal — Mint — Legislative  Proceedings — Gilpin's  Military 
Operations — The  Colorado  Regiments  in  the  Civil  War  401 

CHAPTER   VI. 

POLITICAL   AFFAIRS. 
1861-1886. 

Gilpin's  Heroic  Successes — Superseded  by  John  Evans — Weld  and  Elbert 
— Legislative  Action — Coinage — Bennett — Failure  to  Establish  State 
Government— Further  Efforts  and  Final  Success— Current  Terri 
torial  Affairs — Organic  Law — Governor  Cummings — Bradford — Chil- 
cott — Hunt,  McCook,  and  Elbert — Governor  Routt — Chaffee— Postal 
Routes — Patterson,  Boone,  and  Bromwell — The  Judiciary — Politics 
under  State  Organization — Teller — Population  and  Lands — Govern 
ors  Pitkin,  Grant,  and  Eaton— Senators  Hill  and  Boweri 425 

CHAPTER   VII. 

INDIAN    WARS. 

1860-1880. 

Tribes  and  Treaties — Aboriginal  Brigandage — Unrecorded  Outrages  of 
the  White  Men — Appropriations — White  Force  in  the  Field— The 
Colorado  Regiments— Depredations  on  the  Overland  Mail  Company 
— Communication  Cut  off— The  Sand  Creek  Massacre— Chi vington 
Censured  by  Congress,  but  Thanked  by  the  People  of  Colorado — 
Forts  and  Reservations— West  of  the  Mountains  Wide-spread  Hos 
tilities  and  Battles 455 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

MATERIAL    PROGRESS. 

1859-1875. 

Placer  and  Quartz  Mining— Refactory  Ores— Processes— Smelting— 
Swindling  Corporations — The  Flood— Indian  Hostilities— Agricul- 


xiv  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

tu re— Products  and  Prices— Discovery  of  Silver— Localities  and 
Lodes— The  San  Juan  Country— Adventures  of  John  Baker's  Party 
—Great  Sufferings— Architectural  Remains  of  Primitive  Peoples- 
Pile's  Expedition— Treaty  Violations— Opening  of  Heads — Silver 
Lodes— San  Miguel  Gold  District — Ouray , 482 

CHAPTER   IX. 

FURTHER    DEVELOPMENT. 

1875-1886. 

California  Gulch  Redivivus— Hills  of  Silver— The  Carbonate  Mines— Men 
of  the  Period — Organization  of  Leadville — Monetary  and  Political 
Institutions — Output  of  the  Mines — Vigilance  Committees — Miners' 
Strike— Martial  Law  Proclaimed — Disaffected  Utes — The  Gunnison 
Country— Scientific  and  Mining  Expeditions — The  Gunnison  Colony 
— Coal — Towns  Established — Bibliography — Newspapers 504 

CHAPTER  X. 

AGRICULTURE   AND   STOCK    RAISING. 

1861-1886. 

Land  Surveys — Analyses  of  Soils — Altitudes — Irrigation — Importance 
of  the  Subject — Convention — Laws  and  Regulations — A  Most  Per 
fect  System — Ditching — Greeley  and  the  Union  Colony — Land-in 
vestment,  Canal,  and  Irrigating  Companies — Grain-growing  Districts 
— Products — Horticultural  and  Agricultural  Societies — Granges- 
Failure  of  Cooperative  Commerce — State  Board  of  Agriculture — 
Agricultural  College — Stock-raising — Native  Grasses — Incorporated 
Cattle  Companies — Sheep  and  Horses 533 

CHAPTER   XI. 

DENVER   AND   ARAPAHOE   COUNTY. 

1859-1886. 

Survey — Denver  Lands — Municipal  Organization — The  Queston  of  Capi 
tal — Post-office  and  Assay  Office— Railways — Telegraphs — Street 
Railways— Public  Buildings— Schools  and  Churches— Style  of  Archi 
tecture — Water  System  and  Drainage — Manufactures — Smelters 

Chamber  of  Commerce — Exposition  Grounds  and  Buildings — Bank 
ing — Society  and  Culture— Biography 543 

CHAPTER   XII. 

COUNTIES   OF   COLORADO. 

1859-1886. 

Bent  County— Industries,  Towns,  and  People— Boulder  County— Early 
Settlers— Quartz  Mining— Coal  and  Iron— Chaffee  County— Discor- 


CONTENTS.  xv 

PAGE 

eries  and  Development — Clear  Creek  County — Earliest  Smelting — 
Stamp  Mills — Conejos  County — Costilla — Custer — Men  and  Towns 
— Mining — Delta,  Dolores,  Douglas,  Eagle,  Elbert,  El  Paso,  and 
Fremont  Counties — The  Great  Railroad  War — Canon  City  and  its 
Institutions . .  .  574 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO  CONCLUDED. 

1859-1886. 

Garfield  County — Its  Great  Possibilities — Gilpin  County  and  Central  City 
— Express,  Telegraph,  Newspapers,  Banks,  Schools,  and  Churches, 
Library,  Fire  Departments,  Military  and  Benevolent  Institutions — 
Biography — Grand  County — Gunnison  and  Huerfano  Counties— Va 
riety  of  Products  in  Jefferson  County — Golden,  Lake,  and  La  Plata 
Counties — Biography — Larimer,  Las  Animas,  Mesa,  Montrose,  Ou- 
ray,  Park,  Pitkin,  Pueblo,  Rio  Grande,  Routt,  Saguache,  San  Juan, 
San  Miguel,  Summit,  and  Weld  Counties — Society — Retrospect. . . .  609 

CHAPTER   XIV. 

LATER     EVENTS. 

1886-1888. 

Elements  of  Greatness — Mining  versus  Agriculture — Land  and  Water 
Monopoly — Material  Progress — Railroads — Development  of  Denver 
— Election  Campaign— Legislation — Excellence  of  Statutory,  Insti 
tutional,  and  Social  Regulations — Character  of  Public  Men — Bio 
graphical  6-43 


HISTORY   OF   WYOMING. 

CHAPTER    I. 

PHYSICAL    FEATURES. 

Boundaries  and  Surface — The  Hills  and  Plains  of  Laramie— Geologic 
History— The  River  Platte— Black  Hills— Deserts  Which  are  not 
Deserts — Mountainous  Formations  and  Upheavals — Minerals  and 
Metals— Fontana,  the  Land  of  Rivers— Rolling  Plain  of  the  North 
west — Forests  and  Lakes— Falls  of  the  Yellowstone — Scenes  of 
Beauty  and  Grandeur— Atlantic  and  Pacific  Creeks,  and  Two-Ocean 
and  Other  Passes— Specimens  of  World  Forgings  and  Weldings — 
Geyser  Basins — Mud  and  Water  Volcanoes— Paint  Pots— Sulphur 
Mountain— Subterranean  Rumblings— Climate— Animated  Nature. . 


xri  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   II. 

EARLY   EXPLORATIONS. 

1050-1850.  PAGE 

Unfounded  Rumors  of  Spanish  Occupation-  Pre-historic  Aboriginal  In 
habitants-Westward  Exploration— Verendrye,  Lewis  and  Clarke, 
Lisa,  and  Williams— Missouri  Fur  Company— Henry  Fort— Long's 
Expedition-Ashley  on  Utah  Lake— Other  Trappers  and  Traders- 
Fort  Bridger— Missionaries  of  Oregon— The  Gallant  Pathfinder- 
Battalion  of  Mounted  Volunteers — Forts  Leavenworth,  Kearny,  and 
Laramie— Scott  and  his  Bluffs— The  Pathway  of  the  Nations 672 

CHAPTER   III. 

SETTLEMENT   AND   GOLD-HUNTING. 

1847-1863. 

Pathway  to  the  Pacific— Coining  of  the  Latter-day  Saints— Military 
Men— Prospecting  for  Gold— An  Angry  Englishman— Bridger  and 
his  Fort— Mormon  War— The  Latter-day  Saints  Abandon  Wyo 
ming—Movements  of  Army  Forces — Government  Expedition- 
Roads  Ordered  Opened— Placer  Gold  Discovered— The  Morrisites 
—Indian  .Hostilities— Military  Men  and  Frontiersmen— Legends  of 
the  Wind  River  Mountainsp-Swift  Petrifactions 694 

CHAPTER   IV. 

INDIAN   WARS. 

1841-1868. 

Emigrant  Parties— Cheyennes  and  Sioux— Force  at  Fort  Laramie- 
Fleming's  Attack— Grattan's  Defeat — A  Bloody  War— Life  at  Fort 
Laramie — Movements  of  the  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes — Effect  of 
Colorado  Immigration  and  Civil  War — Continued  Depredations — 
Peace  Proposals — Gold-hunting  on  the  Bighorn — Carrington's  Expe 
dition — Fetterman's  Defeat — Affairs  at  the  Forts — Continued  Hostil 
ities — Treaty  Commission 706 

CHAPTER  V. 

POLITICAL,    SOCIAL,    ANI>   MATERIAL   AFFAIRS. 

1867-1888. 

Gold  Discovery — South  Pass  City  Organized — Organization  of  Coun 
ties — Founding  of  Cheyenne — Advance  in  Town  Lots — Bad  Element 
—Vigilance  Committees — Newspapers  Established— A  Magic  City — 
The  Name  Wyoming— Territorial  Organization— Female  Suffrage- 
Judicial  Districts— County  Seats  and  County  Officers — Elections — 
Law  Making— Military  Posts— Administration  of  Governor  Camp 
bell— Thayer,  Hoyt,  and  Hale— Massacre  of  Chinese— Legislation ..  730 


CONTENTS.  xvii 

CHAPTER  VI. 

MILITARY   AND    INDIAN    AFFAIRS. 

1849-1886. 

Stansbury's  Observations — Belief  in  the  Presence  of  Gold— Indian 
Treaties — Attitude  of  the  Savages— Smith's  Exploits— Military  Mas 
sacre  of  Indians— Indian  Chiefs  at  Washington  City— Divers  Mili 
tary  Expeditions — Gold  Appearing — Inevitable  Destiny  of  the  Red 
Race — Broken  Pledges — The  Army  of  the  United  States  Brought 
out — Long,  Continuous,  and  Bloody  Fighting — Final  Triumph  of 
Civilization — Slavery  and  Savagism  Exterminated 764 

CHAPTER  VII. 

RESOURCES   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

1868-1888. 

Division  of  Territory  into  Counties — Birth  of  Towns,  and  Growth  of 
Population — Pioneers  and  Prominent  Men — Commerce  and  Indus 
tries — Grasses  and  Grazing — Ranches  and  Ranges — Stock-raising — 
Some  of  the  Great  Cattle  Men — Land  Surveys  and  Sales — Improve 
ment  of  Breeds — Cattle  Driving  from  Texas  and  Oregon — General 
Condition  of  the  Country — Agriculture  and  Mines — Biographical . . .  783 


L/e^ 

ly  UNIVEB&J   ' 
\    CA     °' 

AUTHORITIES  CONSULTED 


HISTORY  OF  NEVADA,  COLORADO,  AND 
WYOMING. 


Absaraka.     Home  of  the  Crows.     Philadelphia,  1868. 

Agricultural  Statistics  of  the  State  of  Colorado.     1883. 

Alamosa  (Colo),  Democrat;  Gazette;  Independent;  News. 

Allan  (Alex.),  Reminiscences.     MS. 

Amador  (Gal.)  Despatch. 

American  Almanac.     Boston  and  New  York,  1830  et  seq. 

American  Antiquarian  and  Oriental  Journal.       Cleveland  and  Chicago,  1878 

et  seq. 

American  Quarterly  Review.     Philadelphia,  1827  et  seq. 
Animas  City  (Colo)  Southwest. 
Antioch  (Cal. )  Ledger. 

Anza  (Juan  B. ),  Diario  de  un  Expedicion  desde  Sonora.     MS. 
Applegate  (Jesse),  Views  of  Oregon  History.     MS. 
Appleton's   Haiid-book   of  American   Travel.     New  York,   1831,   1885,  and 

1867. 

Arricivita  (J.  D.),  Cronica  Serafica  y  Apostolica.     Mexico,  1792. 
Aspen  (Colo),   Sun;  Times. 
Atlantic  Monthly.     Boston,  1858  et  seq. 
Aurora  (Nev.)  Times. 

Austin  (Nev.)  Directory  1866.     Austin,  1866. 
Austin  (Nev.)  Reese  River  Reveille. 
Aux  (George),  Mining  in  Colorado  and  Montana.     MS. 
Avery  (A.),  Hand-book  of  New  Mexico.     Denver,  1881. 
Ayer  (E.  L.),  Leadville  and  its  Silver  Mines.     Chicago,  1879. 

Babbitt  (A.  T.),  The  Grazing  Interest  and  Beef  Supply.     MS. 

Baker  (Win  and  P.  J. ),  Gardening  and  Agriculture  in  Colorado.      MS. 

Balch  (Win  R. ),  The  Mines,  Miners,  and  Mining  Interests  of  the  United 
States.  Philadelphia,  1882. 

Baldwin  (Charles  P.),  Mining  in  Colorado.     MS. 

Baldwin  (Benjamin  F.),  Statement.     MS. 

Ballou  (W.  T.),  Adventures.     MS. 

Bancroft  (Charles),  The  Footprints  of  Time.     Burlington,  1877. 

Bancroft  (F.  J.),  The  Air  We  Breathe,     n.  p.  1878. 

Bancroft  (Hubert  H.),  Colorado  Springs.     MS. ;  Colorado  Notes.     MS. 

Bancroft  (Hubert  H.),  History  of  California,  7  vols;  History  of  Arizona  and 
New  Mexico;  History  of  Texas  and  the  North  Mexican  States,  2  vols; 
History  of  the  Northwest  Coast,  2  vols;  History  of  Oregon,  2  vols;  His 
tory  of  Utah;  History  of  Washington,  Idaho,  and  Montana;  Native 
Races  of  the  Pacific  State,  5  vols;  Popular  Tribunals,  2  vols. 

(xix) 


xx  AUTHORITIES   CONSULTED. 

Bancroft  Library,  Newspaper  Scraps  Classified  under  Headings  of  Agriculture, 
California,  Nevada,  New  Mexico,  Wyoming,  Mining,  Indians,  Kaii- 

Barl)e0ra(JohnCW.),  and  Henry  Howe,  History  of  all  the  Western  States  and 
Territories.  Cincinnati,  1867. 

Barcla  (C.),  Biography.     MS. 

Barneby  (VV.  Henry),  Life  and  Labor  in  the  Far  West.     London,  etc.,  1884. 

Birnes  (Demas),  From  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Overland.     N.  Y.,  ISob. 

Biskin  (O.  L.)  &  Co.,  History  of  the  Arkansas  Valley,  Colora  lo.  Chicago, 
1881.  History  of  the  City  of  Denver,  ArapahoeCo.,  Colo.  Chicago,  1880. 

Bassett  (Alden),  Statement.     MS. 

Bittle  Mountain  (Nev.)  Messenger. 

Bayle  (William),  Politics  and  Mining.     MS. 

Beadle  (J.  H.),  The  Undeveloped  West.  Philadelphia,  1873.  Western 
Wilds.  Cincinnati,  1879. 

Beattie  (A.  S.),  The  First  in  Nevada.     MS. 

Bjeker  (George  F.),  Monograph  on  the  Geology  of  the  Comstock  Lode. 
Washington,  1882. 

Beckwith  (E.  G.j,  Report  of  Exploration  for  a  Pacific  Railroad,  n.  p.,  11.  d. 

BeUen  (Josiah),  Statement  of  Historical  Facts.     MS. 

Belmont  (Nev.)  Courier. 

Benicia  (C'al. )  Chronicle. 

Bennett  (John),  Mining  and  Smelting  in  Colorado.     MS. 

Bentley  (J.  A.),  Biographical  Sketch.     MS. 

Best  (tiumphrey),  Stock-raising  in  Colorado.     MS. 

Bickley  and  Hartwell's  Southern  Colorado. 

Bidwell  (John),  California,  1841-8.     MS.;  Journey  to  California,  1841.     MS. 

Bigney  (F.  O.),  Colorado  Tales  and  L-jgends,  etc.     Pueblo,  1875. 

Bird  (Isabella  L.),  Lady's  Life  in  the  Rocky  Mountains.     New  York,  1881. 

Bismarck  (Dak.)  Tribune. 

Black  Hawk  (Colo),  Colorado  Miner;  Journal. 

Blake's  Review  (in  Mining  Magazine,  18(50,  221-5). 

Blatchly  (A.),  Mining  and  Milling  in  the  Reese  River  region.     N.  Y.,  1857. 

Boettcher  (Charles),  Tho  Flush  Tunes  of  Colorado.     MS. 

Boise  City  (Idaho)  News. 

Bond  (N.  T. ),  Early  History  of  Colorado,  Montana,  and  Idaho.     MS. 

Bon  wick  (James),  The  Mormons  and  the  Silver  Mines.     London,  1872. 

Boulder  (Colo),  Boulder  County  Herald;  News;  Pioneer;  News  and  Courier; 
Rocky  Mountain  Eagle;  Sunshine  Courier;  Valley  News;  Mirror. 

Bowles  (Samuel),  Across  the  Continent.  Springfield,  186(5;  The  Switzerland 
of  America.  Springfield,  1809;  Our  New  West.  Hartford,  1869. 

Boyer  (L:inson),  From  the  Orient  to  the  Occident.     New  York,  1873. 

Bozeman  (Mont.)  Avant-Courier. 

Brackett  (Albert  G.),  in  the  Western  Monthly,  April,  1889. 

Bradford  (A.  A.),  History  of  Colorado.     MS. 

Bradley  (Lewis  R.),  Biographical  Sketch.     MS. 

Briggs  (Robert),  Biographical  Notes.     MS. 

Bristol  (Samuel  A.),  The  Newspaper  Press  of  Wyoming.     Cheyenne,  1884. 

Browne  (J.  Ross),  Adventures  in  the  Apache  Country.  A  Tour  through 
Arizona  and  Sonora,  with  Notes  on  the  Silver  Regions  of  Nevada.  New 
York,  18(59;  Report  upon  the  Mineral  Resources  of  the  States  and  Ter- 
tories  West  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Washington,  18G7-8. 

Buchanan  (T.   B.),   A  Plea  for  Silver  Coinage  and  the  Double  Standard 
Denver,  1885. 

Buckland's  Indian  Fighting.     MS. 

Buck  man  (Geo.  Rex),  Colorado  Springs  and  Manitou.  Boston,  n.  d.;  Ex 
periences  in  Colorado.  MS.;  Historical  Rocky  Mountain  Outpost, 
Lippmcotts  Magazine,  December,  1883;  Ranches  and  Ranchers,  Lippin- 
cotti  Magazine  May,  1882;  Correspondence  Topeka  Capital,  Boston 
Home  Journal,  Philadelphia  Press,  etc. 


AUTHORITIES  CONSULTED  xxi 

Buel  (J.  W.),  Heroes  of  the  Plains.     Kansas  City. 

Buena  Vista  (Colo),  Miner;  Herald;  Chatfee  County  Times;  Democrat. 

Burchard  (H.  C.),  Report  upon  the  Production  of  the  Precious  Metals  in  the 
United  States.  Washington,  1881  et  seq. 

Burke  (John),  Dictation.     MS. 

Burton  (Richard  F.),  The  City  of  the  Saints.  London,  1861;  New  York, 
18G2. 

Byers  (Win  N.),  The  Centennial  State.  MS.;  History  of  Colorado.  MS.; 
Interview  with.  MS. ;  The  Newspaper  Press  of  Colorado.  MS. ;  The 
Sand  Creek  Affair.  MS.;  In  Dead  Men's  Gulch.  MS.;  Correspondence 
with  Mrs.  Jackson,  in  N.  Y.  Tribune,  Feb.  5,  22,  and  March  3,  1880;  also 
in  Out  West,  Oct.  1873. 

Cadwallader  (Allen),  Map  and  Guide  to  the  White  Pine  Mines.  San  Fran 
cisco,  1869. 

Cahill  (Luke),  Recollections  of  Kit  Carson.     MS. 
California  Senata  and  Assembly  Journals.      1850  et  seq.     Statutes.      1850 

et  seq. 

Campbell  (L.  M.),  Climate  and  Agriculture  of  Colorado.     MS. 
Candalaria  (Nev.),  True  Fissure. 

Canon  City  (Colo),  Democrat;  Mercury;  Record;  Times. 
Canon   City    Grand   Army  College   and   Military  Institute,   Catalogue  and 

Regulations. 

Canon  City  Land  Investment  Co.     Prospectus.     Canon  City,  1882. 
Capyless  (Edgar),  Dictation.     MS. 
Carey  (J.  M.),  Politics  and  People  of  Wyoming.     MS. 
Carlin  (Win  P.),  History  of  Fort  Bridger.     MS.;  Experiences  in  Wyoming. 

MS. 

Carmichael  (D.  F.),  Statement.     MS. 
Carpenter  (C.  H.),  Mining  in  Colorado.     MS. 
Carpenter  (M.  B.),  Mining  Code.     Denver,  1879. 
Carson  City  (Nev.),   Appeal;  Independent;   Index;   Nevada  Tribune;   Post; 

Silver   Age;    State   Democrat;   State   Register;   Territorial    Enterprise; 

Times. 
Cassidy  (James),  Capture  and  Execution  of  Coe's  Band  of  Horse  Thieves. 

MS. 

Catalogue  of  the  National  Mining  and  Industrial  Exposition.     Denver,  1884. 
Central  City  (Colo),  Colorado  Herald;  Evening  Call;  Mining  Life;  Miners' 

Register;    Register;    Register-Call;    Rocky    Mountain   Gold   Reporter; 

Times. 

Chamberlain  (H.  D.),  Dictation.     MS. 
Chambers  (Alex.),  History  of  Fort  Bridger.     MS. 
Chapnis  ( J.  E. ),  Statement.     MS. 
Cherry  Creek  (Nev.),  White  Pine  News. 
Cheyenne  (Wyo.),  Directory,  1883-4;  Cheyenne,  1883. 
Cheyenne  (Wyo.),  Argus;  Leader;  News;  Rocky  Mountain  Star;  Sun. 
Cheyenne  Board  of  Trade  Report.      Cheyenne,  1888. 
Chiles  (Jos.  B.),  A  Visit  to  California.     MS. 
Chipley  (James  N.),  Towns  about  Leadville.     MS. 
Chivington  (J.  M.),  The  First  Colorado  Regiment.     MS.;  The  Prospector. 

MS.;  Speech  in  Hett's  Tales  of  Colorado  Pioneers. 
Chubbuck  (Theo.),  The  Battle  of  Sand  Creek,  Colorado.     MS. 
Clark  (C.  A.),  Statement.     MS. 
Clark  (C.  M.),  Trip  to  Pike's  Peak.     MS. 
Clark  (W.  M.),  Statement.     MS. 
Clawson  (C.  C.),  Letters  in  Deer  Lodge  New  Northwest,  May  18  and  June 

Clear  Creek  and  Boulder  Valley,  Colorado,  History  of.  Chicago.  1880. 
Clear  Creek  County,  Colorado,  Statistical  History.  Georgetown,  n.  d. 
Cleveland  (Ohio)  Leader. 


xxii  AUTHORITIES   CONSULTED. 

Coast  Review.     San  Francisco,  1871  et  seq. 

Cochran  (C.  H.),  History  of  Fort  Laramle.     MS.;  Colorado.     Mb. 

Cochran  (Win  A.),  Biographical  Sketch.     MS. 

Coffin  (0.  C.),  The  Battle  of  Sand  Creek,  Colorado.     MS. 

Collins  (Charles),  The  Rocky  Mountain  Gold  Region.     Denver,  1851. 

Collins  (Thos  B),  Statement.     MS. 

Colorado.     A  Chance  Discovery.     MS. 

Colorado  Antelope. 

Colorado  College. 

Colorado  Condensed  Industrial  Information.     Denver,  1881,  1883. 

Colorado  Directories. 

Colorado  Farm  Lands.     Denver,  1879. 

Colorado,  History  of.     Chicago.  1880. 

Colora  lo  Historical  Society,  Extracts  from  Early  Records.     MS. 

Colorado  Mining  Camps.     MS. 

Colorado  Mining  Directory,  1883. 

Colorado  Notes.     MS. 

Colorado  Pocket  Guide.     Denver,  n.  d. 

Colorado  Press  and  People.     MS. 

Colorado  Register. 

Colorado  Reminiscences.     MS. 

Colorado.     The  Legend  of  Fair  Play.     MS. 

Colorado  Mines  and  Settler's  Guide,  etc.     Denver,  1880. 

Colorado  State  and  Territorial  Documents;  Journals  of  the  Legislature;  Gov 
ernor's  Messages;  Reports  of  Secretary  of  State;  Treasurer;  Auditor; 
State  Geologist;  State  Board  of  Agriculture;  Penitentiary;  Mute  and 
Blind  Institute;  Sup't  of  Instruction;  State  Board  of  Health;  Laws; 
General  School  Election,  Stock,  and  Mining  Laws;  Code  of  Civil  Pro 
cedure;  Constitution  of  State;  Contested  Election,  etc. 

Colorado;  Treaties  with  the  Indians.     MS. 

Coaio  (Nev.)  Sentinel. 

Congressional  Globe.     Washington,  1836  et  seq. 

Congressional  Record  (continuation  of  Cong.  Globe). 

Contributor.     Salt  Lake  City,  1879  et  seq. 

Cook  (D.  J. ),  Hands  Up  !  !  or  Twenty  Years  of  Detective  Life.     No  imp. 

Corhett  (Thos  B.),  Colorado  Directory  of  Mines.  Denver,  1879;  Legislative 
Manual.  Denver,  1877. 

Corbett  (W.  W.)t  The  Founding  of  Cheyenne.     MS. 

Corbin  (H.  H.),  Dictation.     MS. 

Corregan  (R.  A.),  and  D.  F.  Lingane,  Colorado  Mining  Directory,  1883. 
Denver. 

Coyner  (David  H.),  The  Lost  Trapper.     Cincinnati,  1850  and  1859. 

Carter  (George  E.),  Biography.     MS. 

Cradlebough  (W.  M.),  Nevada  Biograpby.     MS. 

Crofutt  (George  A.),  Crofutt's  Grip  Sack  Guide.     1881. 

Crowell  (B.  F.),  Farming  in  Colorado.     MS. 

Culver  (Win  E.),  Land  Frauds  in  West  Los  Animas.     MS. 

Cushman  (S.  H.)  and  J.  P.  Waterman,  The  Gold  Mines  of  Gilpin  County, 

Colorado.     Central  City,  1876. 
Cutler,  The  Maxwell  Dynasty.     MS. 

Dailey,  Early  Times  in  Colorado.     MS. 

Daly  (Charles  P.).  Annual  Address  in  American  Geographical  Society's  Re 
port,  1873. 

Harrow  (George  G.),  Biographical  Sketch.     MS. 

Dartt  (Mary),  On  the  Plains  and  Among  the  Peaks.     Philadelphia,  1879. 

Davidson  (Wm  A.),  Indian  Adventures  in  California,  and  Mining  and  A<m- 
culture  in  Colorado.  MS. 

Davis  (C.  C.),  History  of  Colorado.     MS. 

Davis  (J.  C.),  Dictation.     MS. 


AUTHORITIES  CONSULTED.  xxiii 

Dayton  (Nev.)  Lyon  County  Sentinel. 

Dead  Men's  Gulch,  and  Other  Sketches.     MS. 

De  Coursey  (M.  L. ),  Glen  wood  Springs.     MS. 

L)e  Groot  (Henry),  Report  on  the  Mineral  Deposits  and  Other  Properties  of  the 

Nevada  Consolidated  Borax  Company.     San  Francisco,  1871;  Sketches 

of  the  Washoe  Silver  Mines.     San  Francisco,  1860. 
Deer  Lodge  (Mont.),  Independent;  New  Northwest. 
Del  Mar  (Alex. ),  History  of  the  Precious  Metals.     London,  1880. 
Del  Norte  (Colo),  The  Prospector. 
Delano  (A.),  Life  on  the  Phins,  1861. 
Dennison  (Charles),  Rocky  Mountain  Health  Resorts. 
Denver  National  Mining  Exposition  1884,  Catalogue. 
Denver  Municipal  Reports. 
Denver  University,  Circular  1884. 
Denver  Newspapers:  Colorado  Farmer;   Gazette;  Great  West;  Inter-Ocean; 

Journal  of  Commerce;  Opinion;  Republican;  Rocky  Mountain  Herald; 

Rocky  Mountain  News;  Tribune;  Vidette. 

Denver  and  Rio  Grande  R.  R.,  First  Annual  Report.     Philadelphia,  1873. 
Descriptive  America. 

Dilke  (Charles  W.),  Greater  Britain.     Philadelphia,  1869. 
Dixon  (William  H.),  New  America.     Philadelphia,  1867. 

Dobbins  (James  S. ),  Mining,  Stock-raising,  and  Indian  Adventures  in  Colo 
rado.  MS. 

Documentos  Historicos  Mexicanos.     MS.     15  vols. 
Dolloff  (John  W.),  Biography.     MS. 
Dominguez  y  Escalante,  Diario  y  Derrotero,  etc.,  in  Doc.   Hist.  Mex.,  2d 

series,  i.  375-588. 
Dotson  (Peter  K.),  Doings.     MS. 
Dow  (T.  K.),  A  Tour  in  America.     Melbourne,  1884. 
Downieville  (Cal.)  Mountain  Messenger. 
Dunbar  (Mrs  S.  J.),  The  Health  Resorts  of  Colorado  Springs  and  Manitou. 

Colorado  Springs,  n.  d. 

Duggan  (Martin),  The  Marshalship  of  Leadville.     MS. 
Dunraven  (Earl  of),  The  Great  Divide.     New  York,  1876. 
Durango  (Colo),  Democrat;  Herald. 

Earle  (Frank),  Solidad,  in  Chaffee  County.     Colorado  Springs,  1884. 

Earhart  (W.  R.),  The  Climatic  Influence  of  Colorado.      MS. 

Eaton  (H.  C.),  Gunnison,  Yesterday  and  To-day.     MS. 

Edwards  (Melvin),  Letter  to  E.  P.  Newkirk.     MS. 

Effinger  (W.  H.),  Statement.     MS. 

Elbert  (Samuel  H. ),  Public  Men  and  Measures.  MS.  Speech  before  the  Con 
vention  of  Trans-Missouri  States.  Denver,  1873. 

Elich  (John,  Jr),  Statement.     MS. 

Elko  (Nev.)  Independent. 

Elliott  (Ezra  T.),  Statement.     MS. 

Elliott  (Wallace  W.  &  Co.),  History  of  Arizona  Territory.  San  Francisco, 
1884. 

El  Paso  County,  As  It  Has  Been  and  Is.     MS. 

Elzel  (Gabriel),  Statement.     MS. 

Ernest  (T.  P.),  Statement.     MS. 

Esmeralda  (Nev.)  Herald. 

Eureka  (Nev.),  Leader;  Sentinel. 

Evans  (Albert  G.),  White  Pine,  Its  Geographical  Location,  Topography,  etc. 
San  Francisco,  1869. 

Evans  (Gov.  John),  Interview  with.     MS. 

Evanston  (Wyo.),  Age;  Chieftain;  Times;  Uinta  County  Argus. 

Everett  (Win  R.),  Statement.     MS. 

Extract  from  Early  Records.     MS. 


AUTHORITIES  CONSULTED. 

Faithful  (Emily),  Three  Visits  to  America.     New  York,  1884. 

Farayre  (M.  E.  G.),  Exploration  Mineralogique,  1869. 

Fanner  (E.  J.),  Resources  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.     Cleveland,  1883. 

Farnham  (Thomas  J. ),  Travels  in  the  Great  Western  Prairies.  Poughkeep- 
sie,  1841. 

Farrell  (N.  E.),  Colorado  as  It  Is.     Chicago,  1868. 

Faurot  (C.  S. ),  Farming  in  Colorado.     MS. 

Fisher  (I.  R.),  Camping  in  the  Rocky  Mountains.     New  York,  1880. 

Fisher  (John),  Statement.     MS. 

Fisher  (L.  P. ),  Newspaper  List. 

Flowers  (Jacob),  Dictation.     MS. 

Fohr  (Franz),  Smelting  in  Colorado.     MS. 

Folsom  (Cal.)  Telegraph. 

Folwell  (J.  A.),  Early  Experiences.     MS. 

Fonda  (George  F.),  Statement.     MS. 

Font  (Pedro),  Journal.     MS. 

Fort  Collins  (Colo),  Courier;  Express. 

Fossett  (Frank),  Colorado.  Denver,  1878;  Colorado:  Its  Gold  and  Silver 
Mines.  New  York,  1880. 

Fowler  (Warren  R.),  Around  Colorado.     MS. 

Fowler  (W.  R.),  A  Woman's  Experiences  in  Colorado.  MS.;  Around  Colo 
rado.  MS. 

Fox  (J.  J.),  Mason  Valley  Settlers.     MS. 

Fox  (M.  P.),  Coal  Mines  of  Colorado.     MS. 

France  (Cyrus  W.),  Biographical  Sketch.     MS. 

Fremont  (John  C. ),  Exploring  Expedition.  New  York,  1849;  Washington, 
1845. 

Foebel  (Julius),  Central  America.     London,  1859. 

Galaxy,  The.     New  York,  1872  et  seq. 

Galveston  (Texas)  News. 

Garces  (Francisco),  Diario  y  Derrotero,  etc.,  in  Doc.  Hist.  Mex.,  series  ii., 

torn,  i.,  2-25-374. 

Gazlay's  Pacific  Monthly.     New  York,  1865. 
Genoa  (Nev.),  Scorpion;  Territorial  Enterprise. 
Georgetown  (Colo)  Colorado  Miner. 
Gibbons  (General),  Lecture  on  the  Wonders  of  Yellowstone  Park,  in  Helena 

Gazette,  Sept.  29,  1872. 

Gilpin  (William),  Notes  on  Colorado.     London,  n.  d. 
Gilpin  (Win),  Pioneer  of  1842.     MS. 

Goddard  (F.  B.),  Where  to  Emigrate  and  Why.     New  York,  1869. 
Gold  Hiil  (Nev.),  Message;  News. 

Golden  (Colo),  The  Transcript;  Golden  Globe;  Golden  Eagle. 
Gordon  (S.  Anna),  Camping  in  Colorado.     New  York,  1879. 
(Jove  (Aaron),  Education  in  Denver.     MS. 
Governor's  Message,  in  Western  Mountaineer,  Nov.  22,  1860. 
Graff  (J.  F.),  Graybeard's  Colorado.     Philadelphia,  1882. 
Graham  (J.  C.)  &  Co.,  Utah  Directory,  1883-4.     Salt  Lake  City,  n.  d. 
Grand  Junction  (Colo)  News. 
Grass  Valley  (Cal.)  Union. 
<  Jreeley  (Horace),  Overland  Journey  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco.    New 

York,  1860. 

Green  River  (Wyo.)  Sweetwater  Gazette. 
Greenhow  (Robert),  History  of   Oregon  and   California.     New  York,   1845- 

Boston,  1844,  1845,  1847;  London,  1844. 

Gunnison  (Colo),  News;  Press;  Review;  News-Democrat;  Review-Press;  Sun. 
(runmson^Almon),  Rambles  Overland.     Boston,  1884. 
Gunnison's  Journal,  in  Pacific  Railroad  Reports,  Vol.  II. 

Hague  (James  D.),  Mining  Industry.     Washington,  1870. 


AUTHORITIES   CONSULTED.  xxv 

Hall  (Edward  H.),  Guide  to  the  Great  West.     New  York,  1865-6. 

Hall  (Frank),  Annual  Report  of  the  Denver  Chamber  of  Commerce.  Denver, 
1884. 

Hall  (Win  H.),  Report  on  the  Problems  of  Irrigation.     Sacramento,  1884. 

Hallett  (Moses),  Colorado  Courts,  Law,  and  Litigation.     MS. 

Hallowell  (John  K.),  Gunnison  Colorado's  Bonanza  County.     Denver,  1883. 

Hansen  (P.  N.),  Mining  about  Eureka.     MS. 

Harper's  New  Monthly  Magazine.     New  York,  1856  et  seq. 

Hart  (H.  Marty  in),  Boy-Education.      Denver,  n.  d. 

Hastings  (Laiisford  W.),  Oregon  and  California.     Cincinnati,  1845,  1849. 

Hawes  (Jesse),  Charlatanism  in  Colorado.     No  imp. 

Hawley  (A.  H.),  Lake  Tahoe.     MS. 

Hayden  (F.  V.),  The  Great  West.     Bloomington,  Ills,  1880. 

Hay  den  (F.  V. ),  U.  S.  Geological  and  Geographical  Survey  of  Colorado  and 
Adjacent  Territory,  1874.  Washington,  1876. 

Hayes  (A.  A.  Jr),  New  Colorado  and  the  Santa  Fe  Trail.  New  York, 
1880. 

Hayes  (Benjamin)  Scrap  Books;  Indians;  Emigrant  Notes;  Mining;  Nevada; 
Railroads;  Politics. 

Hayford(J.  H.),  Dictation.     MS. 

Health,  Wealth,  and  Pleasure  in  Colorado  and  New  Mexico. 

Heap  (Gwin  H. ),  Central  Route  to  the  Pacitic  from  the  Valley  of  the  Missis 
sippi  to  California,  etc.  Philadelphia,  1854. 

Helena  (Mont.),  Gazette;  Herald;  Independent;  Democrat;  Post;  Repub 
lican. 

Helm  (W.  A.),  The  Gate  of  the  Mountains.     MS. 

Hiko  Silver  Mining  Company's  Report,  1866. 

Hill  (Alice  Polk),  Tales  of  Colorado  Pioneers.     Denver,  1884. 

Hittell  (John  S.),  Hand-Book  of  Mining.     San  Francisco,  1861. 

Hollister  (O.  J.),  The  Mines  of  Colorado.  Springfield,  1867;  History  of  the 
First  Regiment,  Colorado.  Denver,  1863. 

Horn  (Hosea  B.),  Overland  Guide.     New  York,  1852. 

Horn  (T.  G. ),  Report  on  Mineral  Springs  in  Colorado,  in  State  Board  of 
Health  Report,  1876. 

Horn  (T.  G.),  Scientific  Tour.     MS. 

Howard  Quarterly  (The).     San  Francisco,  1867  et  seq. 

Howbert  (Irving),  Indian  Troubles  of  Colorado.     MS. 

Huffaker  (Granville  W.),  Early  Cattle  Trade  in  Nevada.     MS. 

Idaho  City  (Id.)  World. 

Industrial  Gazetteer  of  the  Atchison,  Topeka,  and  Santa  Fe  Railroad. 

Ingersoll  (Ernest),  Crest  of  the  Continent.     Chicago,  1885. 

Inman  (Col  Henry),  Stories  of  the  Santa  Fe  Trail.     Kansas  City,  1881. 

Irving  (Washington),  Bonneville's  Adventures.     New  York,  1860. 

Jennings  (William),  Carson  Valley.     MS. 

Johnson  (A.  B.),  Good  Times  in  Gunnison.     MS. 

Johnson  (E.  P.),  Memorial.     Cheyenne,  1880. 

Johnson  (A.  R.)  and  Tuthill  (T.  H.),  Cheyenne  Directory,  1883.  Chey 
enne,  1883. 

Johnson  (Nev.),  Gold  Canon  Switch. 

Jones  (Evan),  Indian  Fighting.     MS. 

Jones  (John  P.),  Speech  on  the  Silver  Question,  April  24,  1876;  Speech  on 
the  Optional  Standard,  June  22  and  July  15,  1876;  Speech  on  Silver 
Demonetization,  Feb.  14,  1878. 

Jones  (W.  A.),  The  Reconnaissance  of  Northwestern  Wyoming.  Washing 
ton,  1875. 

Jouesborough  (Tenn.)  Sentinel. 


xxvi  AUTHORITIES  CONSULTED. 

Kansas  Laws,  1859. 

Kansas  City  (Mo. )  Times.  .   . 

Kelly  (J.  Wells),  Nevada  Directory,  1862.     San  Francisco  and  Virginia  City, 

Kelly  (William),  An  Excursion  to  California,  etc.     London,  1851,  2  vols. 

Kelso  (Win  F.),  Statement.     MS. 

Kennedy's  Dictation.     MS. 

Kent  (L.  A.),  Leadville  in  Your  Pocket.     Denver,  1880. 

King  (Clarence),  Mountaineering  in  the  Sierra  Nevada.     Boston,  18/4,  188Z. 

Kinkead  (Gov.  J.  H.),  Nevada  and  Alaska.     MS. 

Klein  (Jacob),  Founders  of  Carson  City.     MS. 

Kneelaud  (Sam.),  The  Wonders  of  Yosemite.     Boston,  1871- 

Knox  (Thomas  W.),  The  Underground  World.     Hartford,  1878. 

Lake  City  (Colo),  Silver  World;  Crescent;  Mining  Register. 

Lamb  (Levi),  Early  Mining  Camps.     MS. 

Laramie  (Wyo.),  Boomerang;  Frontier  Index;  Sentinel. 

Laramie  (Mrs  S.  L.),  The  Capture  and  Escape.     Philadelphia,  1871. 

Las  Vegas  (N.  M.),  Mining  World. 

Leadville  City,  Directory,  1880. 

Leadville  Chronicle  Annual,  1881. 

Leadville,  Carbonate  Chronicle;  Democrat;  Herald;  Reveille. 

Leadville,  Colorado,  The  most  Wonderful  Mining  Camp  of  the  World,  etc. 
Colorado  Springs,  1879. 

Lee  (D.),  and  J.  H.  Frost,  Ten  Years  in  Oregon.     New  York,  1844. 

Leddy  (M.  A.),  Dictation.     MS. 

Le  Fevre  (O.  E.),  Statement.     MS. 

Legend  of  Fair  Play  in  San  Juan.     MS. 

Lesseg  (W.  H.),  in  Report  Sec.  of  the  Interior,  1867-8,  Hi.,  p.  40-2. 

Lewis  and  Clarke,  Expedition  to  the  Sources  of  the  Missouri,  etc.  Phila 
delphia,  1814;  N.  Y.,  1861;  London,  1814-15. 

Leyner  (Peter),  Boulder  County,  Colorado.     MS. 

Londoner  (Wolfe),  Colorado  Mining  Camps.     MS. 

Londoner  (Wolfe),  Vigilance  Committees  in  Colorado.     MS. 

Long  (Stephen  H. ),  Account  of  an  Exploring  Expedition  to  the  Rocky  Moun 
tains.  Philadelphia,  1823. 

Longmont  (Colo),  Sentinel;  Press;  Ledger;  Colorado  Banner;  Post  Valley 
Home  and  Farm. 

Loom  is  (Abner),  Biography.     MS. 

Lord  (Elliot),  Comstock  Mining  and  Mines.      Washington,  1883. 

Los  Angeles  (Cal. )  Evening  Express. 

Loveland  (Wm  A.  H.),  Dictation.     MS. 

Luman's  Dictation.     MS. 

Lytle  (George),  Dictation.     MS. 

Manitou  Grand  Caverns.     MS. 

Marcy  (R.  B.),  Thirty  Years  of  Army  Life  on  the  Border.    New  York,  1866. 

Mariposa  (Cal.)  Gazette. 

Martin  (Thomas  S.),  Narrative  of  Fremont's  Expedition  in  1845-6.     MS. 

Marysville  (Cal.),  Appeal;  Democrat. 

Mater  (Charles),  Business  in  Leadville.     MS. 

Matthews  (Mrs  M.  M.),  Ten  Years  of  Nevada,  1870-80.     Buffalo,  1880. 

Maxwell  (James  P.),  Biographical  Sketch.     MS. 

Mayer  (Brantz),  Mexico,  Aztec,  Spanish,  and  Republican.     Hartford,  1852 

2  vols. 

Maysville  (Colo),  Mining  Ledger. 

McAllister  (Henry,  Jr),  Colorado  Land  and  Improvement  Companies.     MS 
McCabe  (James  D.,  Jr),   A  Comprehensive  View  of   Our  Country  and   its 

Resources.     Philadelphia,  1876. 
McCammon  (Hugh),  Dictation.     MS. 


AUTHORITIES  CONSULTED.  xxvii 

McClellan  (R.  G.),  Republicanism  in  America.     San  Francisco,  18G9. 
McClure  (A.  K.),  Three   Thousand   Miles   through  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

Philadelphia,   1869. 
McHatton  (C.  K.),  Statement.     MS. 
Mcliitire  (A.  W.),  Statement.     MS. 
Meagher  (James  F.),  Observations.     MS. 
Mears  (Otto),  Road  Construction  in  Colorado.     MS. 
Meldrum  (A.),  Colorado  Mines.      MS. 

Meldrum  (N.  H.),  Indian  Depredations  in  Colorado.     MS. 
Meiine  (James  F.),  Two  Thousand  Miles  on  Horseback.     New  York,  1867. 
Meteorological  Observations  Made  at  the  Carson  Observatory,  1883-4. 
Mexico  Financier. 

Meyer  (Ferdinand),  Statement.     MS. 
Milwaukee  Monthly  Magazine,  June,  1872. 
Mining  Industry  (The).      Denver,  1881. 
Mining  Magazine.     New  York,  1853  et  seq. 
Mining  Review  and  Stock  Ledger,  1876  and  1878.     San  Francisco,  1876  and 

1878. 

Minniss  (J.  F.),  Climate  and  Soil  of  Colorado.     MS. 
Miscellaneous  Historical  Papers.     MS. 
Missoula  (Mont.),  Missoulian;  Pioneer. 
Mix  (M.  D.),  Oil  Districts  of  Colorado.     MS. 
Mixon  (Frank),  Statement.     MS. 


Moffatt  (D.  H.).  Sketches  on  Banking.     MS. 
Molinelli  &  Co.,  Eureka  and  its  Resoui 


Resources.     San  Francisco,  1879. 

Montana  Historical  Society  Contributions.     Helena,  1876. 

Montana  Council  Journal.      Virginia  City  and  Helena,  1866*et  seq. 

Montgomery  (A.  W.),  Statement.     MS. 

Moore  (John  C. ),  Early  Days  in  Denver.     MS. 

Moore  (M.  R.),  Press  and  People  of  Colorado.     MS. 

Morrison  (R.  S.),  and  Jacob  Fillins,  Mining  Rights  in  Colorado.  Denver, 
1875  and  1881. 

Mullan  (John),  Report  on  the  Construction  of  a  Military  Road,  etc.  Wash 
ington,  1863. 

Munkers  (G.  W.),  Statement.     MS. 

Murphy  (John  A.),  Climate  and  Agriculture  in  Colorado.     MS. 

Naples  (H.  M.),  Dictation.     MS. 

National  Almanac,  1864.     Philadelphia,  1864. 

Nelson  (W.  H.),  Stock-raising  in  Colorado.     MS. 

Nevada  Constitutional  Convention,  Debates  and  Proceeedings.  San  Fran 
cisco,  1866. 

Nevada,  Senate,  Assembly,  Council,  and  House  Journals;  Governor's  Mes 
sages  and  Reports;  Laws  and  Statutes;  State  Controllers'  Reports; 
Attornies-general's  Reports;  State  Treasurers'  Reports;  Secretaries  of 
State's  Reports. 

Nevada  Silver  Convention,  1885,  Proceedings. 

Nevada  City  (Cal.)  Democrat. 

Nevers  (Samuel  A.),  Nevada  Pioneers.     MS. 

New  Mexico,  Pointers  on  the  Southwest.     Topeka,[1883. 

New  Mexico  Revista  Catolica.     Las  Vegas,  1876. 

New  York  Financier;  Herald;  Mining  News;  Times;  Tribune;  World. 

Newland  (Wm),  Statement.     MS. 

Newlin  (J.  W.),  Proposed  Indian  Policy.     Philadelphia,  1881. 

Nidever  (George),  Life  and  Adventures.     MS. 

Niles'  Register.     Baltimore  and  Philadelphia,  1811  et  seq. 

Nims  (F.  C.),  Across  the  Continent  by  the  Scenic  Route.     Chicago,  n.  d. 

Nisbet  (Robert  C.),  Colorado  Climate  and  Agriculture.     MS. 

Norris  (P.  W.),  Fifth  Annual  Report  of  the  Yellowstone  National  Park,  18Sl; 

North  American  Review.     Boston,  1819  et  seq. 


xxviii  AUTHORITIES   CONSULTED. 

North  Pacific  Review.     San  Francisco,  1862. 

Norton  (H.  I).  Wonderland  Illustrated,     Virginia,  Mont.,  18/3. 

Ohmertz  (Millie),  Female  Pioneering.     MS. 

Old  (R.  O.),  Statement.     MS. 

Olympia  (Wash.)  Pioneer. 

Omaha  (Neb.),  Republican. 

Oregon  City  (Or. )  Enterprise. 

Osborn  (Win  B.),  Politics  in  Gilpin  and  Larimer  Counties,  Colorado.     MS. 

Oswald  (A.  F.),  Californien  mid  Seine  Verhaltnisse.     Leipzig,  1849. 

Ouray  (Colo),  Times;  Solid  Muldoon. 

Out  West,  Dec. -Jan.  1873-4. 

Outcalt  (John  B.),  Grazing  in  Gunnison.     MS. 

Overland  Monthly. 

Owyhee  Avalanche. 

Pabor  (W.  E.),  Colorado  as  an  Agricultural  State.     New  York,  1883. 

Pabor  (Wm  E.),  Farmers'  Guide  to  Northern  Colorado.     Denver,  1882. 

Pacific  Coast  Annual  Mining  Review  and  Stock  Ledger.  San  Francisco, 
1878. 

Pacific  Coast  Directories. 

Pacific  Coast  Mines.     San  Francisco,  1876. 

Pacific  Railroad  Reports.     Washington,  13  vols. 

Packard  (D.  C. ),  Insurance  in  Colorado.     MS. 

Painter  (Charles  F.),  Statement.     MS. 

Parker's  Letter-book.     MS. 

Parker  (Samuel  tT. ),  The  Northwest.     MS. 

Parsons  (C.  8.),  Biography.      MS. 

Parsons  (George  H.),  Colorado  Springs.     MS. 

Parton  (James),  The  Discovery  of  Pike's  Peak.     MS. 

Patterson  (A.  H.),  Statement.     MS. 

Petaluma  (Cal.)  Argus. 

Peter  (De  Witt  C.),  Life  and  Adventures  of  Kit  Carson.     New  York,  1859. 

Peterson  (A.),  Irrigation,  etc.     MS. 

Peto  (S'.r  S.  Morton,  Bart),  Resources  and  Prospects  of  America,  etc.  Lon 
don  and  New  York,  1866. 

Pettengill'a  Newspaper  Directory,  1878.     New  York,  1878. 

Philadelphia  Press. 

Phillips  (G.  W.),  Climate  and  Irrigation  in  Colorado.     MS. 

Phillips  (J.  Arthur),  Mining  and  Metallurgy  of  Gold  and  Silver.  London 
1853. 

Pierce  (John),  Report  in  U.  S.  Mess,  and  Doc.  Interior  Dept,  1866-7. 

Pike  (Z.  M.),  An  Account  of  an  Expedition  to  the  Sources  of  the  Mississippi, 
etc.,  1805-7.  Philadelphia,  1810. 

Pike's  Peak  Discovery.      MS. 

Pioche  (Nev.)  Record. 

Pitkin  (F.  W.),  Political  Views.     MS. 

Pitkin  (Colo),  Independent;   Mining  News. 

Placerville  (Cal.),  American;   Mountain  Democrat;  Observer. 

Player-Frowd  (J.  G.),  Six  Months  in  California.     London,  1872. 

Poorc's  Congressional  Directory. 

Poore's  Railroad  Manual. 

Porter  (Robert  P.),  The  West;  Census  of  1880. 

Portland  (Or.),  Orecjonian;  West  Shore. 

Potosi  Mine,  Annual  Report,  1881. 

Potosi  Mining  and  Smelting  Co.,  Prospectus.     San  Francisco,  n.  d. 

I  owe     (Nevada),  The  Land  of  Silver.     San  Francisco,  1876 

PowelMJ.  W.),  Exploration  of  Colorado  River,  etc.,  1869-72.     Washington 


AUTHORITIES   CONSULTED.  xxix 

Preble  (Cleorge  H.),  History  of  the  Origin  ami  Development  of  Steam  Navi 
gation.  Philadelphia,  1883. 

Prentiss  (Owen),  Statement.     MS. 

Pre^cott  (Ariz.),  Miner. 

Prescott  (Thomas),  Through  Canon  de  Shea.     MS. 

Price  (Sir  Rose  Lambert,  Bart),  The  Two  Americas,  etc.     Philadelpia,  1877. 

Prince  (Hiram),  Colorado  Experiences.     MS. 

Proceedings  First  National  Convention  of  Cattlemen.     St.  Louis,  1884. 

Prowers  (Mrs  J.  W.),  Indian  Depredations.     MS. 

Pueblo  (Colo),  Chieftain;  Democrat;  Daily  News;  Banner;  Evening  Star; 
Commercial  Standard. 

Quincy  (Cal.)  Union. 

Rae  (W.  F.),  Westward  by  Rail,  the  New  Route  to  the  East.  London, 
1870. 

Rand  (George),  Agriculture  in  Colorado.     MS. 

Rand,  McNally,  &  Co. 's  Overland  Guide.  Chicago,  1883;  Illustrated  Guide 
to  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona.  Chicago,  n.  d.,  and  1879. 

Randall  (G.  M.),  Biography.     MS. 

Raper  (W.  H.  H. )  &  Co. 's  Directory  of  Colorado  Springs. 

Rawlina  (Wyo. ),  Journal;  Tribune. 

Raymond  (R.  W.),  Camp  and  Cabin,  etc.  New  York,  1880;  Mining  Indus 
try  of  the  States  and  Territories  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  New  York, 
1874;  Silver  and  Gold,  etc.  New  York,  1873;  Statistics  of  Mines  and 
Mining.  Washington,  1873. 

Raynold's  Report  in  U.  S.  Sen.  Ex.  Doc.,  No.  77,  p.  14,  vol.  ii.,  40th  Cong., 
2d  Sess. 

Reed  (Herbert  W.),  Biographical  Sketches.     MS. 

Reese  (John),  Mormon  Station.     MS. 

Remy  (Juleo),  and  Julius  Brenchley,  Journal.     London,  1801,  2  vols. 

Reno  (Nov.),  Crescent;  Daily  Nevada  Democrat;  Daily  Record;  Gazette; 
State  Journal. 

Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  1839  et  seq. 

Reymers  (B.  H.),  Statement.     MS. 

Rice  (James),  Politics  in  Pueblo,     MS. 

Richards  (George  J.),  Biography.     MS. 

Richardson  (James),  Wonders  of  Yellowstone  Park.     London,  1874. 

Richardson  (Sylvester).  History  of  Guunison  County.     MS. 

Richthof ju  (Baron  F.),  The  Comstock  Lode,  its  Character,  and  the  Probable 
Mode  of  its  Continuance  in  Depth.  San  Francisco,  18G6. 

Rico  (Colo)  News. 

Rische  (August),  Statement.     MS. 

Roberts  (E. ),  Colorado  Springs  and  Manitou.     Chicago,  n.  d. 

Rocky  Mountain  Directory  and  Colorado  Gazetteer,  1871.     Denver. 

Rocky  Mountain  News  Illustrated  Almanac,  1882. 

Roller  (W.  W.),  Colorado  Sketches.     MS. 

Rosita  (Colo),  Index;  Sierra  Journal. 

Ross  (James),  and  George  Gary,  From  Wisconsin  to  California  and  Return. 
Madison,  1809. 

Rossi  (1'Abbe),  Souvenirs  d'un  Voyage  et  California.     Paris.  1864. 

Routt  (John  L.),  Territory  and  State.     MS. 

Ro \vell  (Charts  J.).  Leadville,  Colorado.     MS. 

Rowell  &  Co.'s  Gazetteer. 

R-vM  (Anson),  Early  Affairs  in  Canon  City.     MS. 

RUSSP!  (A.),  Irrigation  and  Indian  Affairs  in  Colorado.     MS. 

Ryan  (John  J.),  Laramie  Co.     MS. 

Sacramento  (Cal.),  Bee;  Record:  Record-Union;  Union;  Transcript. 
Safford  (A.  K.  P.),  Narrative.     MS. 


xxx  AUTHORITIES  CONSULTED. 

Salida  (Colo),  Mountain  Mail;  Sentinel  News. 

Salt  Lake  (Utah),  Herald;  Tribune. 

San  Francisco  (Cal.)  Newspapers:  Alta;  Bulletin;  Cal.  Courier;  Cal.  Farmer; 
Call;  Chronicle;  Courier  de  San  Francisco;  Examiner;  Golden  Era; 
Herald;  Mercantile  Gazette  and  Prices  Current;  Mining  Review  and 
Stock  Ledger;  News  Letter;  Post;  Report;  Stock  Exchange;  Stock  Re- 

Sort;  Times. 
ose  Archives.     MS. 

San  Jose  (Cal.),  Mercury;  Pioneer. 

San  Juan  and  Other  Sketches.     MS. 

San  Rafael  (Cal.)  Journal. 

Santa  Fe  Trail. 

Saunders  (William),  Through  the  Light  Continent.     London,  1879. 

Scenes  in  the  Rocky  Mountains.     Philadelphia,  1846. 

Schell  (H.  S.),  History  of  Fort  Laraiaie.     MS. 

Scibird  (George  A.),  Biography.     MS. 

Scott  (Charles  H. ).  Report  of  the  County  Clerk. 

Scribner's  Montldy  Magazine  and  Century  Magazine.  New  York,  1871  et  seq. 

Seely  (W.  L.),  The  Nichols  Mining  Company.     MS. 

Selig  (Joseph),  Dictation.     MS. 

Seligman  (Henry),  Short  Biography  of  Jesse  Seligman.     MS. 

Sheldon  (M.),  South  Pueblo.     MS. 

Sheridan  ((Jen.),  in  Secretary  of  War's  Report,  41st  Congress,  2d  Session. 

Shinn  (Charles  H.),  Mining  Camps.     New  York,  1885. 

Silver  (Samuel  D.),  The  Mines  of  Cororado.     MS. 

Silver  City  (Nev.),  Times. 

Silver  Cliff  (Colo),  Miner;  Prospector;  Tribune. 

Silversmith  (Julius),  Practical  Hand-book  for  Mines.     New  York,  1866. 

Silverton  (Colo),  Democrat;  Herald;  Miner. 

Simonin  (L.),  in  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  Nov.  187.5,  305-12. 

Simpson  (James  H.),  Exploration  of  the  Great  Basin.     Washington,  1876. 

Slater  (M.  H.),  Indian  Troubles  in  the  Early  Days  of  Colorado.     MS 

Slaughter  (John),  Life  in  Colorado  and  Wyoming.     MS. 

Slaughter  (Win  M.),  Early  Experiences  in  Colorado.     MS. 

Smith,  Report  on  Development  of  Colorado,  1881-2,  in  State  Geologist's 
Report. 

Smith  (J.  Alden),  and  M.  Beshoar,  Coal  and  Iron  Lands  near  Trinidad.  Col 
orado.  Print  and  MS. 

Smith  ( Jas  P. ),  Statement.     MS. 

Smith  (Samuel  T.),  Dictation.     MS. 

Smithsonian  Annual  Reports.     Washington,  1853  et  seq. 

Snider  (George  W.),  Discovery  of  the  Cave  of  the  Winds  and  Manitou  Grand 
Caverns.  MS. 

Snyder  (A.  C.),  Dictation.     MS. 

Solly  (S.  E.lwin),  Colorado  for  Invalids.     Colorado  Springs,  1880. 

Sonoma  (Cal. )  Democrat. 

Sopris  (Richard),  Settlement  of  Denver.     MS. 

Spence^  (Thomas),  The  Settlers'  Guide  in  the  United  States.     Nev/  York, 

Stallcup  (John  C.),  Statement.     MS. 
Standart  (Stephen  H.),  Live  Stock  in  Colorado.     MS. 
Stanley  (Edwin  L),  Rambles  in  Wonderland,  etc.     New  York,  1878. 
Stanslmry  (Howard),  Expedition  to  the  Valley  of  Great  Salt  Lake.     Phila 
delphia,  1855. 

Stanton  (I.  N.),  Statement.     MS. 
Stead  (J.  H.),  Town  Building  in  Colorado.     MS. 
Stebbins  (T.  C.),  Statement.     MS. 
Steele  (Alden  H.),  With  the  Rifle  Regiment.     MS. 
:tewart  (James  G.),  Settlements  in  Colorado.     MS. 

t  (Wm  M.),  Speech  on  Courts  in  Nevada.     Washington,  1865. 


AUTHORITIES  CONSULTED.  xxxi 

Stewart  (Wm  M.),  Lecture  on  Mineral  Resources.     New  York,  1865. 

Stewart  (Wm  M.),  The  Silver  Question.     San  Francisco    1885,  also  MS. 

Stockton  (Cal.),  Evening  Mail;  Independent. 

Stoddard  (Wm),  Biography.      MS. 

Stone  (W.  F.),  General  View  of  Colorado.  MS.;  Land  Grants.  MS.;  Inter 
view  with  \V.  F.  Stone.  MS. 

Storey  County  Records.     MS. 

Story  (Wm),  Biographical  Sketch.     MS. 

Strahorn  (Robt  E.),  Gunnison  and  San  Juan.  Omaha,  1881;  Hand-book  of 
Wyoming.  Cheyenne,  1877;  Montana  and  Yellowstone  Park.  Kansas 
City,  1881;  Resources  of  Montana  Territory.  Helena,  1879;  To  the 
Rockies  and  Beyond.  Chicago,  1881. 

Strait  (W.  W. ),  The  Pueblos.     MS. 

Stuart  (Granville),  Montana  as  It  Is.     New  York,  1865. 

Sturgis  (Thomas),  The  Ute  War  of  1879.  Cheyenne,  1879;  Common  Sense 
View  of  the  Sioux  War.  Cheyenne,  n.  d. 

Summering  in  Colorado.     Denver,  1874. 

Sutro  (A.),  Advantage,  etc.,  of  Deep  Drain  Tunnel.  San  Francisco,  1865; 
Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States.  Baltimore,  1868;  The  Sutro 
Tunnel. 

Sutro  (Nev. )  Independent. 

Sutro  Tunnel,  Bank  of  Cal.  against  Sutro  Tunnel,  Argument  and  Statement 
of  Facts. 

Sutro  Tunnel  and  Railway  to  the  Comstock  Lode,  1873. 

Sutro  Tunnel  Company,  Superintendent's  Report,  1872;  Annual  Reports, 
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Sweetwater  Miner. 

Syracuse  (N.  Y.)  Journal. 

Tabor  (Mrs),  Cabin  Life  in  Colorado.     MS. 

Tabor  (H.  A.  W.),  Early  Days  in  Colorado.     MS. 

Tarryall  (Colo)  Miner's  Record. 

Taylor  (W.  S.),  Statement.     MS. 

Telluride  (Colo)  Journal. 

Tenney  (E.  P.),  Colorado  and  Homes  in  the  New  WTest.     Boston,  1880. 

Texas  Prairie  Flower,  1885. 

Thomas  (John  J.),  Colorado  Cavalry  in  the  Civil  War,     MS. 

Thomas  (L.  R.),  Biographical  Sketch.     MS. 

Thombs  (P.  R.),  Mexican  Colorado,     MS. 

Thompson  (Charles  I.),  Progress  in  Colorado.     MS. 

Thompson  (Julius),  Statement.     MS. 

Thompson  and  West,  History  of  Nevada.     Oakland,  Cal.,  1881. 

Thornton  (J.  Q.),  Oregon  and  California  in  1848.     New  York,  1849. 

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Toft  (B.  A.),  Biography.     MS. 

Tombstone  (Ariz.)  Epitaph. 

Tourists'  Hand-Book  of  Colorado.     New  Mexico  and  Utah.     n.  p.,  1885. 

Townsend  (F.  T.),  Ten  Thousand  Miles  of  Travel.     London,  1869. 

Travis  (Wm),  The  Ben  Butler  Mine.     MS. 

Treaties  with  Indians.      MS. 

Tucson  (Ariz.)  El  Fronterizo. 

Tucker  (Selden  H.),  Statement.     MS. 

Tullidge  (E.  W.),  History  of  Salt  Lake  City.     Salt  Lake  City,  n.  d. 

Tuscarora  (Nev.)  Times-Review. 

Twain  (Mark),  Roughing  It.     Hartford,  1874. 

Tyler  (Daniel),  History  of  the  Mormon  Battalion.     Salt  Lake  City,  1881. 

Unionville  (Nev.),  Gazette;  Humboldt  Register;  Silver  State. 
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ton,  1870. 


xxxii  AUTHORITIES   CONSULTED. 

United  Geog.  Surveys  West  of  the  100th  Meridian  (Geo.  W.  Wheeler); 
Bulletin;  Report's  and  Various  Publications.  Washington  1874,  et  seq. 

United  States  Government  Documents:  Accounts;  Acts  and  Resolutions; 
Agriculture;  Army  Regulations;  Army  Meteorological  Register;  Banks; 
Bureau  ot  Statistics;  Census;  Charters  and  Constitutions;  Commerce  and 
Navigation;  Commercial  Relations;  Congressional  Directory;  Educa 
tion;  Engineers;  Finance;  Indian  Affairs;  House  Executive  Documents; 
House  Journal;  House  Miscellaneous  Documents;  House  Committee 
Reports;  Interior;  Land-office;  Laws  and  Treaties;  Message  and 
Documents;  Mint  Reports;  Official  Register;  Ordinance;  Pacific  Rail 
road;  Patent-office;  Postmaster-general;  Post-offices;  Quartermaster- 
General;  Revenue;  Secretary  of  War;  Senate  Executive  Documents; 
Senate  journal;  Senate  Miscellaneous;  Documents;  Senate  Committee 
Reports;  Statutes. 

Utah  Hand-book  of  Reference.     Salt  Lake  City,  1884. 

Valdes  ( J.  A.  J. ),  Biographical  Sketch.     MS. 

Valverde  y  Coces,  Diario  y  Derrotero,  1719. 

Van  Diest  (P.  H.),  The  Grand  Island  Mining  District  of   Boulder  County, 

Colorado.     Denver,  1876. 
Van  Sickle  (H.),  Utah  Desperadoes.     MS. 
Van  Tramp  (J.  C.),  Prairie  and   Rocky  Mountain    Adventures.     St  Louis, 

1800. 

Vickers  (W.  B.),  in  Hay  den's  Great  West,  p.  98. 
Victor  (Mrs  F.  F.),  River  of  the  West.      Hartford,  1870. 
Victor  (F.  F.),  in  Overland  Monthly,  August  1869. 

Virginia  City  (Xev.),  Chronicle;  Occidental;  Territorial  Enterprise;  Union. 
Virginia  City  (Mont.)  Montana  Post. 
Virginia  Mining  District  Records.     MS. 

Waite  (Mrs  C.  V.),  Adventures  in  the  Far  West  and  Life  among  the  Mor 
mons.  Chicago,  1882. 

Walker  (James  A.),  Agriculture  and  Stock-raising  in  Colorado.     MS. 

Walla  Walla  (W.  T.)  Statesman. 

Walters  (J.  H.  E.),  Dictation.     MS. 

Warren  in  Pacific  R.  R.  Reports,  xi.  36. 

AVashoe  City  (Nev.)  Eastern  Slope. 

Watkins  (John  F. ),  Mining  in  Colorado.     MS. 

Webb  (E.  H.),  Salida  and  its  Surroundings.     MS. 

Webb  (L.),  Statement.     MS. 

Weis  (G.),  Stock-raising  in  the  Northwest.     MS. 

Wells  (George),  Book  of  Deeds  of  the  White  and  Murphy  Ground.     MS. 

Wenban  (Simeon),  Mining  Developments.     MS. 

West  Las  Aaimas  (Colo)  Leader. 

Western  Monthly.     Chicago,  1869. 

Weston  (Eugene),  The  Colorado  Mines.     MS. 

Wheeler  (George  M.),  Geographical  Surveys  West  of  the  100th  Meridian; 
Bulletins,  Reports,  etc.  Washington.  1874,  et  seq. 

Wheeler  (Win  H.),  Law  in  Colorado  in  S.  F.  Chronicle. 

Wheelock  (H.),  Guide  and  Map  of  Reese  River,  etc.     San  Francisco   1864 

White  (Fred. ),  The  Melvina  Mine.     MS. 

Whittaker's  Milwaukee  Monthly  Magazine.     Milwaukee    1872 

Williams  (Henry  F.),  Pacitic  Tourist  and  Guide.     New  York,  1876. 

V\  ilhains  (Thomas),  Dictation.     MS. 

Wilson  (P.  S.).  Dictation.     MS. 

Winnemucca  (Nev.)  Silver  State. 

Winser  (H.  J.),  The  Great  Northwest.     New  York,  1883. 

Withrow  (Chase),  Central  City,  Colorado,  in  1860.     MS. 

f.  M.),  Mercantile  Guide,  Gazetteer,  etc.     Omaha,  1878. 

Wood  Brothers  Live  Stock  Movement.     Chicago,  1S84. 


HISTORY  OF  NEVADA. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    GREAT   BASIN. 

PLAIN  OP  EVAPORATION,  OR  ELEVATED  SINK— ITS  SITUATION — PROMINENT 
CHARACTERISTICS — THE  NAME  GREAT  BASIN  INAPPROPRIATE— A  GROUP 
OF  BASINS — WONDERS  OF  THE  REGION — A  TRAPPER'S  STORY — CAVES- 
CLIMATE — ATMOSPHERE — ARIDITY — SAND— STORMS  AND  CLOUD-BURSTS 
— THE  MIRAGE — SOIL,  CONFIGURATION,  AND  SCENERY — RAIN-FALL  AND 
TEMPERATURE — CHANGE  OF  SEASONS — ALTITUDE  AND  GEOLOGIC  FORMA 
TION — MOUNTAIN  SYSTEM— LAKES  AND  SINKS  —  RIVERS — SPRINGS — 
DESERTS — PLANTS  AND  ANIMALS — BIRDS  AND  FISHES— MINERALS  AND 
METALS — SOIL  AND  AGRICULTURE — NOMENCLATURE. 

ABOUT  midway  between  the  Panama"  Isthmus  and 
the  Arctic  Ocean,  and  midway  between  the  great 
cordillera  and  the  Pacific,  lies  a  broad  Plain  of  Evapo 
ration,  or  following  the  popular  idea  an  elevated  sink, 
the  Great  Basin  it  has  been  called,  being  almost  wholly 
rimmed  by  mountains,  though  not  always  and  alto 
gether  concave,  and  whose  waters  have  no  visible 
outlet  to  the  sea.  From  three  to  five  thousand  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  ocean,  it  extends  irregularly 
over  some  nine  degrees  of  latitude  and  nine  of  longi 
tude,  that  is  to  say  from  the  34th  to  the  43d  parallel, 
and  from  the  lllth  to  the  120th  meridian,  the  Wah- 
satch  and  Nevada  ranges  standing  as  its  eastern'  and 
western  bounds,  narrowing  off  between  the  ranges 
north  of  Salt  Lake  and  the  Humboldt  Kiver  toward 
the  Blue  Mountains  of  Oregon,  and  narrowing  likewise 
in  the  south  toward  the  Colorado  plateau.  Nearly 
all  of  Nevada  comes  within  this  compass,  and  a  large 


2  THE  GREAT  BASIN. 

part  of  Utah,  together  with  smaller  portions  of  Ore 
gon  and  California.  The  eastern  rim  extends  through 
Utah,  which  lies  between  latitude  37°  and  42°,  and 
longitude  109°  and  104°,  and  divides  the^area  almost 
equally  into  two  natural  sections,  one  being  the  dis 
trict  of  the  great  basin,  and  the  other  the  region 
drained  by  the  Colorado  and  its  tributaries. 

One  of  the  most  prominent  features  of  the  great 
basin  is  that  it  is  so  little  like  a  basin.  To  call  it 
a  platter,  a  gridiron,  or  a  well-filled  cullender,  or  a 
basket  of  chips  would  be  to  apply  a  more  character 
istic  designation.  When  Fremont  gave  to  the  region 
this  name  he  had  seen  the  Wahsatch  and  Nevada 
ranges,  the  two  great  sides,  and  he  knew  something 
of  the  Blue  Mountains;  but  the  interior  of  this  vast 
circle  he  had  not  visited.  He  was  not  aware  that  his 
basin  was  full  of  mountains,  some  of  them  as  high  as 
the  rim,  completely  filling  the  dish,  so  that  in  truth 
there  is  little  dish  left.  It  makes  no  great  difference, 
however,  what  we  call  a  thing,  so  long  as  we  under 
stand  what  is  meant  by  the  name. 

Far  more  appropriately  we  might  cut  up  the  inte 
rior  and  enumerate  a  series  of  basins,  rather  than  call 
it  all  one  basin.  There  are  the  two  great  ranges,  how 
ever,  which  border  so  great  a  portion  of  the  area,  the 
Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Sierra  Nevada,  so  far  ex 
ceeding  in  length  the  minor  divides,  as  to  give  and  leave 
the  impression  of  oneness,  notwithstanding  the  dis- 
tinctiveness  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake  basin,  whose  low 
est  point  is  4,170  feet  above  the  sea;  of  Lake  Sevier 
basin,  4,690  feet;  of  Humboldt  River  basin,  4,147 
feet;  of  Carson  River  basin,  with  an  altitude  at 
Carson  Lake  of  3,840  feet;  of  Walker  River  basin, 
its  lowest  point  above  the  sea  being  4,072  feet;  of 
Mojave  River  basin,  1,150  feet,  and  so  on. 

But  call  it  what  we  may,  and  we  may  as  well  call 
it  great  basin  as  any  other  name,  the  country  is  full 
of  peculiarities — I  would  say  wonders,  were  it  true 
that  one  part  of  the  universe  is  more  wonderful  than 


WONDERS  OF  THE  REGION.  3 

another.  Its  altitude  and  distance  from  the  ocean,  the 
aridity  of  the  soil  where  there  is  so  much  water,  the 
succession  of  desert  and  oasis,  of  mountain  and  plain — • 
innumerable  basins  within  basins — and  all  well  sprinkled 
with  metals;  of  streams  fringed  with  green  foliage, 
willows,  alder,  and  cottonwood,  of  salt-water  lakes 
and  those  that  are  fresh,  or  nearly  so,  of  hot  and  cold 
springs,  of  sinks  and  swamps  and  mud-flats,  of  lonely 
buttes  and  rocky  chasms,  of  sulphurous  valleys  and 
delightful  sun-bathed  summits,  not  to  mention  foot 
prints  of  races  and  species  long  gone  by,  men  arid 
beasts,  land  animals  and  sea  animals,  of  which  we  talk 
much  and  know  little.  There  are  elevations  of  life 
and  depressions  of  death,  one  of  the  latter  literally  so 
called,  Death  Valley,  one  of  the  dry  sand-lakes  com 
mon  in  the  region  through  which  passes  the  old  trail 
from  Salt  Lake  to  Los  Angeles,  a  spot  seemingly 
accursed,  forty  miles  long  by  twenty  broad,  and  sur 
rounded  except  at  two  points  by  steep  mountains. 
Wonderful  things  are  said  of  it,  namely,  that  it  is  far 
below  the  level  of  the  sea;  that  it  never  rains  there 
and  is  totally  devoid  of  moisture;  that  nothing  grows 
there,  not  even  sage-brush;  that  it  is  inhabited  only 
by  horned  rattlesnakes  and  scorpions,  and  that  the 
shadow  of  a  bird  or  wild  beast  never  darkens  its  white 
glaring  sands.  The  quietude  of  death  must  indeed  be 
present,  if  it  be  true  as  stated,  that  the  wagon-tracks 
of  a  party  which  perished  there  in  1848  are  apparently 
as  fresh  and  distinct  now  as  the  day  they  were  made. 
Many  strange  stories  the  old  trapper  James  Bridger 
used  to  tell;  for  instance,  how  in  the  winter  of  1830 
it  began  to  snow  in  the  valley  of  the  Great  Salt 
Lake,  and  the  snow  fell  for  seventy  days,  until  the 
whole  country  was  white-coated  to  the  thickness  of 
seventy  feet.  Vast  herds  of  buffaloes  were  caught 
by  this  snow,  caught  and  pinched  to  death,  and  the 
carcasses  preserved;  and  finally,  when  spring  came, 
all  Bridger  had  to  do  was  to  tumble  them  into 
Salt  Lake,  and  have  pickled  buffalo  enough  to  feed 


4  THE  GREAT  BASIN. 

himself  and  the  whole  Ute  nation  down  to  the  time 
of  their  extermination.  And  this  is  why  there  have 
been  no  buffaloes  in  that  region  since.  Another 
phenomenon,  witnessed  only  by  this  keen  observer 
and  most  truthful  narrator,  is  that  since  his  arrival 
in  the  country,  Bridger  Butte  has  changed  consider 
ably  its  locality. 

Caves  are  more  remarkable  than  crags,  I  suppose, 
because  there  are  fewer  of  them  in  the  world;  and 
for  the  same  reason  we  notice  specially  stone  trees 
when  we  pay  but  little  attention  to  trees  of  wood.  I 
cannot  enumerate  all  the  crags  in  the  great  cullender, 
nor  all  the  natural  trees,  but  I  can  mention  a  cave  or 
two,  and  tell  of  a  petrified  forest.  What  has  been 
regarded  a  rival  to  the  great  cave  of  Kentucky,  and 
called  the  mammoth  cave  of  Nevada,  and  sometimes 
Mormon  Cave,  by  reason  of  historic  pretensions  given 
elsewhere,  is  situated  in  the  White  Mountains,  some 
twenty  miles  from  Patterson.  Through  a  low  open 
ing,  requiring  a  man  to  stoop  to  enter  it,  the  visitor 
passes  twenty  feet  to  a  rapidly  widening  vault,  and 
thence  to  a  succession  of  immense  chambers  with 
limestone  pendants,  or  having  a  roof  so  high  that  the 
torch-light  fails  to  discover  it.  He  may  go  a  great 
distance  in  this  way  and  still  not  find  his  progress 
barred.  There  is  a  cave  near  Fort  Ruby  which  dis 
charges  quite  a  stream;  another  in  the  Shell  Creek 
range,  one  of  whose  apartments  is  sixty  by  eighty 
'feet  in  area,  and  which  likewise  figures  somewhat 
in  history;  another  in  the  mountains  east  of  Carson 
River;  and  yet  another  near  Rush  Lake.  On  the 
plain,  thirty  miles  or  so  from  the  Blackrock  Moun 
tains,  is  a  petrified  forest,  the  stumps  of  solid  rock 
standing  alone  amidst  the  stunted  sage  brush. 

The  climate  is  likewise  distinctive.  The  air  is  light 
and  dry,  the  sun  bold  and  brazen-faced,  yet  harmless 
and  kind.  There  would  be  moisture  enough  were  it 
not  so  quickly  absorbed.  The  atmosphere,  which 


CLIMATE.  5 

may  be  called  Asiatic,  is  so  light,  elastic,  and  porous 
that  water  seems  never  to  satisfy  it;  and  what  the 
air  does  not  secure  the  soil  stands  ready  to  absorb. 

There  are  sand-clouds  and  sand-storms  at  regular 
seasons,  and  in  the  southern  and  western  parts  of 
Nevada  frequent  cloud-bursts.  There  is  a  westerly 
wind  which  prevails  in  the  spring  and  autumn  with 
disastrous  effect;  it  is  equivalent  to  the  north  wind 
of  California;  and  so  full  is  the  warm  air  of  those 
saline  particles  which  floating  in  it  make  the  mirage, 
that  often  on  the  deserts  and  by  the  salt  lakes  this 
hallucination  presents  itself. 

In  the  valleys,  and  especially  round  the  great  lakes, 
every  variety  of  soil  presents  itself;  likewise  through 
out  the  whole  region  there  is  infinite  variety  of  con 
figuration  and  scenery.  But  although  anomalous,  the 
climate  is  very  uniform.  Though  barred  by  the  Sierra 
from  the  sea,  the  country  is  nevertheless  near  enough 
to  the  ocean  to  feel  the  general  ameliorating  effect  of 
Pacific  currents,  and  yet  so  isolated  and  inland  as  to 
share  some  of  the  qualities  possessed  by  the  climates 
beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains  which  those  west  of 
the  Sierra  do  not  enjoy.  There  is  a  marked  individ 
uality  in  the  atmosphere  about  Salt  Lake,  which  so 
rapid  evaporation  tinges  with  a  blue  haze,  while  almost 
everywhere  else  in  this  region  the  air  is  exceedingly 
pure  and  transparent.  It  is  in  the  spring  that  the 
atmosphere  is  most  fully  charged  with  moisture,  the 
winters  being  cold  and  drier,  though  the  temperature 
seldom  reaches  zero. 

The  average  rain-fall  of  Utah  is  twenty  inches  for 
the  year,  four  tenths  of  which  comes  in  the  spring, 
one  tenth  in  summer,  three  tenths  in  autumn,  and 
two  tenths  during  winter.  The  summers  of  Nevada 
are  generally  hot,  and  except  in  the  more  sheltered 
spots  the  winters  are  cold.  But  in  the  several  deep 
valleys,  though  the  wind  is  sometimes  strong,  and 
there  is  frost  everywhere,  the  fall  of  snow  is  light,  and 
the  temperature  generally  mild.  Thus  we  have  here 


6  THE  GREAT  BASIN. 

what  may  properly  be  called  a  wet  and  a  dry  season, 
but  the  former  is  not  so  pronounced  as  in  California, 
nor  is  the  dry  season  wholly  dry. 

Climatic  changes  are  not  so  abrupt  here  as  in  many 
other  localities.  Seasons  glide  one  into  another  al 
most  imperceptibly.  Due  warning  is  given  of  the 
approach  of  winter  by  the  masses  of  dark  clouds 
which  corne  moving  slowly  over  the  plains,  and  which 
hover  in  the  mountains  about  the  higher  peaks.  An 
increasing  wind  is  significant  of  a  gathering  storm,  and 
the  winds  are  often  busied  several  days  in  sweeping 
up  a  storm,  after  which  they  assume  some  degree  of 
regularity.  Spring  comes  in  March,  often  with  snow 
or  cold  rains  and  wind.  April  drops  some  showers, 
and  even  May  spurts  thunder  and  lightning  between 
her  smiles.  Then  comes  summer  settled  and  serene. 
Over  the  central,  northern,  and  western  portions  of 
Nevada,  the  temperature  is  at  90°  at  midday,  rising 
sometimes  to  100°  to  fall  at  night  to  70°.  Toward 
autumn  the  heated  air  becomes  giddy,  and  sends  the 
dust  dancing  in  whirlwinds  over  the  plains.  Thunder 
storms  are  frequent  in  eastern  Nevada  from  midsum 
mer  till  autumn. 

The  basins  proper  are  for  the  most  part  ranged 
round  the  edge  of  the  so-called  great  basin,  and  are 
lower  than  the  central  area,  whose  valleys  will  average 
an  altitude  of  5,500  feet,  while  many  interior  ranges 
of  mountains  assume  great  height ;  hence  the  bottom 
of  the  basin  should  be  pictured  in  the  mind  as  raised 
in  the  centre;  that  is  as  not  being  of  basin-shape  at  all, 
as  we  have  seen;  and  while  around  the  base  of  the 
rim  of  the  still  so-called  basin  there  may  be  a  land  of 
lakes  and  sinks  and  streams,  the  middle  interior  is 
high-ribbed  with  compact  ranges  and  narrow  valleys. 

As  to  geological  formations,  the  mountains  between 
Utah  Lake  and  the  Kobah  Valley  may  be  called  of 
carboniferous  origin;  thence  to  the  Sierra  Nevada, 
and  over  the  desert  to  the  Goshute  region,  the  ground 


GEOLOGY.  7 

shows  signs  of  igneous  action ;  while  about  the  Hum- 
boldt  Mountains  the  characteristics  of  the  Devonian 
age  appear.  The  strata  of  the  sand-stone  and  siliceous 
limestones  around  the  porphyritic  and  other  igneous 
rocks  composing  the  Champlin  Range  seem  to  have 
been  much  disturbed  when  these  mountains  were 
made.  From  this  point  toward  the  north  and  toward 
the  south- west  ashy  elevations  are  seen,  dark,  scorched, 
and  vitreous,  as  if  the  fashioning-fires  had  not  been 
long  extinguished.  Here  and  there  throughout  the 
whole  region  post-pliocene  formations  appear.  Lime 
stone  predominates  in  the  mountains  of  Nevada,  then 
granite,  sienite,  serpentine,  and  slate,  all  marked  by 
overflows  of  basaltic  trap-rock  and  trachytic  lavas. 

Over  the  blue  walls  of  the  Wahsatch  toward  the 
east,  outside  of  the  great  basin  though  still  in  Utah, 
we  have  the  great  valley  of  the  Colorado  and  Green 
rivers,  with  the  usual  mountains,  plains,  and  valleys, 
and  the  more  unusual  buttes,  lines  of  cliffs,  outlying 
masses  of  high  angular  stratified  rocks,  and  deep  nar 
row  gorges,  to  whose  escarpments  the  strata  of  shales 
and  limestone  give  a  terraced  and  buttressed  appear 
ance. 

The  region  drained  by  Bear  River  is  for  the  most 
part  rugged  and  sterile;  some  of  the  ranges  of  hills 
which  divide  the  country  into  a  succession  of  parallel 
valleys  are  bare,  or  covered  only  with  grass,  while 
over  the  low  mountains  are  scattered  dwarfish  pines 
and  cedars.  Here  are  wide  areas  void  of  vegeta 
tion,  dreary  wastes  of  rock,  with  here  and  there  clay 
baked  by  the  sun  until  it  resembles  stone  rather 
than  soil.  Volcanic  action  is  everywhere  apparent, 
lava  and  scoriated  basalt  prevailing,  with  bituminous 
limestone,  trap,  and  calcareous  tufa.  The  lava  forma 
tions  west  of  Soda  Springs,  in  whose  vicinity  rise  sev 
eral  extinct  volcanoes,  are  worthy  of  special  attention. 
In  south-eastern  Nevada  is  a  volcano  basin  covered 
with  lava  and  scoria3,  and  having  withal  a  crater-rim 
two  hundred  feet  broad  and  eighty  feet  deep.  Not 


8  THE  GREAT  BASIN. 

far  from  the  sink  of  the  Humboldt  is  another 
crater.  v 

North  and  east  of  the  Carson  Lake  country  are 
high  mountains  and  intervening  plains;  south  of  the 
same  region,  after  passing  some  distance,  a  gradual 
depression  occurs,  which  terminates  in  Death  Val 
ley,  four  hundred  and  sixty-four  feet  below  the  sur 
face  of  the  ocean. 

The  Uintah  Mountains  are  a  branch  of  the  Wah- 
satch,  stretching  off  toward  the  east.  At  the  junc 
tion  of  the  Wahsatch  and  Uintah  ranges  the  gulches 
of  the  summits  are  high,  and  filled  with  never  melting 
snow;  thence  the  latter  range  gradually  declines 
toward  the  eastern  end,  where  it  breaks  into  little 
ridges  and  hills.  Through  the  Uintah  Mountains, 
cutting  for  itself  a  channel  slowly  as  the  mountains 
uprose,  and  which  now  appears  as  a  series  of  canons, 
runs  Green  River. 

North  of  the  Uintah,  Green  River  continues  through 
a  deep  narrow  valley  or  canon  about  a  thousand  feet 
below  the  open  plain  of  country  yet  farther  north. 
All  the  watercourses  are  eroded,  and  the  rocks,  com 
posed  of  hard  limestone,  laminated  shales,  and  sand 
stones,  appear  to  be  the  sediments  of  a  lake.  To  the 
west  is  a  stretch  of  buff  mauvaises  terres}  with  rocks 
of  shales  and  sandstone  so  soft  as  to  be  easily  rounded 
into  beautiful  forms  by  the  wind  and  water. 

South  of  the  Uintah  are  many  isolated  ranges,  trend 
ing  for  the  most  part  to  the  north-east  and  the  north 
west.  ,  There  is  a  district  here  of  low  rounded  eleva 
tions  called  the  Yellow  Hills,  whose  rocks  are  yellow 
clays  and  shales,  some  of  the  latter  of  a  slate  color, 
and  others  pink.  "  Looking  at  it  from  an  eminence," 
says  Powell,  "  and  in  the  light  of  the  midday  sun,  it 
appears  like  a  billowy  sea  of  molten  gold."  South 
of  this  is  a  stretch  of  bituminous  bad-lands,  and  then 
a  series  of  canons  and  cliffs. 

The  mountain  system  comprising  this  region  may 


MOUNTAIN  SYSTEM.  g 

be  likened  in  form  to  a  gridiron.  Enclosed  within 
the  rim  are  ranges  rising  abruptly  from  the  plain, 
being  at  the  base  from  one  to  twelve  miles  wide,  and 
all  trending  off  toward  the  north,  almost  always  con 
fining  their  variations  between  the  true  and  the  mag 
netic  north.  And  their  distance  apart  is  scarcely 
greater  than  their  breadth  of  base;  so  that  this  re 
gion  called  plains  is  in  truth  more  a  succession  of 
minor  mountains  and  valleys,  the  tops  of  the  eleva 
tions  alone  being  anywhere  near  upon  a  level.  The 
length  of  these  ranges  is  from  fifty  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles,  and  their  height  two  or  three  thou 
sand  feet,  though  there  are  peaks  in  the  Goshute 
Range  five  or  six  thousand  feet  above  the  plain,  or 
ten  or  eleven  thousand  above  the  sea.  Floyd,  the 
highest  peak  of  the  Oquirrh  Range,  is  4,214  above 
the  plain  and  9,074  above  the  sea.  The  pass  through 
the  Ungoweah  Range  is  8,140  feet  above  the  sea. 

The  Wahsatch  Mountains  are  the  meteorological 
monarch  of  Utah,  dividing  the  state  into  two  un 
equal  parts,  the  greater  being  the  eastern.  Rising 
in  the  Bear  River  region,  they  curve  gently  toward 
the  east,  passing  the  eastern  borders  of  Great  Salt 
and  Utah  lakes,  then  sweep  round  south-west  to  the 
Rio  Virgen.  Next  stretching  southward  from  the 
southern  end  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  in  the  order 
given,  are  the  parallel  ranges,  the  Oquirrh,  the  Onaqui, 
and  the  Lakeside  and  Cedar  mountains.  Then  comes 
the  Great  American  Desert.  After  that,  entering 
Nevada,  we  have  the  Goose  Creek,  Toano,  Antelope, 
Snake,  Cedar,  and  Mormon  line  of  elevations;  next 
west  the  Peoquop,  Shell  Creek,  Ely,  Highland,  and 
Valley  ranges;  then  the  Goshute,  East  Humboldt, 
East  Ruby,  Eagon,  Butte,  White  Pine,  and  Hiko 
line,  and  so  on  through  eight  or  ten  other  lines  and 
lateral  ridges  until  the  entire  state  is  covered  and  the 
great  Sierra  Nevada  reached. 

The  mountains  of  Nevada  are  made  mostly  of 
granite,  limestone,  slate,  sienite,  and  porphyry,  dome- 


10  THE  GREAT  BASIN. 


•,' 


shaped  or  with  otherwise  rounded  contour,  but  some 
times  shooting  up  in  pyramidal  spires. 

The  first  explorers  of  this  country,  namely  the 
fur-hunters  and  emigrants,  were  warned  by  the  natives 
to  avoid  alike  the  entanglements  of  the  deep  canons 
leading  northward  from  the  river  discovered  by  Og- 
den,  and  the  heart  of  the  arid  desert  which  no  man 
had  yet  dared  to  penetrate.  Both  the  savages  and 
the  emigrants  were  right  in  bending  their  trail  to  the 
course  of  the  Humboldt,  as  subsequent  surveys  proved, 
though  not  altogether  for  the  reason  named.  Besides 
waterless  plains  there  are  many  minor  ridges  running 
north  and  south  which  must  be  passed  over  or  round 
by  one  travelling  straight  across  from  Utah  Lake  to 
Carson  Lake. 

Were  there  fewer  mountains  there  would  be  more 
deserts;  for  besides  breaking  withering  blasts,  the 
mountains  act  as  reservoirs,  holding  about  their  sum 
mits  masses  of  snow,  enough  to  fill  a  hundred  lakes 
and  rivers,  portions  of  which  are  slowly  melted 
during  summer,  and  distributed  over  the  parched 
plains. 

There  are  many  places  in  both  Nevada  and  Utah 
which  show  signs  of  having  been  once  the  beds  of  vast 
bodies  of  water.  One  of  these  is  the  region  round 
Truckee  Meadows  and  Steamboat  Valley,  including 
Washoe  and  Carson  valleys,  where  there  is  to-day 
much  good  arable  land  which  may  be  watered  through 
out  the  season  from  the  Truckee  and  other  streams. 
At  Great  Salt  Lake,  Stanbury  counted  on  the  slope 
of  the  ridge  thirteen  benches,  one  above  the  other, 
each  of  which  had  been  successively  the  border  and 
level  of  the  lake.  The  highest  of  these  water-marks 
is  two  hundred  feet  above  the  valley,  which  is  itself 
now  well  above  the  lake.  Here  then  was  an  inland 
ocean,  whose  islands  are  now  mountain  tops.  Thus 
as  this  whole  vast  mountainous  interior  was  once 
beneath  the  surface  of  one  body  of  water,  so  we  may 


GREAT  SALT  LAKE.  11 

safely  conclude  that  later  there  were  many  inland  seas 
and  lakes  now  dead. 

Great  Salt  Lake  is  in  several  respects  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  bodies  of  water  in  the  world.  Its 
equal,  approached  perhaps  in  Asia,  is  found  nowhere 
in  America.  It  is  in  form  an  irregular  parallelogram, 
some  seventy  miles  in  length,  and  from  twenty  to 
thirty  in  width.  Stanbury  calls  it  three  hundred 
leagues  in  circumference  and  thirty  in  breadth.  It 
contains  twenty-two  per  cent  of  solid  matter,  that  is 
to  say  20.196  common  salt,  and  1.804  sulphate  of 
soda ;  it  is  six  and  a  half  times  denser  than  the  ocean. 
Where  the  water  has  been  and  retired,  wagon  loads  of 
dry  salt  may  be  shovelled  up.  The  surface  is  ordina 
rily  quite  motionless,  though  at  times  it  is  stirred  into 
briny  foam.  It  is  not  inhabited  by  fish.  The  shores 
are  bare  and  forbidding ;  its  airs  lack  the  invigorating 
qualities  of  ocean  breezes.  It  receives  the  waters  of 
Bear  River  and  some  smaller  streams  at  the  northern 
end,  and  several  from  the  east  and  south.  The  lake 
has  periods  of  rising  and  receding,  being  ruled  some 
what  by  the  rain-fall  in  the  regions  whose  drainage  it 
receives.  On  the  whole  its  area  seems  to  be  increasing 
rather  than  diminishing,  owing  perhaps  to  increased 
moisture  in  the  atmosphere  caused  by  civilized  occu 
pation,  and  resulting  at  once  in  greater  falls  of  rain 
and  less  evaporation. 

A  promontory,  fifteen  hundred  or  two  thousand  feet 
in  height,  juts  into  the  lake  from  the  north.  It  is 
some  ten  miles  in  length,  the  northern  end  being  com 
posed  of  sandstone,  shales,  and  limestone;  while  at 
the  southern  end,  instead  of  limestone,  there  is  a  sur 
face  rock  of  conglomerate,  with  bowlders  of  serpentine 
and  porphyry.  All  along  the  base  of  the  promontory 
the  water  springs  forth,  sometimes  pure  and  fresh,  but 
often  highly  impregnated  with  salt  and  sulphur.  The 
rivulets  scarcely  reach  the  lake,  however,  before  they 
sink  into  the  intervening  sand  and  mud-flat,  which  is 


12  THE  GREAT  BASIN. 

about  two  miles  in  width,  and  wholly  void  of  vegeta 
tion.  Several  islands  break  the  surface  of  the  dense 
water.  The  largest,  Antelope  Island,  is  a  long  rocky 
eminence,  three  thousand  feet  above  the  water,  six 
teen  miles  long,  and  from  three  to  five  wide.  It  is 
connected  with  the  mainland  by  a  sand-flat  which  is 
usually  dry  in  summer. 

On  Castle  Island,  sometimes  called  Fremont  Island, 
eight  or  nine  hundred  feet  high,  and  fourteen  miles  in 
circumference,  is  a  place  where  through  the  argillace 
ous  schist  three  holes  have  been  worn,  and  upon  the 
summit  stands  like  a  ruined  castle  an  oblong  rock 
whence  the  island  derives  its  name.  There  are  no 
trees  or  water  upon  this  island,  but  on  its  sides  grows 
grass  in  which  the  blue  heron  lays  its  eggs;  and  the 
wild  onion  and  parsnip  are  found  there  in  profusion; 
also  a  highly  nutritious  bulbous  root  the  natives  use, 
called  sego.  Sage  near  the  summit  attains  remarkable 
size,  being  sometimes  eight  feet  high,  while  the  stalk 
is  six  inches  in  diameter.  Then  there  are  Stanbury, 
Carrington,  Gunnison,  and  Hat  islands  which  were 
explored  and  named  by  Stanbury,  the  first  after  him 
self,  the  second  in  honor  of  his  Mormon  friend,  and 
the  third  after  his  lieutenant.  Hat  Island  was  named 
by  his  men  by  acclamation. 

Utah  Lake  is  a  magnificent  body  of  water,  all  the 
more  acceptable  in  this  arid  and  salt-stricken  region 
from  being  fresh,  having  an  outlet  through  the  River 
Jordan  into  the  Great  Salt  Lake. 

After  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  in  size  and  importance, 
come  Pyramid  Lake  and  Walker  Lake,  the  first  lying 
near  the  eastern  rim,  and  the  other  two  near  the 
western.  Indeed,  most  of  the  great  lakes  are  at  the 
base  of  the  two  great  ranges  of  mountains.  The 
size,  shape,  and  relative  positions  of  Pyramid  and 
Walker  lakes  are  noticeable,  the  former  being  thirty- 
two  by  nine  and  a  half  miles,  and  the  latter  thirty 
miles  in  length  by  about  nine  in  width.  The  shore 
of  Pyramid  Lake  is  in  places  rocky,  elsewhere  pre- 


LAKE  SYSTEM.  13 

senting  a  beach  like  the  sea.  The  large  granite 
bowlders  which  lie  scattered  about  the  border  have  a 
calcareous  coating  from  an  inch  to  a  foot  in  thick 
ness.  There  are  precipices  on  the  side  next  the 
Sierra,  which  rises  precipitously  in  places  three  thou 
sand  feet  above  the  surface.  During  winter  the  lake 
is  sometimes  almost  obscured  by  storms  of  snow, 
which  raise  the  waves  six  feet  high  and  send  them  in 
foaming  surf  along  the  narrow  beach,  in  good  imita 
tion  of  the  ocean. 

Not  a  single  lake  in  the  great  basin  has  a  visible 
outlet.  Pyramid  and  Walker  lakes  are  called  fresh 
water  sheets,  though  the  former  at  least  holds  in 
solution  a  little  salt.  The  waters  of  Carson  Lake 
are  slightly  alkaline.  Tahoe,  a  picturesque  sheet 
thirty  miles  long,  and  from  eight  to  fifteen  wide, 
though  partially  in  Nevada  is  not  within  the  basin 
proper,  but  rather  perched  upon  the  rim,  a  mile  and 
a  quarter  above  the  ocean  level;  its  waters  are  purely 
fresh,  very  deep,  and  exceedingly  clear,  and  have  out 
let  by  way  of  the  Truckee  River  into  Pyramid  Lake. 
The  small  streams  flowing  into  Tahoe  would  not  be  suf 
ficient  to  sustain  the  volume  of  water  throughout  the 
year  without  the  aid  of  the  springs  hidden  beneath  the 
surface.  Three  varieties  of  trout  here  make  their  home, 
some  of  which  attain  a  weight  of  nearly  thirty  pounds. 

Lake  Wirinemucca  is  a  shallow  basin  stretched  be 
side  Pyramid  Lake ;  at  times  it  is  nearly  dry,  like  the 
mud-lakes  to  the  north  which  during  the  dry  season 
are  mere  alkali  flats. 

Walker  Lake  is  an  irregular  fresh-water  sheet,  fed 
by  Walker  River,  and  containing  fish.  To  the  south 
west  in  California  is  Lake  Mono,  and  a  little  beyond 
a  salt  pond  about  twelve  miles  across,  in  which  fish 
cannot  live.  The  borders  of  Columbus,  Fish,  and 
Teal  lakes,  now  nearly  dry,  are  bordered  by  marshes. 
Indeed  we  must  not  too  closely  follow  the  map  in 
estimating  the  areas  covered  by  water  in  Utah  and 
Nevada,  as  many  of  the  spots  so  represented  are  mere 


14  THE  GREAT  BASIN. 

mud-flats,  and  covered  only  occasionally  if  at  all. 
The  term  mud  lake  comes  in  this  wise.  Over  many 
of  the  valleys  and  plains  of  Nevada  is  spread  an  im 
pervious  surface  of  stiff  clay.  This  surface  is  in 
places  level,  and  again  plate-shaped,  and  in  the  de 
pressions  water  gathers  during  the  rains  to  the  depth 
perhaps  of  a  foot  or  two,  to  be  evaporated  when  the 
sun  comes  out.  Evaporation  accomplished,  a  thin 
argillaceous  deposit  is  left,  beneath  which  the  ground 
is  usually  miry.  Then  there  are  lakes  like  the  Hurn- 
boldt  and  Carson  whose  waters  rise  during  the  rains 
and  overspread  a  wide  area,  receding  during  the  sub 
sequent  evaporation  leaving  the  same  result,  namely, 
mud-flats.  Round  some  of  the  lakes  and  along  some 
of  the  rivers,  notably  the  Humboldt,  are  what  were 
originally  tule  lands,  which  being  readily  drained  are 
converted  into  rich  meadows. 

The. term  sink  was  applied  by  the  early  immigrants, 
who  followed  the  Humboldt  River  to  its  end,  where, 
as  they  supposed,  it  sank  into  the  ground;  so  that 
Humboldt  Lake  was  first  called  the  sink  of  the  Hum 
boldt,  or  rather  of  Ogden  River.  The  part  played  by 
evaporation  was  not  at  first  fully  considered.  There 
is  still  the  sink  of  the  Carson,  which  takes  the  waters 
of  Carson  River  after  a  rest  at  Carson  Lake.  Both 
Humboldt  and  Carson  lakes  are  shallow;  the  former 
is  fifteen  miles  long  and  eight  or  ten  wide,  and  the 
latter  is  ten  miles  in  diameter.  The  waters  of  both 
contain  salt  and  alkali.  The  sink  of  the  Carson  is 
surrounded  by  sloughs,  tule  swamps,  and  sandy  wastes, 
wide  over  which  the  brackish  water  spreads  in  winter, 
contracting  again  during  summer.  The  waters  of 
Washoe  Lake  are  alkaline;  they  spring  from  beneath, 
and  have  an  outlet  into  the  Truckee. 

The  rivers  of  Nevada  are  not  large,  but  they  are 
many  and  serviceable;  and  though  as  a  rule  swift 
running  there  are  few  important  water-falls.  They 
all  send  their  waters  in  the  end  to  some  lake  or  so- 


RIVER  SYSTEM.  15 

called  sink.  Among  the  more  notable  rivers  here 
and  in  Utah  are  the  Humboldt,  three  hundred  miles 
in  length;  Bear  River,  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
long;  Sevier,  Spanish,  Jordan,  Timpanogos,  Malade, 
and  Weber,  springing  from  the  Wahsatch  range,  and 
the  Carson,  Truckee,  Walker,  Owen,  and  Mojave 
having  their  source  in  the  Nevada  range.  These  are 
from  thirty-five  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles 
in  length,  from  four  to  forty  yards  in  width,  and  from 
one  to  twenty  feet  in  depth,  varying  with  locality  and 
the  season.  Precipices  and  canons  mark  the  course 
of  many  of  them,  even  of  the  smaller  streams — 
instance  Pumbar  Creek. 

The  water  flowing  through  Carson  Lake  outlet, 
leading  into  the  sink  of  the  Carson,  fifty  feet  wide  and 
three  or  four  deep,  although  of  a  suspicious  milky  cast, 
is  nevertheless  pronounced  good.  Walker  River,  one 
hundred  yards  wide  and  five  or  ten  feet  deep,  is  of  a 
yellow  color,  something  like  that  of  the  Missouri;  to 
the  taste  the  water  is  soft  and  palatable.  The  banks 
in  places  are  grassy,  besides  growing  willows  and  cot- 
tonwoods. 

The  Timpanogos  is  a  bold,  dashing  stream,  from 
thirty  to  a  hundred  feet  in  width,  and  two  feet  deep. 
The  water  is  beautifully  clear  and  pure,  and  no  wonder 
the  trout  delight  in  it.  Of  the  same  character  is  Weber 
River,  twenty  or  thirty  yards  wide,  with  its  thickets 
of  willow,  and  its  groves  of  cotton  wood  and  maple. 

In  the  progress  of  westward-marching  empire  few 
streams  on  the  North  American  continent  have  played 
a  more  important  part  than  the  Humboldt  River  of 
Nevada.  Among  the  watercourses  of  the  world  it 
can  lay  claim  neither  to  great  beauty  nor  to  remark 
able  utility.  Its  great  work  was  to  open  a  way,  first 
for  the  cattle  train  and  then  for  the  steam  train, 
through  a  wilderness  of  mountains,  through  ranges 
which  otherwise  would  run  straight  across  its  course. 
It  is  the  largest  river  of  this  region,  and  the  only  one 
hereabout  running  from  east  to  west.  Most  of  the 


16  THE  GREAT  BASIN. 

others  are  with  the  mountains,  north  and  south.  The 
source  of  the  Humboldt  is  in  the  Goose  Creek  range 
seven  thousand  feet  above  the  ocean,  and  it  follows 
a  south-westerly  course  to  Humboldt  Lake  where  it 
ends. 

After  leaving  the  Humboldt,  the  Truckee  River 
proved  the  next  best  assistant  to  the  emigrant,  direct 
ing  him  as  it  did  by  the  best  route  over  the  steep 
Sierra.  It  was  rugged  and  difficult  enough,  but  it 
was  the  best.  Carson  River,  coming  in  from  the 
south-west,  has  served  a  good  purpose  in  floating  wood 
down  to  treeless  districts  below.  Next  in  size  to  the 
Truckee  of  Nevada  are  Walker,  Quin,  and  Amargoso 
rivers,  which  pursue  their  tortuous  courses  for  a  hun 
dred  or  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  the  latter  disappear 
ing  in  Death  Valley.  Las  Vegas  and  Rio  Virgen  are 
tributaries  of  the  Rio  Colorado. 

The  drainage  of  Utah  is  divided  by  the  Wahsatch 
Mountains,  the  Colorado  drainage  being  on  the  east 
side,  and  the  desert  drainage  on  the  west.  Green 
River  in  many  places  flows  over  a  narrow  bed  be 
tween  walls  of  white  and  red  sandstone.  From  its 
mouth  the  Colorado  cuts  for  its  waters  a  canon  to  the 
ocean.  Deep  Creek,  on  the  west  side,  and  which 
sinks  at  Curlew,  is  an  important  stream  for  purposes 
of  irrigation.  The  Jordan,  called  also  the  Utah,  car 
ries  the  waters  of  Utah  Lake  rapidly  down  the  in 
cline  to  Great  Salt  Lake,  nearly  losing  itself,  however, 
before  reaching  its  destination.  The  little  streams 
of  melted  snow  coming  down  from  the  mountains  are 
subject  to  considerable  fluctuations,  consequent  upon 
the  quantity  of  snow  and  the  progress  of  its  melting. 

The  hot  and  cold  springs  are  almost  innumerable. 
The  rattlesnake  chooses  as  a  resort  those  in  Round 
Prairie,  in  the  vicinity  of  Rattlesnake  Creek.  In 
one  of  these  springs  the  thermometer  marks  a  tem 
perature  of  ^  109°  50'.  Time  was  when  the  snakes  held 
full  possession  of  this  watering-place.  The  springs  of 


SPRINGS  AND  DESERTS  17 

Bear  River  are  many  of  them  impregnated  with  divers 
minerals.  Twenty  Wells  a  valley  is  called  having  cold 
springs  from  half  a  foot  to  several  feet  in  diameter, 
in  which  the  water  rises  to  the  surface  of  the  ground 
as  fast  as  it  is  drawn  out.  From  several  large  crev 
ices  in  a  low  mound  a  mile  long,  and  seven  hundred 
feet  in  length,  emerges  the  sulphuric  vapor  which  gives 
the  name  to  Steamboat  Springs,  the  surgings  of  the 
boiling  water  being  heard  below.  Sixty  columns  of 
steam  may  be  counted  on  a  clear  cool  morning,  rising 
to  a  height  of  fifty  feet.  There  are  also  Steamboat 
Springs  in  Utah,  on  Bear  River,  and  hot  springs  all 
along  the  western  base  of  the  Wahsatch  Mountains. 
In  most  of  these  waters  are  found  sulphate  of  mag 
nesia,  carbonate  of  lime,  chloride  of  sodium,  and  sul 
phate  of  lime.  Near  Walker  River  is  a  spring  having 
a  temperature  of  165°  at  the  surface. 

From  a  basin  ten  feet  in  diameter  within  another 
basin  ninety  feet  in  diameter,  near  Pyramid  Lake, 
comes  with  sulphuric  smell  a  thick  dark  hot  fluid 
which  looks  like  tar.  The  rocks  lying  within  the 
outer  basin  are  covered  to  the  thickness  of  nearly  a 
foot  with  a  black  resinous  substance. 

There  are  deserts  and  deserts,  not  to  mention  dry 
valleys,  alkaline  valleys,  and  the  like.  There  are  the 
Smoke  Creek  desert,  the  Granite  Creek  desert,  the 
Black  Rock  desert,  and  the  Sage  desert  of  northern 
Nevada,  and  the  large  deserts  in  the  south.  West 
and  south  of  Great  Salt  Lake  stretches  the  Great 
American  desert  for  a  distance  of  a  hundred  miles,  a 
flat  surface,  declining  slightly  northward  toward  the 
lake,  and  broken  occasionally  by  isolated  mountains. 
It  is  a  spot  shunned  alike  by  man  and  beast;  even  the 
birds  seem  loath  to  fly  over  it.  Whatever  of  soil 
there  may  be  is  of  an  argillo-calcareo-arenaceous  char 
acter,  in  which  appears  a  small  growth  only  of  arte- 
misia  and  greasewood.  Near  the  lake  the  lower  and 
yet  more  level  and  salt-covered  ground,  which  was 


HIST.  NEV.    2 


13  THE  GREAT  BASIN. 

once  part  of  the  lake  bottom,  is  little  more  than  a 
mud-flat,  on  which  wagons  cannot  safely  venture. 
Indeed,  there  is  little  doubt  that  this  wThole  desert 
area  was  at  one  time  submerged. 

Indigenous  plants  and  animals  are  few,  not  how 
ever  from  lack  of  possibilities.  Mark  the  prophecy : 
the  valleys  of  this  whole  region  will  one  day  be  rich 
fields  and  gardens,  supporting  flourishing  populations. 
At  some  seasons  of  the  year  the  flora  of  Nevada 
appears  to  be  little  else  than  sage-brush  and  grease- 
wood;  at  other  seasons  hills  and  plains  are  brilliant 
with  flowering  herbage.  Large  tracts  are  wholly 
destitute  of  vegetation.  Among  things  man  may  eat, 
besides  insects  in  abundance  and  some  reptiles,  are 
pine-nuts,  currants,  and  gooseberries.  Then  there  is 
a  sugar  coming  from  a  kind  of  cane  growing  in  the 
tule  swamps  about  Hurnboldt  and  Carson  lakes,  wrhile 
in  the  neighboring  hills  flax  and  tobacco  are  sometimes 
met  with.  In  the  south  there  are  the  cactus  and 
mezquite. 

On  most  of  the  mountain  ridges  of  Utah  are  dwarf 
cedars;  mahogany  is  likewise  frequent,  that  is  to  say 
mountain  mahogany  as  the  people  call  it,  and  also 
pine,  balsam,  and  ash.  At  a  distance  the  mahogany 
of  these  mountains  looks  like  an  appletree  with  a  live- 
oak  leaf.  Along  the  Timpanogos  and  its  tributaries 
are  found  box-elder,  cotton  wood,  and  oak;  willow, 
sugar-maple,  and  birch;  in  the  mountains  are  pine, 
fir,  and  juniper,  and  in  the  valleys  are  red  and  black 
currants,  service-berries,  and  a  blue  berry  called  the 
mountain  grape.  The  rolling  highlands  between 
Weber  River  and  Salt  Lake  are  heavily  timbered,  and 
support  in  places  a  dense  undergrowth.  The  Sevier 
district  also  abounds  in  timber.  Along  the  Colorado 
as  it  leaves  Utah  are  low  and  stunted  pines  on  river 
banks  so  high  that  the  Spaniards  who  were  first  there 
fancied  themselves  amidst  the  clouds;  even  durino- 
summer  the  cold  wind  sometimes  sweeps  in  from  the 
north  in  a  manner  most  uncomfortable.  The  streams 


FLORA  AND  FAUNA.  19 

of  Nevada  are  bordered  by  cottonwood,  willow,  birch, 
and  wild  cherry,  with  here  and  there  a  mixture  of 
wild  vines,  and  rose  and  berry  bushes. 

On  the  hills  of  Nevada  are  two  kinds  of  bunch 
grass,  which  may  be  distinguished  as  coarse  and  fine, 
the  former  being  in  smaller  and  more  scattered  bunches 
and  seeking  the  lower  levels.  Both  are  very  nutri 
tious,  the  finer  variety  bearing  an  oat-shaped  seed. 
Clover  is  sometimes  found  on  the  river  banks. 
Washoe  valley  is  a  natural  meadow;  so  is  Mountain 
Meadow,  the  latter  a  plateau  seven  or  eight  thousand 
feet  high,  walled  by  mountains,  watered  by  melted 
snow,  and  carpeted  with  luxuriant  grass.  Utah  pre 
sents  a  great  variety  of  grasses. 

Into  the  arms  of  the  commonwealth  in  some  way 
should  be  twined  the  artemisia,  or  wild  sage,  so 
abundant  is  it  everywhere  throughout  this  region. 
Beside  it  place  some  greasewood  and  lynogris,  under 
which  last  let  a  rabbit  be  seen.  This  aromatic  shrub 
clothes  the  land  in  gray,  which  mingling  with  the 
green  of  the  greasewood  bronzes  all  nature. 

Among  mammals  may  be  mentioned  the  bighorn, 
or  Rocky  Mountain  sheep,  the  great-tailed  fox,  the 
mink,  ermine,  badger,  wolverene,  and  muskrat.  There 
are  sage-hens  and  hares  to  shoot;  a  few  coyotes  may 
be  heard  on  the  hills.  In  the  reptile  line,  besides 
rattlesnakes  there  is  not  much  to  boast  of  but  horned 
toads  and  spotted  lizards. 

Curlews,  pelicans,  and  clucks  frequent  the  region 
round  Carson  Lake.  Myriads  of  geese  and  ducks, 
with  swans,  cover  the  surface  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake 
at  certain  seasons,  there  shrieking  their  discordant 
notes,  while  at  other  times  and  places  there  is  the 
stillness  of  the  grave,  a  dead  sea  indeed.  There  are 
also  on  the  lake  blue  herons,  white  brant,  cormorants, 
and  gulls,  which  lay  their  eggs  in  the  crevices  on  the 
islands.  Other  birds  might  be  mentioned  as  frequent 
ing  these  and  other  parts  of  the  great  basin,  such  as 
the  hawk,  and  burrowing  owl,  the  long-winged  blue- 


20  THE  GREAT  BASIN. 

bird,  the  titmouse,  lark,  snow-bird,  finch,  woodpecker, 
kill-deer,  sage-cock,  crane,  bittern,  and  so  on. 

Fine  large  trout  abound  in  the  fresh-water  lakes; 
in  Carson  Lake  are  fish  of  a  smaller  kind,  notably 
chubs  and  mullets.  In  Keese  Eiver  trout  are  found 
two  and  a  half  pounds  in  weight.  Of  four-legged  rep 
tiles,  and  insects,  there  is  present  the  usual  variety. 

In  that  section  of  Nevada  of  which  Carson  Lake 
is  the  centre,  the  mineral  deposits  are  the  wonder  of 
the  world.  Not  to  mention  the  silver  veins  of  the 
Comstock  lode,  whose  history  in  a  sense  and  during 
an  epoch  is  the  history  of  Nevada,  there  are  salt 
marshes,  borax  beds,  and  chalk,  soda,  and  sulphur 
beds  almost  without  end.  The  waters  of  North 
Soda  Lake  which  cover  an  area  of  400  acres  to  a 
depth  of  270  feet  contain  thirty-three  per  cent  of 
soda.  Coal  is  likewise  there,  and  peat  beds,  and 
quicksilver.  The  sulphur  and  cinnabar  deposits  of 
Steamboat  Springs  have  attracted  much  attention. 
In  Veatch  canon  is  magnesia;  in  the  Ruby  Range  are 
mica  mines;  south-east  from  Pine  Grove  is  a  valley 
of  salt ;  east  of  the  Rio  Virgen  are  salt  bluffs ;  in  the 
Peavine  district  is  copper;  a  mineral  wax  in  southern 
Utah  is  mentioned;  Utah  has  also  copper,  bismuth, 
graphite,  alum,  and  gypsum. 

Coal  has  been  found  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Timpa- 
nogos  River  where  there  is  a  stream  called  Coal 
Creek;  and  on  Weber  River  iron,  coal,  chalk,  and 
gold  exist  in  quantities.  Then  there  are  the  scores 
of  districts  on  either  side  of  the  river  Jordan,  between 
Great  Salt  and  Utah  lakes,  containing  names  world- 
famous,  and  significant  of  precious  metals;  and  in  the 
regions  of  Green  and  Bear  rivers,  in  the  Juab  Valley, 
and  all  along  down  the  Wahsatch  Range  to  the  Se- 
vier  country  are  vast  coal  fields,  and  on  to  the  south 
west,  which  region  is  thickly  studded  with  cedar  and 
bullion  cities,  sulphur  springs,  salt  lakes,  coal  canons, 
and  granite,  iron,  and  silver  mountains. 

There  is  iron  and  other  mineral  wealth  south  of 


MINERAL  AND  ALLUVIAL  LANDS.  21 

Filmore;  in  the  Elko  district  are  gold,  silver,  lead, 
antimony,  coal,  and  mineral  soap;  in  the  Esmeralda 
region  silver,  gold,  borax,  salt;  the  Eureka  district 
has  its  Sulphur  range  and  Diamond  range  of  moun 
tains,  and  its  mines,  mining  companies,  and  mills  with 
out  end. 

To  the  north  agriculture  has  somewhat  usurped  the 
place  of  mining.  Wheat,  barley,  oats,  rye,  and  pota 
toes  grow  abundantly,  as  well  as  berries  and  fruit. 
There  are  good  grazing  lands,  and  stock-raising  has 
assumed  considerable  proportions.  Antimony  and 
sulphur  have  attracted  attention,  and  many  gold  and 
silver  mines  have  been  worked.  Gold,  silver,  copper, 
lead,  and  antimony  are  found  in  the  Battle  Mountain 
country,  and  in  the  Pioche  district  are  many  famous 
mines.  Round  Pyramid  Lake  mines  have  been  opened, 
and  Esmeralda,  Eureka,  Reese  River,  and  White  Pine 
have  long  been  terms  synonymous  with  great  wealth. 
In  a  word,  throughout  the  entire  length  and  breadth 
of  the  great  basin  mineral  and  metalliferous  deposits 
abound,  the  largest  veins  thus  far  having  been  found 
in  high  altitudes;  and  who  shall  tell  whether  the  half 
of  them  have  been  yet  discovered. 

This  country  though  sometimes  called  desert  is  by 
no  means  all  desert.  There  are  many  valleys,  such 
as  Carson,  Walker,  Rush,  Ruby,  Pleasant,  Steptoe, 
Antelope,  and  Crosman,  portions  of  which  are  good 
for  cultivation.  The  altitude  of  Steptoe  Valley  is 
6,146  feet,  while  the  lower  part  of  Carson  Valley  is 
3,840  feet  above  the  sea.  The  higher  valleys  grow 
roots,  cereals,  and  the  more  hardy  plants,  while  in 
Carson  Valley  and  in  the  region  of  Great  Salt  Lake, 
and  elsewhere,  garden  vegetables  flourish.  And  when 
I  see  so  much  of  this  earth  which  was  at  first  pro 
nounced  worthless  for  man  afterward  placed  under 
tribute,  and  made  to  bloom  and  bring  forth,  I  hesitate 
before  I  wholly  condemn  any  portion  of  it.  Water 
transforms  the  sage-covered  alkaline  soil  into  an  Eden, 


22  THE  GREAT  BASIN. 

and  water  abounds  on  every  side  if  only  it  may  be 
utilized.  Nevertheless,  there  are  here  some  desert 
spots  which  will  never  be  reclaimed — instance  the 
region  between  Carson  Lake  and  the  Sedaye  Moun 
tains,  and  that  extending  from  Simpson  Springs  in 
the  Champlin  Mountains  to  Sulphur  Springs  at  the 
eastern  base  of  the  Goshute  Mountains. 

One  cause  of  the  barrenness  of  certain  tracts  in 
Utah  and  Nevada  is  the  rapidity  with  which  water 
is  absorbed  after  it  comes  down  from  the  mountains. 
I  have  observed  that  the  lakes  and  rivers  are  gen 
erally  at  the  base  of  mountains,  where  likewise,  of 
course,  are  found  the  fertile  spots,  while  the  deserts 
are  somewhat  removed  from  high  elevations.  As  a 
rule  the  mountain  streams  disappear  before  finding 
another  stream;  the  thirsty  earth  drinks  them  up; 
and  thus  are  irrigated  patches  along  the  foothills, 
which  are  oases,  as  compared  with  the  unwatered 
plain,  growing  coarse  grain  and  shrubs. 

Significant  names  are  White  Valley  and  Alkali 
Valley;  but  these  in  reality  are  scarcely  more  efflor 
escent  than  the  margins  of  Steptoe  and  Meadow 
creeks,  and  of  Keese  and  Walker  rivers.  At  a  little 
distance  the  appearance  there  is  as  if  the  ground  was 
covered  with  pure  snow,  which,  bordering  the  gen 
erally  bronzed  aspect,  produces  a  new  scenic  effect. 
It  is  said  that  the  alkali  poisons  vegetation  and  ren 
ders  worthless  the  soil;  but  to  this  an  antidote  may 
yet  be  found.  It  does  not  seem  to  injure  the  water 
of  running  streams,  though  wells  dug  under  it  are 
often  worthless.  There  is,  nevertheless,  much  good 
agricultural  land  along  Walker  River,  as  well  as  on 
the  banks  of  the  Truckee  and  Quin. 

As  in  much  of  the  water,  so  in  most  of  the  soil, 
there  is  a  little  salt,  this  being  the  result  of  universal 
confinement.  Often  it  is  found,  as  at  the  Malade 
River,  that  the  lowlands  are  rich  and  moist,  while  the 
higher  plains  are  dry  and  gravelly.  Then  again  there 
are  large  tracts  like  that  westward  from  the  Malade 


AGRICULTURAL  POSSIBILITIES.  23 

where  the  land  is  poor  and  with  no  water  but  a  few 
brackish  springs.  East  of  Utah  Lake  is  a  strip  of 
good  land  from  three  to  ten  miles  wide;  and  over  the 
mountains  broad  fertile  tracts  are  found  alonof  the 
borders  of  Green  River  and  its  tributaries.  In  the 
valleys  about  the  Carson  sink  is  much  good  land, 
while  the  foothills  bordering  the  deserts  afford  food 
for  numerous  herds.  Washoe  and  Steamboat  valleys 
offer  great  advantages  to  the  farmer  and  stock-raiser. 
Combined  with  agriculture  in  this  section  are  the 
mining  and  timber  interests. 

The  Jordan  Valley  is  low,  yielding  but  little  water, 
though  most  of  it  may  be  irrigated  from  the  Jordan 
River.  Wheat,  barley,  oats,  potatoes,  and  the  vine 
grow  well  here.  At  the  northern  end,  near  the 
great  lake,  are  extensive  saleratus  flats,  and  on  the 
border  of  the  valley  many  springs  of  brackish  water. 
The  land  in  Tuilla  Valley  is  much  of  it  too  strongly 
impregnated  with  alkali  to  permit  production. 

Apples  grow  in  the  valley  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake, 
and  also  peaches,  apricots,  and  melons;  but  wheat  is 
the  great  staple,  from  forty  to  seventy  bushels  to  the 
acre  being  sometimes  produced.  It  is  only  in  the 
warmer  valleys  that  corn  is  raised,  but  barley  and 
oats  thrive  elsewhere.  There  would  be  great  pas 
toral  possibilities  but  for  lack  of  means  for  the  pres 
ervation  of  stock  in  winter;  such  at  all  events  is  the 
complaint,  but  in  more  rigorous  climates  than  this 
large  herds  are  frequently  raised. 

In  regard  to  nomenclature,  I  will  mention  here  the 
origin  of  a  few  names,  leaving  that  of  others  to 
appear  during  the  progress  of  this  history.  The  ori 
gin  of  the  word  Utah  I  have  given  in  a  note  at  the 
end  of  the  second  chapter  of  the  History  of  Utah. 
The  word  Nevada,  in  Spanish  signifying  'covered 
with  snow,'  'white  as  snow/  *  snow-fall/  is  borrowed 
of  course  for  the  naming  of  this  state  from  the  moun 
tain  range  upon  its  western  border.  Skull  Valley,  in 


24  THE  GREAT  BASIN. 

the  Great  Salt  Lake  desert,  was  so  called  from  the 
skulls  of  Goshutes  whose  bodies  had  been  buried  in 
springs,  according  to  their  custom.  Captain  Simpson 
named  a  valley  after  George  H.  Crosman,  deputy 
quartermaster-general;  a  peak  in  the  Oquirrh  Moun 
tains,  Floyd,  in  honor  of  the  secretary  of  war;  Bean, 
and  Reese,  from  whom  comes  Reese  River,  at  first 
called  New  River,  were  long  residents,  and  served 
as  guides  for  Simpson  and  others;  Shell  Valley  was 
so  called  from  being  covered  with  shale.  Simpson 
named  a  stream  after  Lieutenant  Marmaduke,  of  the 
United  States  army,  a  stream  and  canon  after  Lieu 
tenant  J.  L.  Kirby  Smith,  his  assistant,  a  valley 
after  Captain  I.  C.  Woodruff,  a  creek  for  Lieutenant 
Putnam;  a  pass,  creek,  and  canon  he  called  Gibral 
tar.  He  named  Dryflat  Valley,  Alkali  Valley,  Black 
Mountains,  Edward,  Clay,  McCarthy,  and  Dodge 
creeks,  Fountain,  Lee,  and  Barr  springs,  Phelps  Val 
ley,  and  many  others,  mostly  after  his  men,  com 
paratively  few  of  which  names  have  been  retained. 
Steptoe  Valley  is  from  Colonel  Steptoe,  of  the  United 
States  army ;  while  all  that  is  Carson  comes  of  course 
from  Kit  Carson,  the  famous  frontiersman.  There 
was  a  class  of  path  and  pass  finders,  such  as  Hastings, 
Beckwourth,  and  others,  whom  the  readers  of  this 
history  will  well  know.  The  aboriginal  names  will  be 
easily  recognized. 

In  the  northern  part  of  Rush  Valley  is  a  small  lake 
filled  with  rushes  which  gave  the  place  the  name. 
Mount  Davidson  was  called  Sun  peak  by  the  early 
settlers,  who  thereby  fixed  in  the  imagination  a  high 
point  touched  by  the  sun's  rays.  Later  the  name  of 
an  eminent  scientist  was  very  properly  substituted. 

The  name  and  naming  of  Lake  Tahoe  have  first 
and  last  caused  no  little  discussion.  In  his  report  of 
1845-6  Fremont  calls  this  sheet  Mountain  Lake,  but 
on  his  map  of  1848  he  lays  it  down  as  Lake  Bonpland. 
There  were  those  who  thought  to  do  John  Bigler 
further  honor  than  making  him  governor  of  Califor- 


NOMENCLATURE.  25 

nia,  by  setting  on  foot  the  name  Lake  Bigler.  Noth 
ing  could  have  been  in  worse  taste — particularly  when 
we  consider  that  only  a  portion  of  the  lake  belongs  to 
California — than  in  applying  to  a  liquid  so  beautifully 
clear  and  cool  the  name  of  one  who  so  detested  water. 
A  legislature  might  make  the  name  legal,  but  no  stat 
ute-book  could  render  the  proceeding  reputable.  The 
Indian  name,  always  the  most  appropriate,  in  this  in 
stance  the  most  beautiful  and  most  applicable  that 
could  be  devised — Tahoe,  'big  water' — the  lake  has 
been  fortunate  enough  finally  to  secure. 


CHAPTER  II. 

EARLIEST    EXPLORATIONS. 
1540-1833. 

NEAR  APPROACH  OF  CORONADO'S  EXPEDITION,  AND  ESPECIALLY  OF  PEDRO 
DE  TOBAR — PARTY  OF  SPANIARDS  UNDER  ANZA — WANDERINGS  OP 
FATHER  FRANCISCO  GARCES— PETER  FONT'S  JOURNAL  AND  MAP — 
MYTHICAL  STREAMS — OTHER  ANCIENT  MAPS — APPROACH  OF  DOMIN- 
OUEZ  AND  ESCALANTE  TO  NEVADA — PETER  SKEEN  OGDEN  FOR  THE 
HUDSON'S  BAY  COMPANY — DISCOVERY  OF  MARY  OR  OGDEN  RIVER — 
ADVENT  OF  FREE  TRAPPERS — HENRY,  ASHLEY,  BRIDGER,  AND  GREEN — 
EXPEDITION  TO  CALIFORNIA  OF  JEDEDIAH  S.  SMITH — NEVADA  TRAV 
ERSED  FROM  WEST  TO  EAST— INFLUX  OF  TRAPPERS  FROM  THE  NORTH — 
THE  WOLFSKILL  EXPEDITION — PARTIES  UNDER  NIDEVER,  FRAPP, 
AND  WYATT — ENCOUNTER  WITH  THE  SAVAGES — JOSEPH  WALKER'S 
VISIT  TO  CALIFORNIA  AND  RETURN — ILL-TREATMENT  OF  INDIANS — 
MEEK'S  STATEMENT — SOMETHING  OF  CARSON  AND  BECKWOURTH. 

IN  my  History  of  Utah  and  elsewhere  I  make  men 
tion  of  the  visit  of  Pedro  de  Tobar,  of  Coronado's 
expedition  of  1540,  to  the  Moqui  villages,  then  called 
Tusayan,  where  he  heard  of  a  large  river  to  the  north 
and  west.  I  have  told  how,  when  Tobar  returned 
to  Ci'bola,  or  Zuni,  where  the  army  rested,  Captain 
Garcia  Lopez  de  Cdrdenas  set  out  with  twelve  men 
to  explore  said  river.  Some  say  the  direction  he  took 
from  Moqui  was  westerly;  some  intimate  it  was  to 
the  north  of  west;  I  am  inclined  to  the  latter  view. 
In  either  event  it  is  not  probable  that  the  territory 
now  called  Nevada  was  entered,  or  that  any  portion 
of  it  was  seen  by  the  members  of  that  expedition, 
though  such  discovery  is  possible. 

There  may  have  been  expeditions  into  the  country 
of  the  Yutas  from  Cibola,  or  Zuni,  from  Moqui,  or 
from  the  country  of  the  Mojaves,  of  which  there  is  no 

(26) 


CORONADO  AND  CARDENA& 


27 


record.  After  the  occupation  of  New  Mexico  by  the 
Spaniards,  excursions  in  every  direction  were  com 
mon;  so  that  it  is  unsafe  to  say  of  any  one  of  them 
that  it  was  the  first.  It  is  true  that  in  making  and 
placing  upon  record  an  expedition  of  any  considerable 
importance,  any  other  important  excursion  then  known 
to  have  taken  place  at  some  former  period  would 
be  likely  to  receive  mention;  and,  indeed,  was  often 
mentioned. 


ftS-p**8*1*- 


DESERT 


V 


PROBABLE  ROUTE  OF  CARDENAS. 

The  first  European  to  enter  within  the  present 
limits  of  Nevada  of  whom  we  now  have  knowledge, 
and  without  doubt  in  my  mind  absolutely  the  first  to 
enter,  was  Father  Francisco  Garces,  of  the  order  of 
St  Francis,  who  set  out  from  Sonora  in  1775  with  a 
party  under  Colonel  Anza  for  California,  and  who 
stopped  at  the  junction  of  the  Colorado  and  Gila  to 
explore  for  a  mission  site.  Of  the  expedition  to  Cali 
fornia  was  Father  Pedro  Font  who  wrote  a  narrative 
of  it,  and  drew  a  map  which  included  not  only  his 


2S 


EARLIEST  EXPLORATIONS. 


own  wanderings  but  those  of  Garce's.1  ^  If  Garce's  is 
right  in  his  reckoning,  and  Font's  map  is  correct,  the 
friar  was  in  Nevada  at  the  time. 

The  month  of  January  1776  was  occupied  in  estab 
lishing  a  residence  on  the  spot  where  later  stood  Fort 
Yuma,  the  examination  of  the  rancheria  of  San  Pablo, 


PADRE  FONT'S  MAP,  1777. 

below  on  the  river,  which  was  found  to  be  a  suitable 
site  for  a  mission.  In  February  he  visited  the  Yam- 
ajabs,  that  is  to  say  the  Mojaves,  arriving  on  the 

1  These  wanderings  are  designated  by  dotted  lines.  SeeAnsa,  Diai-io,  MS., 
198  et  seq.;  Font's  Journal,  MS.,  45  et  seq.;  Arricivita,  Crdn.  Xerdf.,  464  et 
seq.;  //is/.  Gal.,  i.  273-8,  this  series. 

2  'Across  a  sierra  to  Santo  Angel  Springs  34°  31'  (in  Chemehueves  coun 
try);  Cl  N.  E.  and  N.  w.;  71  N.  N.  E.  across  a  sierra  to  Yamajab  nation,  whose 
ranchenas,  La  Pasion,  were  across  the  river  (35  on  Font's  map).'  Hist.  Cal.% 
i.  275,  note,  this  series. 


TRAVELS  OF  GARCES.  29 

west  bank  of  the  river  nearly  opposite  their  village  on 
the  28th.3 

Garces  did  not  cross  the  river  at  this  time,  but  two 
thousand  people  of  a  nature  superior4  to  that  of  the 
Yumas  came  to  him  on  the  west  side.  "I  showed 
them  a  picture  of  the  virgin,"  says  the  friar,  "and 
they  were  well  pleased,  but  the  picture  of  the  damned 
they  thought  it  sorrowful  to  see."  The  Yamajabs 
spoke  of  their  neighbors  and  enemies,  on  the  north 
east  the  Yavipais-cuercconaches,  on  the  east  the 
Yaguallapais,  and  on  the  south  the  Yalchedunes.  Be 
fore  penetrating  farther  these  parts  the  friar  deter 
mined  to  visit  his  brother  priests  at  San  Gabriel. 
Some  of  the  Yamajabs  accompanied  him,  and  the 
month  of  March  was  chiefly  occupied  in  the  journey 
west. 

On  the  9th  of  April  Garces  set  out  from  San 
Gabriel  and  proceeded  by  way  of  San  Fernando  Val 
ley  to  the  Tulare  Valley,  whence  he  crossed  to  the 
Mojave  River,  and  returned  to  his  former  position  on 
the  Colorado,  after  having  traversed  as  discoverer  a 
wide  extent  of  country.  Garces  then  took  up  his  east 
ward  line  of  exploration  which  extended  to  the  Moqui 
country  as  elsewhere  explained. 

The  people  inhabiting  this  part  of  Nevada,  and 
located  to  the  north  of  the  Yamajabs,  are  named  on 
Font's  map  the  Chemeguabas,  and  north-east  of  these 
the  Payachas,  and  the  Baoniora.  Two  large  rivers 
toward  the  north-west  are  likewise  given  on  Font's 
map,  both  flowing  from  Nevada  through  the  Sierra 
into  California.  Garces  did  not  explore  these  rivers 
but  was  told  of  them  by  the  natives  when  in  the 

3  For  detail  of  the  route  from  the  mouth  of  the  Gila  to  the  Mojave  country, 
which  was  along  the  west  bank  of  the  Colorado,  see  Hist.  Col.,  i.  275,  note. 

4  See  Native  Races,  i.  477  et  seq.,  this  series.     'Esta  gente  es  muy  sana  y 
robusta,  las  mujeres  las  mas  agraciadas  del  rio. .  .ellos  dicen  que  son  muy  fuer- 
tes,  especialmente  en  aguantar  la  hambre  y  sed. '  Diario  y  derrotero  que  sicjuid 
el  M.  R.  P.  Fr.  Francisco  Garces  en  su  viaje  hecho  desde  Octubre  de  1115  hasta 
17  de  Setiembre  de  1776,  al  Rio  Colorado  para  reconocer  las  naciones  que  habltan 
sus  mdrgenes,  y  d  los  pueblos  del  Moqui  del  Nuevo-Mexico.    In  Doc.  Hist.  Alex., 
se>ie  ii.  'torn.  i.  225-374. 


30 


EARLIEST  EXPLORATIONS. 


Tulare  Valley,  and  he  in  turn  reported  them  to  Father 
Font.  They  are  named  in  the  map  "  Rio  de  San 
Phelipe,"  and  "  Rio  de  que  se  viene  noticia  por  el 
P.  Garces/'  and  are  probably  the  origin  of  the  San 
Buenaventura  River  myth.  Garces  states:  "  I  was 
also  told  that  hence  seven  days'  journey  to  the  north 


MAP  BY  JOHN  HARRIS,  1605. 

was  a  great  river5  running  north-east  and  connecting 
with  the  San  Felipe,  the  latter  dividing,  and  one  of 


SOME  OLD  MAPS.  31 

the  branches  flowing  toward  the  north.  They  gave 
me  to  understand  that  the  first  was  three  times  larger 
than  the  other.  They  wanted  me  to  go  and  see  it, 
saying  that  all  along  the  way  were  good  people.  This 
I  greatly  desired  to  do.  They  estimated  the  distance 
to  be  from  thirty-five  to  forty  leagues,  a  trip  of  seven 
days,  as  they  march  slowly  on  account  of  their  fre 
quent  bathing  and  unprotected  feet.  I  concluded  not 
to  go,  having  no  present  to  give.  Here  runs  the 
Sierra  San  Marcos6  to  the  north-west,  and  between 


GRANATA  IS  OVA. 

this  sierra  and  that  of  the  San  Luis  can  be  seen  vast 
plains  which  without  doubt  are  the  tulares  mentioned 
by  Father  Font  in  his  diary  and  map;  this  Sierra  of 
San  Marcos  being  the  one  seen  by  him  at  the  distance 
of  forty  leagues,  white  with  snow,  and  east  of  the 
tulares;  and  although  the  distance  is  not  so  great,  the 
mountains  open  gradually,  so  that  farthest  away  can 
be  seen  only  the  Sierra  of  San  Marcos."7 

6  On  Font's  map  the  mountains  north  of  the  'Rio  de  quien  se  viene  noticia 
por  el  P.  Oarers'  are  called  the  Sierra  Nevada,  and  south  of  that  stream  and 
down  to  the  'Rio  de  San  Phelipe'  the  Sierra  de  San  Marcos. 

7  'Dij^ronme  tambien,  que  siete  dias  de  camino  al  uorte  habia  una  agua  £ 


m 


EARLIEST  EXPLORATIONS. 


There  are  many  curious  old  maps  showing  the  gen 
eral  conception  of  the  country  about  that  time,  ^  or 
rather  showing  the  ability  of  map-makers  for  drawing 
on  their  imagination,  which  I  might  reproduce;  and, 
indeed,  many  of  them  have  been  given  in  various 
volumes  of  this  historical  series,  notably  in  the  His 
tory  of  the  Northwest  Coast,  in  connection  with  an 
elucidation  of  the  great  Northern  Mystery.  A  map 
drawn  by  John  Harris  in  1605  seems  to  give  the 
name  Quivira  to  a  vast  region  which  embraces  Ne- 


ryssn  <ie  Tollca*  Inlet 
'      JH.Olymptts 


UTAH  AND  NEVADA,  1795. 

rio  muy  grande,  que  corria  del  nordeste  y  se  juntaba  con  el  de  San  Felipe, 
porque  e"ste,  como  dir6,  cuando  se  divide  en  dos  brazos  lleva  el  uno  el  rumbo 
del  norte;  y  daban  a  entender  que  el  primero  era  tres  veces  mayor  que  el 
otro;  querian  que  fuera  a  verlo,  que  por  todo  aquel  camino  habia  buenagente. 
Yo  lo  deseaba  mucho,  porque  consideraba  de  distancia  hasta  treinta  y  cinco 
6  cuarenta  leguas,  pues  aunque  ellos  reputaban  necesarios  siete  dias,  es  porque 
andan  poco  a  causa  de  que  se  banan  mucho  y  no  tienen  defensa  en  los  pie's. 
Por  ultimo  no  me  determine^  asi  porque  no  tenia  que  regalar  como  por  lo  que 
dije  arriba  de  Sebastian  y  los  jamajabs:  por  aqui  corre  la  sierra  de  San  Mar 
cos  al  norueste,  y  entre  ella  y  la  de  San  Luis  se  ven  unos  llanos  dilatadisimos, 
que  sin  duda  son  los  tulares  de  que  hacen  mencion  en  su  dlario  y  mapa  el 
padre  Font,  siendo  esta  sierra  de  San  Marcos  la  que  como  a  distancia  de  cua 
renta  leguas  veia  nevada  al  oriente  de  los  tulares;  y  aunquo  aqui  no  hay  esta 
distancia,  se  van  abriendo  las  sierras,  de  modo  que  a  lo  ultimo  solo  se  ve"  la  de 
San  Marcos:  2  leguas.'  Diario,  Doc.  Hist.  Mex.t  s6rie  ii.,  torn.  i.  297-8. 


FROM  WIXTERBOTHAM. 


33 


vada  in  common  with  other  undefined  countries. 
From  the  Histoire  Vniverselle  des  Indes  Orientales, 
Dluisee  en  deux  liures,  faicte  en  Latin  par  Antoine 
Mag  in,  Dovay,  1611,  I  copy  the  Granata  Nova  et 
California,  which,  however,  presents  little  historical 
significance.  The  work  from  which  it  is  taken  pur 
ports  to  contain  an  account  of  the  "  descovuerte, 
nauigation,  situation,  et  conquete,  faicte  tant  par  les 
Portugais  que  par  les  Castillans,  Ensemble  leurs 
moeurs  et  Religion."  A  Latin  poem  of  twenty-four 
lines  introduces  the  general  history,  which  begins 


RECTOR'S  MAP,  1818. 

with  comments  on  the  ancient  cosrnographers  and 
the  discovery  of  Columbus,  the  first  book  giving  the 
history  of  the  Spanish  Americas,  and  closing  with  a 
sonnet  in  French.  Book  ii.  contains  numerous  maps, 
with  a  brief  description  of  the  countries,  fourteen 
lines  being  devoted  to  California. 

In  a  map  of  North  America  drawn  to  accompany 
Winterbotham's  history,  published  in  New  York  1795, 
Nevada  is  a  blank  save  the  delineation  of  a  stream 
with  its  tributaries  flowing  eastward  into  a  nameless 
lake,  presumbably  Great  Salt  Lake,  the  three  towns 
of  Axaas,  Bagopas,  and  Quivira,  and  a  section  of 


HIST.  NEV.    3 


34  EARLIEST  EXPLORATIONS. 

the  Sierra  Nevada  from  opposite  San  Francisco  Bay 
southward  toward  Lower  California. 

In  January  1818  was  filed  in  the  general  land  office 
a  map  of  western  North  America  by  William  Rector, 
United  States  surveyor  for  Missouri  and  Illinois,8 
whose  greatest  peculiarity  so  far  as  the  western  slope 
is  concerned  lies  in  draining  into  the  Willamette  the 
whole  region  north  of  the  latitude  of  San  Francisco 
Bay,  and  east  of  the  Columbia  and  Colorado  rivers, 
the  Siskiyou  Mountains  being  crowded  south  to  ac 
commodate  this  arrangement. 


FINLEY'S  MAP,  1826. 

In  1826  A.  Finley,  of  Philadelphia,  presented  quite 
an  elaborate  map,  the  unknown  regions  being  well 
filled  from  ill-founded  reports,  or  from  the  imagination. 
Thus  the  Rio  San  Felipe  is  made  to  flow  from  south 
ern  Nevada  due  west  through  the  Sierra  into  Mon 
terey  Bay.  The  Rio  Buenaventura  mystery  is  here 
multiplied,  so  that  from  the  great  lakes  three  large 
streams  are  made  to  flow  in  the  most  direct  course, 
regardless  of  intervening  mountains,  to  the  ocean! 
The  one  most  southern,  the  Rio  Buenaventura,  rises 

8  Lieut.  Warren,  who  presents  a  reduced  copy  in  Pac.  R.  Rept.,  xi.  23, 
nap,  though  the  most  complete  up  to  that  time,  was  never  published! 


PETER  SKEEN  OGDEN. 


35 


near  the  source  of  the  Lewis  branch  of  the  Columbia 
and  empties  into  Lake  Salado,  which  may  be  Great 
Salt  Lake,  or  Utah  Lake,  as  one  chooses;  thence  it 
takes  up  a  direct  course  for  San  Francisco  Bay. 
From  Lake  Timpanogos,  the  original  Lake  Ashley, 
or  Utah  Lake,  but  now  greatly  enlarged  and  placed 
north  of  Salt  Lake,  if  indeed  Timpanogos  be  not  itself 
Great  Salt  Lake,  flow  directly  to  the  ocean  the  rivers 
Timpanogos  and  Los  Mongos,  the  former  finding  the 


Utah  L. 


ESCALANTE'S  ROUTE. 

sea  below  Cape  Mendocino,  and  the  latter  just  south 
of  Cape  Orford. 

Although  the  San  Felipe  was  purely  an  imaginary 
stream,  Friar  Garces'  branch  of  it  running  toward  the 
north  was  a  reality,  being  none  other  than  the  San 
Joaquin.  From  the  Colorado  Garce's  proceeded  east 
ward  and  visited  the  Moqui  towns,  returning  to  the 
Yamajabs  after  a  month's  absence.  Then  he  descended 
the  Colorado. 

Next   to  enter  Nevada,   or  at  least  to  touch  its 


36  EARLIEST  EXPLORATIONS. 

border,  following  the  record,  were  the  two  friars, 
Francisco  Atanasio  Dominguez  and  Silvestre  Velez 
cle  Escalante,  who  were  near  Nevada,  on  or  not  far 
distant  from  the  path  later  called  the  old  Spanish  trail 
between  Great  Salt  Lake  and  Los  Angeles  when  they 
determined  to  abandon  their  purpose  of  going  to 
Monterey,  and  turned  eastward  from  the  eastern  line 
of  Nevada,  near  its  junction  with  the  southern  bound 
ary  of  Utah,  crossing  the  Colorado  in  latitude  37°. 
An  account  of  this  expedition,  which  is  of  primary 
importance  to  the  history  of  Utah,  is  given  at  length 
in  the  volume  of  this  series  relating  to  that  subject. 

We  come  now  to  more  defined  discoveries.  In  the 
spring  of  1825,  while  preparations  were  in  progress 
for  the  transfer  of  the  metropolitan  post  of  the  Pacific 
from  Astoria,  or  Fort  George,  to  Fort  Vancouver  on 
the  Columbia,  Peter  Skeen  Ogden,9  then  in  the  ser 
vice  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  set  out  from 
head-quarters  with  a  party  of  trappers  for  the  region 
round  the  head- waters  of  Snake  River,  or  the  Lewis 
branch  of  the  Columbia.  Passing  by  the  country  of 
the  Walla  Wallas,  they  set  their  traps,  working  their 
way  southward  up  the  stream  until  they  reached  the 
point  where  later  was  built  Fort  Boise.  Thence  they 
struck  to  the  west  of  south,  followed  up  the  Owyhee, 
and  after  some  exploration  of  its  tributaries  at  length 
dropped  down  upon  the  Humboldt,  now  first  beheld 
by  Europeans. 

It  was  now  mid-summer,  and  one  of  the  party 
becoming  enamored  of  a  damsel  native  to  that  region, 
he  married,  that  is  to  say  bought,  her,  thereby  secur- 

9  He  was  a  son  of  Chief  Justice  Ogden  of  Quebec,  and  prior  to  this  time 
had  served  both  in  the  Pacific  Fur  Company  and  in  the  Northwest  Company. 
Later  he  rose  to  the  position  of  chief  factor  and  manager.  At  Fort  Vancou 
ver  he  was  second  only  to  Douglas,  who  succeeded  McLoughlin,  and  indeed 
at  one  time  was  chief  factor  in  charge.  He  was  short,  dark,  and  exceedingly 
tough,  with  an  inexhaustible  fund  of  humor,  and  consequently  a  great  favor- 
5ff*  /? e  dled  at  the  a&e  of  G0  in  Oregon  City  in  1854.  See  Hist.  Ore 
32,  tins  series;  Apptegate'*  Views,  MS.,  13;  Allan's  Rem.,  MS.,  9. 


MARY  OR  OGDEN  RIVER.  37 

ing,  with  the  greater  safety  of  the  party,  wife,  ser 
vant,  and  beast  of  burden.  This  was  the  way  the 
British  fur-hunters  managed  the  business,  in  strong 
contrast  to  which  we  shall  presently  see  how  the  first 
band  of  trappers  from  the  United  States  behaved 
toward  these  same  Shoshones.  To  the  native  woman 
thus  honored  was  given  the  name  Marie,  or  Mary, 
who  in  turn  gave  her  newly  acquired  appellation  to 
the  stream,  which  for  a  time  was  called  Mary  River. 
But  as  usual  in  such  cases  the  wife  Mary  was  soon 
dropped ;  and  then  the  river  dropped  the  name  Mary, 
having  no  claim  to  it  on  aboriginal  grounds,  and  took 
on  the  more  appropriate  one  of  Ogden,  from  its  enter 
prising  and  humane  discoverer,  which  name  by  right 
it  should  bear  to-day,  instead  of  that  of  Humboldt, 
by  which  it  is  generally  known.10 

During  this  same  summer  of  1825  free  trappers 
from  the  United  States  percolated  through  the  hills 
from  the  Bear  River  region,  where  Henry  and  Ashley 
were  in  camp  the  previous  winter,  and  came  down 
into  north-eastern  Nevada.  In  the  History  of  Utah 
I  have  told  how  James  Bridger  discovered  the  Great 
Salt  Lake  while  endeavoring  to  determine  the  course 
of  Bear  River  on  which  a  wager  had  been  laid.  After 
reporting  his  discovery  to  his  comrades  at  the  rendez 
vous  in  Cache  Valley,  Bridger  with  a  few  others  set 
their  traps  on  the  western  side  of  the  great  lake,  and 
gradually  working  their  way  westward,  before  the 
season  was  over  they  came  upon  Ogden  and  his  party. 
And  thus  met  in  this  isolated  sterile  wilderness,  com 
ing  from  such  widely  different  quarters,  these  Euro 
peans — French,  Scotch,  Irish,  and  English — some  by 
way  of  Canada  and  the  Columbia  River,  others  by 
way  of  the  United  States  and  the  River  Platte,  but 
all  animated  by  the  same  lofty  sentiment,  all  aiming 
at  the  same  noble  object,  the  skins  of  wild  beasts. 

During  the  following  seasons  there  were  many  more 

10 See  Warren,  in  Pac.  R.  Kept.,  xi.  36.  The  name  Humboldt  was  con 
ferred  by  Fremont  without  a  shadow  of  right  or  reason. 


38  EARLIEST  EXPLORATIONS. 

American  trappers  who  found  their  way  into  Nevada, 
so  much  so  as  to  render  the  Ogden  River  region  less 
attractive  to  the  people  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany.  For  while  Bridger  was  trapping  and  exploring 
to  the  west  of  Great  Salt  Lake,  William  H.  Ashley 
was  bringing  his  company  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
men  from  St  Louis,  and  was  building  Fort  Ashley 
on  Utah  Lake.  Thence  in  1826  many  Americans 
penetrated  the  wilds  of  Nevada:  so  that  soon  the  fur- 
bearing  parts  were  well  known  to  mountain  men, 
among  the  most  prominent  of  whom  was  Mr  Green, 
who  gave  his  name  to  Green  River. 

In  August  of  the  year  last  named,  Jedediah  S. 
Smith  set  out  from  Great  Salt  Lake  with  fifteen  men, 
and  journeying  southward  past  Utah  Lake,  turned 
south-westwardly,  and  following  the  old  Spanish  trail 
from  the  great  lakes  to  Los  Angeles,  crossed  the 
south-eastern  corner  of  Nevada,  and  reached  San  Ga 
briel  Mission  in  December.  After  divers  adventures 
and  misadventures  in  southern  California,  he  pushed 
northward  up  by  the  western  base  of  the  frowning 
Sierra  to  the  lands  of  the  Mokelumnes  and  Cosumnes. 
On  the  27th  of  May,  1827,  he  found  himself  with  but 
two  men,  seven  horses,  and  two  mules  laden  with  pro 
visions  and  hay,  attempting  the  ascent  of  what  he 
calls  Mount  Joseph,  whose  summit  was  then  crowned 
with  snow.  The  mountains  were  crossed  in  ei^ht 
days,  with  the  loss  of  two  horses  and  one  mule. 
Twenty  days'  march  to  the  eastward  from  the  base  of 
Mount  Joseph  brought  him  to  the  south-western  cor 
ner  of  Great  Salt  Lake.  The  country  traversed  he 
pronounced  arid  and  without  game.  For  two  days  he 
was  wholly  without  water,  working  his  weary  way 
over  a  plain  which  yielded  no  vegetation.  Afterward 
he  came  upon  some  springs,  gathered  round  which 
were  hordes  of  natives,  whom  he  pronounced  the  most 
miserable  wretches  on  earth.  When  he  reached  Utah 
he  had  but  one  horse  and  one  mule  left,  and  these 
were  so  exhausted  that  they  could  scarcely  carry  the 


WOLFSKILL,  NIDEVER,  FRAPP,  AND  WYATT.  39 

few  things  yet  remaining.11  Before  the  season  was 
over,  with  fresh  supplies  and  eight  men  Smith  re 
traced  his  steps  to  California  where  part  of  his  orig 
inal  company  had  been  left.  Thence  he  proceeded  to 
Oregon. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  first  crossing  by  a 
white  man  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  and  of  the  entire 
breadth  of  what  is  the  state  of  Nevada,  was  not  in 
the  usual  direction  of  marching  empire,  but  from  west 
to  east,  a  doubling  of  progress  upon  its  own  track,  or 
like  a  ray  of  scrutinizing  intelligence  flung  back  from 
the  ocean. 

In  1828-9  some  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's 
trappers  who  were  in  Nevada  under  Ogden  passed 
over  the  Sierra  into  California,  probably  following 
Smith's  last  trail.  During  the  next  decade  the  few 
trappers  on  the  Columbia  seeking  the  Sacramento 
took  McLeod's  more  western  route,  while  those  en 
tering  California  by  way  of  Santa  Fe  did  not  touch 
Nevada. 

A  trapping  party  under  Wolfskill  came  from  Taos 
in  1830,  and  followed  one  old  Spanish  trail  toward 
Salt  Lake,  and  another  away  from  that  region  toward 
Los  Angeles.  As  this  country  had  been  explored 
before,  and  as  nothing  worthy  of  note  happened  on 
the  way,  we  will  look  in  upon  the  doings  of  the  trap 
pers  who  every  year  rendezvoused  in  the  Green  River 
region,  and  thence  spread  out  in  every  direction  in 
search  of  the  much  loved  beaver-skins. 

After  lengthy  trapping  excursions  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  between  Texas  and 
Nebraska,  George  Nidever  in  November  1831  crossed 
from  the  Platte  to  Green  River  where  he  went  into 
winter  quarters.  Early  in  August  1832  three  parties 
under  Nidever,  Frapp,  and  Wyatt  set  out  from  the 
Pierre  Hole  rendezvous  on  trapping  expeditions  to 

11  There  is  nothing  further  known  as  to  Smith's  route.  For  a  full  account 
of  his  adventures  with  all  the  evidence  see  Hist.  California,  and  Hist.  North- 
west  Coast,  this  series.  It  is  possible  that  he  made  this  passage  without  dis 
covering  Humboldt  River,  though  it  is  not  probable. 


40  EARLIEST  EXPLORATIONS. 

the  westward.  Nidever's  destination  was  Ogden 
River,  which  he  then  called  Mary  River,  "a  small 
stream  about  south-west  of  Salt  Lake."  Frapp's  com 
pany  were  mostly  Canadians  and  half-breeds.  For 
some  distance  the  route  of  the  three  bands  was  the 
same,  and  they  continued  together.  Their  first  camp 
was  fifteen  miles  from  the  rendezvous.  Next  morn 
ing  on  starting  they  discovered  a  band  of  four  hun 
dred  war-painted  Blackfeet  coming  down  upon  them 
fierce  for  fight.  Hastily  throwing  up  a  breastwork  of 
their  packs,  they  despatched  a  boy  on  one  of  their  fleet 
est  horses  back  to  the  rendezvous  to  notify  the  assem 
bled  trappers,  and  then  turned  to  receive  the  enemy. 
As  soon  as  the  savages  were  within  range  shooting 
set  in  on  both  sides.  Spreading  out  in  a  long  line  the 
Blackfeet  attempted  to  surround  the  trappers.  Con 
spicuous  among  the  savages  was  a  tall  and  well-built 
chief,  arrayed  in  a  bright  scarlet  coat  and  mounted  on 
a  magnificent  horse.  Wishing  to  be  regarded  a  greater 
and  braver  man  than  his  companions,  he  rode  some 
distance  in  advance  of  them,  intimating  that  he  would 
fight  single-handed  any  one  of  the  trappers,  or  all  of 
them  together.  Presently  one  of  Wyatt's  men,  Godin, 
a  Canadian,  advanced  to  meet  the  chief.  Godin  was 
also  well  mounted,  and  carried  a  short  rifle  concealed 
from  view.  The  antagonists  continued  slowly  to  ad 
vance  until  they  were  separated  by  less  than  fifty 
yards,  when  quick  as  a  flash  Godin  raised  his  gun  and 
fired.  The  proud  chieftain  fell  dead  to  the  ground. 
In  an  instant  Godin  was  upon  him ;  the  scarlet  coat 
was  stripped  from  the  fallen  hero;  and  before  the 
savages  could  arrest  him,  he  flew  back  under  heavy 
fire  to  his  comrades,  whom  he  reached  in  safety  with 
his  trophy.  Reinforcements  from  the  rendezvous  ar 
riving  the  Blackfeet  retired.  A  council  of  war  was 
held  and  William  Sublette  chosen  leader.  The  sav 
ages  were  well  posted  in  some  timber  near  by;  never 
theless  the  trappers  determined  on  immediate  attack. 
In  the  encounter  which  followed  William  Sinclair, 


WALKER'S  EXPEDITION.  41 

Phelps,  Sublette,  and  others  were  wounded  and  fifty 
Blackfeet  killed. 

Hastening  forward  from  that  hostile  region  the 
three  companies  soon  parted,  and  Nidever  set  his  traps 
on  Ogden  River,  where  he  remained  with  fair  success 
till  October,  when  he  returned  to  the  eastern  slope  for 
the  winter,  and  came  again  the  following  spring  to 
Green  River.12  It  may  have  been  this  expedition 
that  caused  one  writer  to  make  the  somewhat  ludi 
crous  mistake  of  sending  Nathaniel  Wyeth  with  Sub 
lette  to  trap  on  Ogden  River  in  1832.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  say  that  Wyeth  was  never  on  Ogden 
River. 

Joseph  Walker  was  of  Bonneville's  expedition 
which  encamped  on  Salmon  River  during  the  winter 
of  1832-3,  and  in  the  spring  divided  into  trapping 
parties,  taking  various  directions  from  the  Green 
River  rendezvous.  With  thirty-five  or  forty13  men 
Walker  set  out  as  Irving  says  to  trap  beaver  on  the 
northern  and  western  sides  of  Great  Salt  Lake,  in 
tending  to  pass  entirely  round  that  brackish  sheet 
before  the  season  was  over;  but  finding  the  country 
along  the  north-western  border  desolate  and  void  of 
wrater,  the  party  turned  about  and  trapped  toward  the 
north  and  west. 

Nidever,  however,  who  accompanied  the  expedition, 
and  who  was  fully  aware  of  Bonneville's  purpose,  and 
the  intentions  of  the  party  before  leaving  the  rendez 
vous,  says  nothing  of  any  intended  survey  of  the  lake, 
and  that  idea  probably  arose  in  the  mind  of  Bonne- 
ville  while  reciting  his  adventures  to  Irving.1* 

12 Nidever' 's  Life  and  Adv.,  MS.,  49-55. 

13  Nidever,  Life  and  Adv.,  MS.,  58,  says  36;  Bonneville  40. 

14 On  the  other  hand  Nidever,  Life  and  Adv.,  MS.,  58,  distinctly  states: 
*  In  the  spring  there  were  a  large  number  of  trappers  gathered  at  the  rendez 
vous  in  Green  River  Valley,  and  among  them  Capt.  Walker  and  company 
bound  for  California.  We  joined  him,  making  a  party  in  all  of  36.  Upon 
the  breaking-up  of  the  rendezvous  we  started  southward,  intending  to  trap  a 
short  time  on  the  Mary's  River.'  A  party  of  15  free  trappers  under  Sinclair 
is  mentioned  by  Irving,  Adven.  Bonneville,  72-3,  as  present  at  the  rendezvous 
of  1832,  and  taking  part  in  subsequent  events,  but  not  as  part  of  Walker's 
company.  Geo.  Nidever  was  one  of  the  15,  and  he  relates  in  his  Life  and 


42  EARLIEST  EXPLORATIONS. 

But  whether  originally  impelled  by  the  Salt  Lake 
survey  or  the  California  expedition,  they  had  not  pro 
ceeded  far  before  the  barrenness  of  the  country  and 
the  absence  of  water  turned  their  attention  toward 
the  snowy  mountains  seen  in  the  north-west.  There 
they  would  be  sure  to  find  cooling  streams,  and  doubt 
less  multitudes  of  beavers;  so  striking  out  in  that 
direction  they  soon  came  upon  a  little  brook,  which 
increased  in  size  as  they  followed  it  toward  the 
mountains,  until  it  disappeared  in  a  lake  to  which 
there  was  no  outlet. 

On  the  way  they  found  the  Shoshones  exceedingly 
troublesome.  They  stole  the  traps  and  compelled  the 
white  men  to  keep  a  constant  guard  to  prevent  attack. 
Finally  they  offered  to  permit  the  strangers  to  pass 
through  their  country  if  they  would  give  up  their 
horses  and  provisions.15  This  the  white  men  refused 
to  do;  and  after  some  stray  shots  on  both  sides,  one 
of  which  struck  a  man  named  Frazier,  further  attempts 
at  trapping  were  abandoned,  and  both  sides  prepared 
for  battle.  Nevertheless  the  white  men  continued 
their  march,  doubling  their  guard,  and  making  a  de 
tour  from  the  trail  when  necessary  to  avoid  ambus 
cade  when  passing  through  narrow  defiles  and  thickly 
wooded  places. 

One  day  in  passing  a  thick  and  quite  extended 
growth  of  willows,  from  which  as  usual  they  had 
turned  aside  to  avoid  surprise,  four  hundred  Shoshones 
emerged  and  formed  into  several  distinct  bands  ac 
cording  to  the  villages  to  which  they  belonged. 

Adventures,  MS.,  most  of  the  events  of  the  time  and  place  noticed  by  Irving, 
with  some  variations  in  detail  which  it  does  not  concern  my  present  purpose 
to  mention.  The  original  company  under  Robert  Bean  had  left  Fort  Smith 
about  40  strong  in  May  1830.  It  included  many  men  afterward  well  known 
in  California,  which  country  they  entered  at  different  times  and  by  different 
routes.  Such  were  Graham,  Naile,  Nidever,  Williams,  Price,  Leese,  and 
Dye.  Their  adventures  are  related  at  some  length  by  both  Nidever  and  Dye 
down  to  the  time  that  the  party  was  divided  in  New  Mexico  in  the  spring  of 
1831,  and  the  later  adventures  of  the  party  of  15  that  went  north  to  Green 
River  by  Nidever,  who  says  that  Graham,  Naile,  and  Price  were  still  with 
him. 

D '  They  spoke  the  Snake  tongue,  a  language  which  most  of  our  men  were 
familiar  with.'  Nidever 's  Life  and  Adv.,  MS.,  58. 


BATTLE  WITH  THE  SHOSHONES.  43 

Presently  thirty-four  of  the  enemy  advanced,  and 
fifteen  white  men  stepped  forth  to  meet  them.  The 
latter  permitted  the  savages  to  approach  quite  near 
before  making  a  move;  but  when  they  did  fire,  if  we 
may  believe  one  who  was  present,  it  was  with  such 
telling  effect  that  but  one  of  the  number  escaped  alive.16 
During  this  march  there  were  many  dastardly  deeds 
committed  which  Mr  Nidever  fails  to  remember,  such 
as  shooting  down  the  unoffending  of  either  sex  or  any 
age,  and  that  without  provocation.17 

As  to  the  way  by  which  they  left  the  sink  of  the 
Humboldt,  and  crossed  the  desert  and  the  Sierra  into 
California,  there  is  much  uncertainty.  Said  Bonne- 
ville,  "they  struck  directly  westward,  across  the  great 
chain  of  Californian  mountains.  For  three  and  twenty 
days  they  were  entangled  among  these  mountains,  the 
peaks  and  ridges  of  which  are  in  many  places  covered 
with  perpetual  snow.  For  a  part  of  the  time  they 
were  nearly  starved.  At  length  they  made  their  way 

16 Nidever >s  Life  and  Adv.,  MS.,  59-60. 

17  The  first  published  narrative  of  this  expedition  was  in  the  Jonesborough, 
Tenn.  Sentinel  of  March  8,  1837,  a  brief  account  from  the  statement  of 
Stephen  Meek  who  had  returned  to  Tennessee,  and  reprinted  in  Niles*  Reg 
ister  of  March  25th,  vol.  lii.  50.  Meek  says  that  on  Sept.  9th  they  were 
surrounded  and  attacked  by  a  large  body  of  natives  with  a  loss  of  five  men 
wounded,  and  one — Win.  Small — killed,  the  natives  being  repulsed  with  a 
loss  of  27  killed.  On  Sept.  16th  the  hunters  attacked  150  natives,  seated  and 
smoking,  killed  18,  and  took  5  captives,  who  were  beaten  and  released. 
Bonneville  represents  that  the  natives  were  peaceful  and  timid,  keeping 
aloof  by  day  but  pilfering  somewhat  at  night.  A  trapper  having  lost  his 
traps  vowed  to  shoot  the  first  Digger  he  saw,  and  did  so.  Subsequently 
guilty  conscience  led  the  party  to  imagine  themselves  in  a  hostile  country, 
and  at  a  ford  farther  down  the  river  they  attacked  a  crowd  of  inoffensive 
people,  shooting  25,  and  meeting  no  resistance.  Irving  paints  this  outrage  in 
vivid  colors.  Nidever  by  way  of  excuse  says  that  the  natives  were  increas 
ingly  bold  and  hostile  from  the  first,  stealing  all  they  could  lay  their  hands 
on,  and  attempting  to  shoot  Frazier  while  setting  his  traps.  It  was  neces 
sary  to  give  up  trapping  almost  entirely,  and  only  by  the  greatest  precau 
tions  did  the  company  escape  annihilation.  Finally  they  turned  aside  from 
their  trail  just  in  time  to  avoid  an  ambush,  and  were  attacked  by  some 
hundreds  of  savages,  of  whom  33  were  killed.  Nidever  admits,  however, 
that  a  little  later  he  could  not  resist  the  temptation  to  kill  two  Indians  with 
one  shot,  thus  avenging  his  brother  who  had  been  treacherously  murdered 
sometime  before.  Finally  Joseph  Meek,  according  to  Victor's  River  of  the 
West,  146,  admits  that  the  attack— in  which  75  savages  fell,  but  Meek  exag 
gerates  everything,  stating  that  Walker  had  118  men— was  unprovoked  ex 
cept  by  the  thefts  and  constantly  increasing  numbers  of  the  Indians;  but  he 
defends  the  act  as  a  necessity,  though  it  did  not  seem  so  to  Bonneville,  who 
was  not  an  experienced  Indian-fighter. 


44  EARLIEST  EXPLORATIONS. 

through  them,  and  came  down  upon  the  plains  of 
New  California.  They  now  turned  toward  the  south, 
and  arrived  at  the  Spanish  village  and  post  of  Mon 
terey."  Stephen  Meek  tells  us  "  they  travelled  now 
four  days  across  the  salt  plains,  when  they  struck 
the  Califbrnian  Mountains,  crossing  which  took  fif 
teen  days,  and  in  fourteen  days  more  they  reached 
the  two  Laries"--Tulares;  "killed  a  horse,  and  sub 
sisting  on  the  same  eleven  days  came  to  the  Spanish 
settlements."  Joseph  Meek  is  represented  as  giving 
the  route  somewhat  definitely  westward  to  Pyramid 
Lake,  up  the  Truckee  Kiver,  and  across  the  moun 
tains — by  the  present  railroad  line  very  nearly — into 
the  Sacramento  Valley,  and  thence  southward.  This 
authority  also  states  that  they  met  a  company  of 
soldiers  "out  hunting  for  cattle-thieves  in  the  San 
Jose  Valley,  and  were  taken  as  prisoners  to  Mon 
terey — a  dramatic  ending  to  the  long  journey  em 
anating  probably  from  the  trapper's  imagination.18 
Finally,  a  newspaper  version,  founded  on  Walker's 
own  statements,  and  corroborated  to  some  extent  by 
that  of  Nidever,  gives  what  I  suppose  to  have  been 
the  correct  route  from  the  sink,  south-westward  by 
way  of  what  are  now  Carson  Lake  and  Walker  lake 
and  river,  over  the  Sierra  near  the  head-waters  of 
the  Merced,  and  down  into  the  San  Joaquin  Valley.19 
Bonneville  had  been  quite  lavish  in  fitting  out  this 
expedition;  and  when  Walker  and  the  men  returned, 
and  the  captain  learned  that  such  of  his  property  as 
had  not  been  consumed  in  the  desert  had  been  squan- 

18  Yet  Sebastian  Peralta  with  a  party  of  vecinos  from  San  Jose*  did  meet 
early  in  November  a  company  of  so-called  French  trappers  bound  to  Mon 
terey.  SanJost,  Arch.,  MS.,  v.  27. 

19  Biographical  sketches  of  Capt.  Jos.  R.  Walker,  in  Sonoma  Democrat, 
Nov.  25,  1876;  and  in  San  Jos6  Pioneer,  Sept.  1,  1877.     Mr  Thompson,  of 
the  Democrat,  was  well  acquainted  with  Walker;   and  the   article  in  the 
Pioneer  was  founded  on  an  interview.     One  account  says  he  saw  Mono  Lake, 
and  the  other  that  he  discovered  Yosemite.     According  to  the  Pioneer,   'his 
first  attempt  to   descend   to   the   west  was  near  the   head-waters   of  the 
Tuolumne,  which  he  found  impossible;  but  working  a  little  to  the  south 
west  he  struck  the  waters  of  the  Merced.'     Nidever  states  that  they  came 
down  between  the  Merced  and  Tuolumne,  and  soon  arrived  atGilroy's  rancho. 


CARSON  AND  BECKWOURTH.  45 

dered  in  California,  together  with  the  furs  which  they 
had  gathered,  he  was  very  angry. 

It  has  been  stated  that  Christopher  Carson  and 
James  P.  Beckwourth  were  of  this  party ;  or  that  they 
were  in  Carson  valley  in  1833  and  with  seven  others 
passed  over  into  California.  Carson  and  Beckwourth 
were  not  of  the  Walker  party,  nor  did  they  cross  the 
Sierra  Nevada  to  California  in  1 833.  They  may  have 
been  in  Carson  or  some  other  valley  during  that  or 
some  other  year;  indeed,  Carson  was  there  in  that 
year;  they  were  trappers,  guides  or  Indian-fighters 
according  to  circumstances,  and  as  such  were  moving 
hither  and  thither  in  and  around  the  great  basin.  Of 
the  wanderings  of  the  fur-hunters  there  is  no  com- 

O 

plete  record ;  but  of  the  names  of  visitors  to  Califor 
nia  during  these  years  there  is  a  record.  Carson  had 
been  to  California  before  this  by  the  Santa  Fe  and 
Los  Angeles  trail.29 

MKit  Carson  was  born  in  Kentucky  in  1809.  In  1828  he  went  to  New 
Mexico,  and  thence  proceeded  with  Ewing  Young  to  California  the  following 
year  by  the  old  Los  Angeles  trail.  Trapping  on  the  San  Joaquin  he  encoun 
tered  a  party  under  Peter  Skeen  Ogden,  who  went  from  there  to  the  Colum 
bia  river  while  Carson  returned  to  New  Mexico  by  way  of  Los  Angeles.  In 
1830  Carson  trapped  on  Green  and  Salmon  rivers,  visited  Jackson  Hole,  and 
in  1831  trapped  on  Bear  river,  then  to  Green  river,  and  back  to  New  Mexico. 
The  following  year  he  was  again  on  Green  and  Snake  rivers,  wintering  on  the 
latter  stream,  and  in  1833  he  went  with  Thomas  McKay  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
company  and  five  others  to  the  head-waters  of  Ogden  river,  and  followed  it 
to  the  sink.  Thence  McKay  proceeded  to  Walla  Walla,  and  Carson  to  Fort 
Hall.  During  1834-6  Carson  trapped  on  the  Yellowstone  and  Platte,aml  the 
following  year  went  to  Bent  fort,  where  for  eight  years  he  was  official  hunter 
for  the  post.  In  1842  he  visited  the  United  States,  met  Fremont  on  a  steam 
boat,  and  engaged  to  act  as  his  guide.  Peters  Life  of  Carson,  and  Abbott's 
Life  of  Carton,  passim. 


CHAPTEK  III. 

PASSAGE  OF  THE  EMIGRANTS. 
1834-1846. 

TRAPPING  BECOMES  GENERAL— OPENING  OF  THE  EMIGRATION  EPOCH— THE 
ROAD  TO  CALIFORNIA— PROGRESS  OF  THE  BARTLESON  COMPANY  THROUGH 
NEVADA— BIDWELL,  HENSHAW,  AND  NYE— BELDEN,  RICKMAN,  CHILES, 
AND  WEBER— WHAT  THEY  SEVERALLY  SAID  OF  IT— SEARCH  FOR  OGDEN 
RIVER— THEY  ABANDON  THEIR  WAGONS— FRIENDLY  INTERCOURSE  WITH 
THE  SHOSHONES— VARIED  ADVENTURES — DISSENSION — SEARCH  FOR  A 
PASS— OVER  THE  SIERRA— HASTINGS  AND  HIS  BOOK— CHILES  OVER  A 
NEW  ROUTE— WALKER  GUIDES  A  PARTY  INTO  CALIFORNIA  OVER  HIS 
RETURN  ROUTE  OF  1834 — FIRST  WAGONS  TO  TRAVERSE  THE  ENTIRE 
COUNTRY — FREMONT'S  EXPEDITIONS— ELISHA  STEVENS  OR  THE  MURPHY 
COMPANY— SNYDER,  SWASEY,  BLACKBURN,  AND  TODD  COMPANY — SUB- 

LETTE  FROM   ST  LOUIS— WALKER,  CARSON,   TALBOT,  AND   KERN — EXPE 
DITION   OF  SCOTT  AND   THE   APPLEGATES  FROM   OREGON. 

AFTER  the  return  of  Walker  in  1834  trapping  par 
ties  in  Nevada  were  frequent  until  game  became 
scarce.  As  one  was  very  like  another,  and  all  unin 
teresting  in  detail,  it  is  not  necessary  to  report  them 
further.  Presently  a  fresh  impetus  was  given  to 
westward-marching  empire  along  the  line  of  border 
settlements.  It  was  no  longer  furs  that  most  filled 
men's  minds,  but  broad  fertile  lands  of  easy  tillage, 
temperate  airs,  and  a  near  market.  Where  there 
were  so  many  blessings  provided  by  nature  without 
price,  as  presented  themselves  to  the  settler  in  the 
then  so-called  western  states,  it  is  no  wonder  that 
he  became  discontented  and  demanded  yet  greater 
favors.  Thus  it  was  that  from  1839  to  1846  we  see 
parties  of  emigrants  wending  their  way  to  Oregon 
and  to  California,  some  of  which  pass  through  Nevada, 
giving  us  a  view  of  the  country  as  it  then  appeared. 

(46) 


THE  BARTLESON  COMPANY.  47 

Among  others  was  John  Bidwell  who  in  company 
with  George  Henshaw  and  Michael  C.  Nye  came 
from  Missouri  to  California  in  1841;  also  families  or 
parties  under  Josiah  Belden,  Eobert  Rickman,  John 
Bartleson,  Joseph  B.  Chile,s,  and  Charles  Weber, 
sometimes  uniting  in  larger  companies,  some  bound 
for  Oregon  and  some  for  California.  There  was  pres 
ent  one  woman,  Mrs  Benjamin  Kelsey,  and  her  child. 
Together  came  the  two  emigrations  by  the  usual 
route,  up  the  Platte  and  through  the  South  Pass  to 
Bear  River  Valley,  and  when  near  Soda  Springs 
they  parted  company,  those  for  Oregon,  and  with 
them  some  who  had  originally  intended  to  go  to  Cal 
ifornia,  proceeding  northward  to  Fort  Hall,  while 
the  others  directed  their  steps  to  the  south,  and  pass 
ing  down  into  Utah  turned  toward  Nevada  about  ten 
miles  north  of  Great  Salt  Lake.  Later  emigrants 
passed  round  or  just  touched  the  north-west  corner 
of  Utah. 

Nothing  was  known  of  this  region  except  what  the 
trappers  had  reported;  none  were  known  to  have 
passed  across  the  country  from  and  to  California  save 
the  parties  under  Smith  and  Walker  respectively.  As 
these  had  followed  the  Ogden  River,  the  emigrants 
deemed  it  necessary  first  of  all  to  find  that  stream. 
I  have  a  manuscript  narrative  by  Mr  Chiles  entitled 
A  Visit  to  California,  in  which  he  states  that  they 
travelled  seven  months  with  no  guide,  no  compass, 
nothing  but  the  sun  to  direct  them.  They  had  learned 
from  Dr  Marsh  the  latitude  of  San  Francisco  Bay; 
they  knew  the  latitude  of  their  starting-point;  and  it 
was  thus  they  cast  themselves  adrift  upon  an  ocean 
of  wastes  and  wilderness. 

In  answer  to  inquiries  of  Mr  Grant  at  Fort  Hall, 
they  were  told  that  west  of  Salt  Lake  "there  was  a 
great  and  almost  impassable  desert  which  we  were 
liable  to  become  involved  in  if  we  went  too  far  to  the 
south;  that  there  was  a  stream  running  west  which 
had  been  visited  by  some  of  the  trappers  belonging  to 


48  PASSAGE  OF  THE  EMIGRANTS. 

the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  among  whom  it  was 
known  by  the  name  of  Mary's,  or  Ogden's  river;  that 
we  must  try  to  strike  that  stream,  for  to  the  south  of 
it  we  would  find  no  feed  for  animals;  that  we  must  be 
careful  not  to  go  too  far  to  the  north,  for  if  we  did  we 
would  become  involved  in  a  maze  of  canons,  and 
streams  with  precipitous  cliffs  which  led  off  into  the 
Columbia  River,  and  where  we  should  be  sure  to 
wander  and  starve  to  death."1 

After  travelling  for  seven  days  westwardly  from 
Bear  River,  round  the  northern  end  of  Salt  Lake, 
meanwhile  suffering  greatly  from  thirst,  they  camped 
the  27th  of  August  on  a  grassy  spot  beside  a  spring 
of  good  water,  there  determined  to  remain  until  a  way 
to  Ogden  River  should  be  found. 

Being  told  by  a  Shoshone  who  came  into  camp  that 
not  far  away  were  Indians  who  had  horses,  Bidwell 
with  a  small  party  went  in  search  of  them  but  with 
out  success.  They  found,  however,  five  miles  from 
camp  a  native  curing  some  venison  which  he  had  just 
killed,  half  of  which  they  bought  for  twelve  cartridges. 

Before  proceeding  further  with  the  train  it  was 
deemed  advisable  to  examine  the  country  before  them. 
To  this  end,  on  the  29th  Bartleson  and  Hopper  started 
out,  and  in  ten  days  returned  saying  they  had  found 
Ogden  River,  distant  five  days'"  travel.  Meanwhile 
the  weather  had  become  cold,  ice  forming  in  the  water 
buckets,  and  the  company  had  moved  slowly  forward. 
Signal  fires  had  been  kindled  by  the  natives  and  the 
atmosphere  was  filled  with  dense  smoke. 

^  This  is  the  way  Mr  Belden  tells  the  same  story  in 
his  manuscript  entitled  Statement  of  Historical  Facts: 
'  We  went  on,  hunting  our  way  along  the  best  we 
could,  amongst  the  rocks  and  gullies,  and  through  the 
sage-brush,  working  along  slowly  for  a  number  of 
days,  aiming  to  travel  westward  as  fast  as  we  could, 
having  no  other  guide  than  an  intention  to  get  west. 

lifornia,  1841-8,  MS.,  32-3;  BidweWs  Journey  to  CaL,  1841 


WAGONS  ABANDONED.  40 

After  travelling  several  days,  passing  over  a  very 
desert  country  where  there  was  scarcely  any  food  for 
our  animals,  and  very  rough  getting  along  with  our 
wagons,  we  finally  came  to  a  spot  where  there  was 
moist  ground,  some  springs,  and  a  little  patch  of  green 
grass,  which  we  denominated  the  oasis.  We  camped 
there  about  a  week  to  recruit  our  animals.  While 
there  we  did  not  know  which  direction  to  take,  nor 
how  to  go;  but  we  had  heard  before  leaving  Missouri 
that  there  was  a  river  somewhere  in  that  section  of 
the  country,  which  was  then  called  Mary's  River, 
which  ran  to  the  westward,  and  this  we  thought 
might  be  a  guide  for  us  in  some  measure,  if  we  could 
strike  the  head-waters  of  it  and  follow  it  west.  So 
while  the  company  were  camping  there,  three  of  the 
party  who  had  the  best  animals  started  out  in  a  west 
erly  direction  to  explore  by  themselves,  and  see  if 
they  could  find  any  such  river,  any  water  running 
west.  After  waiting  there  several  days  these  men 
came  back  and  reported  that  they  had  found  a  small 
stream  of  water  that  seemed  to  be  running  westward, 
and  they  thought  that  might  perhaps  be  the  head 
waters  or  some  branch  of  the  Mary's  River  that  we 
wished  to  find.  After  they  returned,  we  raised  camp, 
and  under  their  direction,  as  near  as  we  could  follow 
it,  we  travelled  two  or  three  days  I  think,  and  struck 
this  little  stream  they  had  spoken  of.  We  followed 
it  down  and  found  it  trended  westward,  though  vary 
ing  its  course,  and  it  proved  to  be  the  south  fork  of 
Mary's  River.  We  followed  it  all  the  way  down  to 
the  sink  of  it." 

It  was  the  15th  of  September  when  after  a  hot  day 
they  passed  through  a  gap  in  a  ridge  of  mountains 
and  entered  upon  a  high  plain.  "  It  was  painfully 
evident,"  writes  Bidwell,  "  that  we  must  make  greater 
progress  or  winter  would  set  in  before  we  could  reach 
the  Pacific  coast.  That  night  we  determined  to  leave 
our  wagons.  So,  early  the  next  morning  we  set  to 
work  making  pack-saddles  for  our  animals.  We  had 


HIST.  NEV.    4 


60  PASSAGE  OF  THE  EMIGRANTS. 

to  pack  mules,  horses,  and  the  oxen.  On  the  after 
noon  of  the  second  day  we  were  ready  to  start.  No 
one  of  us  had  seen  horses  packed.  .  .the  packs  would 
turn  and  get  down  into  the  dirt.  Old  mules  that 
were  almost  skeletons  would  run  and  kick  at  the 
packs.  The  work  oxen  would  jump  and  bellow  and 
try  to  throw  off  their  loads." 

The  night  before  they  had  cooked  supper  with 
fires  made  from  some  of  the  wragons  broken  up  for 
that  purpose;  and  as  they  were  about  to  start  a  Sho- 
ehone  sage  appeared,  sent  thither  from  the  mountains 
as  he  said  by  the  great  spirit,  who  had  told  him  that 
on  the  plain  below  he  would  find  a  strange  people  who 
would  give  him  many  things.2  There  were,  indeed, 
many  articles  which  could  not  be  carried  in  the  ab 
sence  of  the  wagons,  and  the  good  savage  might  as 
well  be  placed  in  possession  in  due  form.  "  The  first 
thing  given  him,"  says  Bidwell,  "  was  a  pair  of  panta 
loons.  He  immediately  turned  toward  the  sun,  and 
commenced  a  long  and  eloquent  harangue.  As  he 
was  perfectly  naked  he  was  shown  how  to  wear  the 
pants.  As  article  after  article  was  given  him  during 
the  day,  he  turned  toward  the  sun  and  gave  thanks 
in  a  long  speech.  As  the  day  wore  on  and  he  had 
many  things  given  him  his  talks  grew  shorter,  but 
for  each  he  made  somewhat  of  a  speech.  The  first 
two  addresses  must  each  have  been  fully  half  an  hour 
long.  We  called  him  the  Persian." 

It  was  late  in  the  day  before  all  were  ready.  Be 
fore  them  was  a  range  of  mountains,  in  crossing  which 
the  company  were  scattered  and  some  of  the  animals 
lost.  All  were  suffering  for  water.  Dawson  and 
Bidwell  were  sent  in  search  of  the  cattle,  but  the 
former  soon  returned  leaving  the  latter  to  proceed 
alone.  The  cattle  fell  into  an  Indian  trail  which  led 
into  a  grassy  country  where  was  water.  Observing 
Indian  tracks  mingled  with  those  of  the  cattle  Bid- 

*BidwelVs  California,  1S41-8,  MS.,  36-7;  BidwelVs  Journey  to  CaL,  1841, 
13;  Bdden's  Statement,  MS.,  9 


DOWN  THE 

well  prepared  himself  as  well  as  possible  against  sur 
prise,3  and  continued  the  search  until  he  found  the 
oxen  lying  side  by  side  with  their  packs  undisturbed. 

Meanwhile  the  company  had  moved  forward,  and 
Bidwell,  unable  to  follow,  and  fearing  to  approach  any 
of  the  numerous  Shoshones  to  the  west,  hid  himself 
till  morning.  Even  then  his  situation  was  not  greatly 
improved.  On  his  north  were  mountains,  and  on  the 
south  a  plain  of  hard  indurated  clay,  which  yielded  no 
impression  to  the  foot  of  man  or  beast.  Tying  his 
oxen  to  a  willow  bush,  in  the  absence  of  trees,  Bid- 
well  rode  hither  and  thither  not  knowing  what  to  do. 
Presently  he  saw  horsemen  approaching  from  the 
south,  and  supposing  them  to  be  Indians  he  hastened 
toward  the  oxen  to  use  them  for  a  breastwork  in  case 
of  attack;  but  suddenly  his  horse  sank  into  a  slough, 
filling  its  very  eyes  and  ears  with  mud.  Thereupon 
the  horsemen  came  up,  proving  themselves  to  be  his 
friends  Cook  and  Thorne. 

Following  a  south-westerly  course  along  the  base 
of  mountain  ranges  for  several  days  "  we  came  to  a 
dry  desert  region,  without  grass  or  water,  and  with 
few  or  no  hills  to  the  south.  Being  obliged  to  camp 
without  water  it  was  the  opinion  of  all  that  we  had 
come  to  the  borders  of  that  desert  spoken  of  at  Fort 
Hall.  The  only  remedy  was  to  go  north  and  cross  a 
mountain  chain  which  was  in  sight.  The  first  camp 
after  crossing  the  divide  was  on  a  small  spring  branch 
which  had  trout  in  it."  Indians  appeared  from  time 
to  time  in  some  numbers,  but  as  the  strangers  were 
weak  they  were  respectful,  and  no  trouble  ensued. 

The  trout  stream  which  they  followed  soon  sank  into 
the  ground,  leaving  the  foot-sore  animals  on  the  dry, 
rocky  bed,  between  banks  impossible  to  scale.  The 

8  '  I  examined  my  arms,  which  consisted  of  a  flint-lock  rifle  and  a  pair  of 
dragoon  pistols  also  flint-lock.  All  our  company  had  these  guns  and  pistols. 
Old  hunters  in  Missouri,  whom  I  asked  what  kind  of  guns  to  bring,  said, 
"Don't  have  anything  to  do  with  those  new-fangled  things  called  caps;  if 
you  do  you  will  lose  by  it.  If  they  once  get  wet  you  are  gone;  but  if  you 
lose  your  flint  you  can  easily  pick  up  a  stone  that  will  take  its  place." 
BidweWs  California,  1841-8 t  MS.,  40. 


52  PASSAGE  OF  THE  EMIGRANTS. 

course  was  northerly,  and  the  travellers  began  to  fear 
that  they  were  in  one  of  those  frightful  canons  spoken 
of  at  Fort  Hall,  and  which  would  lead  them  to  the 
Columbia.  Their  hearts  were  filled  with  joy,  there 
fore,  as  they  emerged  into  an  open  country  on  the 
20th,  and  came  upon  a  stream  which  they  felt  satis 
fied  was  Ogden  River.  Its  course  was  at  first  north 
west,  and  this  troubled  them,  for  "according  to  the 
map  Mary's  River  ran  w.  s.  w.,"  to  which  course  it 
presently  changed.  There  had  been  some  antelope, 
but  now  they  had  to  kill  their  oxen  for  food.  On  the 
21st  they  came  to  some  boiling  hot  springs,  twenty 
within  the  circumference  of  a  mile,  and  exceedingly 
beautiful  and  transparent.  The  white  sediment  and 
the  rocks  which  walled  the  water  gave  to  it  a  variety 
of  brilliant  colors,  blue,  green,  and  red.  One  spring 
in  particular  was  of  striking  beauty;  "it  was  about 
four  feet  in  diameter,  round  as  a  circle,  and  deeper 
than  we  could  see ;  the  cavity  looked  like  a  well  cut 
in  a  solid  rock."  The  natives  were  becoming  more 
numerous.  "  From  signs  the  valley  contained  thou 
sands." 

All  the  misfortunes  of  the  journey  were  as  nothing 
in  comparison  with  that  which  now  befell  them.  It 
was  ascertained  one  day  as  they  followed  down  the 
Ogden  that  the  party  were  out  of  tobacco.  Some 
had  consumed  their  supply,  and  one  man,  William 
Belty,  had  lost  his  that  morning.  He  swore  the  Ind 
ians  had  stolen  it,  and  was  ready  to  shoot  the  first 
savage  he  saw  in  consequence.  Some  cut  out  their 
old  pockets  and  chewed  them.  Belty  offered  his  mule 
to  ride  to  any  one  who  would  give  him  tobacco  to 
chew  for  the  day. 

It  was  now  the  beginning  of  October;  and  at  the 
Humboldt  Mountains  Bartleson  determined  to  press 
forward  and  cross  the  Sierra,  leaving  those  to  follow 
who  could.  With  Bartleson  were  seven  of  the  com 
pany,  who  killed  an  ox,  and  taking  a  double  share  of 
the  meat  started  off.  Those  in  charge  of  the  cattle 


OVER  THE  MOUNTAINS.  63 

•were  unable  to  follow,  which  caused  much  ill-feeling. 
Of  the  advance  party  was  Charles  Hopper,  thought  to 
be  the  best  mountaineer  and  guide  in  the  company. 
"  All  had  confidence  in  his  ability  to  find  the  best 
route  through  the  mountains.  As  long  as  we  could — 
about  one  day — we  therefore  followed  their  tracks. 
The  Humboldt  River  was  extremely  dry  that  year, 
and  as  we  approached  the  sink  it  ceased  to  run,  and 
we  were  enabled  to  cross  dry  shod  in  several  places  as 
we  descended  it.  The  seceding  party  having  passed 
what  is  now  known  as  the  Humboldt  range  of  moun 
tains,  and  followed  down  the  east  side  of  the  Hum 
boldt  River,  we  traversed  a  sandy  plain,  where  the 
wind  had  completely  obliterated  the  tracks  of  the 
party  who  had  left  us." 

Thus  thrown  upon  themselves  to  find  their  way 
over  the  mountains  into  California  Benjamin  Kelsey 
came  to  the  front.  "  As  soon  as  we  reached  what  we 
supposed  to  be  the  furthest  sink  of  the  Humboldt," 
continues  Bidwell,  "  but  which  I  am  now  inclined  to 
think  must  have  been  what  Fremont  afterwards  called 
Carson  Lake,  we  endeavored  to  make  our  course  more 
westerly;  for  we  knew  that  the  Pacific  ocean  lay  to 
the  west .  .  .  The  first  stream  crossed  was  that  now 
known  as  Walker's  River,  so  called  by  Fremont  in 
1844  I  think.  This  river  we  ascended  to  the  foot  of 
the  high  mountains  whence  it  came.  Here  we  deemed 
it  best  to  give  our  animals  a  rest,  for  men  and  animals 
were  much  in  need  of  it.  In  the  mean  time  men  were 
sent  to  scale  the  mountains  to  the  west,  to  discover  if 
possible  a  pass.  They  were  gone  a  day  and  a  night> 
and  reported  that  the  mountains  were  barely  passable. 
At  this  time  we  had  but  two  oxen  left,  and  we  had 
just  killed  the  best  one  of  these,  and  were  drying 
meat  preparatory  to  scaling  the  mountains  the  next 
day.  The  meat  was  dried  to  make  our  loads  as  light 
as  possible,  because  neither  men  nor  animals  were  able 
to  carry  heavy  burdens  over  the  mountains." 

While  thus  engaged,  the  party  who  had  deserted 


54  PASSAGE  OF  THE  EMIGRANTS. 

nine  days  before,  came  up,  weary  and  halting,  from 
the  east.  They  had  gone  south  too  far,  probably  as 
far  as  Walker  Lake,  and  now  returned  crestfallen  and 
weak  with  dysentery  brought  on  by  pine  nuts  and 
fresh  fish  given  them  by  the  natives.  "Boys!"  ex 
claimed  the  now  humbled  Captain  Bartleson  as  he  sat 
eating  the  wholesome  food  prepared  for  him  by  his 
late  abandoned  comrades,  "  iny  hogs  in  Missouri  fared 
better  than  have  I  of  late,  and  if  ever  I  see  that  spot 
again  I  swear  to  you  I  will  never  leave  it." 

All  set  forward  next  morning,  the  17th.  The  as 
cent  was  made;  the  great  divider  of  waters  was 
passed;  and  on  the  second  day  the  party  were  out  of 
Nevada,  and  upon  the  tributaries  of  the  Stanislaus, 
where  we  will  leave  them  to  find  their  way  into  the 
valley  of  California.4 

*Mr  Belden's  account  is  as  follows":  'Before  we  struck  this  river,  we 
found  we  were  so  delayed  by  our  wagons  that  we  concluded  to  abandon 
them,  and  we  took  what  things  we  could  and  packed  them  on  our  horses  and 
oxen,  and  what  we  could  not  carry  we  left  with  our  wagons  standing  in  the 
plains.  We  were  then  within  sight  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  mountains,  which 
we  knew  we  had  to  cross.  But  we  could  see  no  appearance  of  any  opening 
or  depression  which  we  might  avail  of  to  get  across.  Then  we  struck  south, 
until  we  finally  came  to  what  is  known  as  Walker's  River.  We  then  fol 
lowed  the  west  branch  of  this  river,  I  think,  up  into  the  mountains.  When 
we  struck  that  river,  however,  after  following  it  for  some  distance  and  get 
ting  into  the  neighborhood  of  the  mountains,  without  finding  any  depression, 
or  any  place  where  it  seemed  possible  to  cross,  there  was  some  division  of 
opinion  among  the  members  of  the  company.  Our  provisions  had  given  out 
before,  while  we  were  travelling  down  Mary's  River,  and  then  we  commenced 
killing  the  cattle  we  had  with  us  and  eating  them.  At  the  sink  of  the  Hum- 
boldt  River  a  portion  of  the  company  who  had  the  best  animals,  about  nine 
of  them,  parted  from  the  others,  and  said  they  were  going  to  travel  faster, 
and  get  in  before  they  became  exhausted.  The  balance  went  on,  and  as  I 
said,  got  to  Walker's  River.  When  we  reached  there,  there  was  a  difference 
of  opinion  about  whether  we  should  attempt  crossing  the  inountains,  or  give 
up  the  expedition  then,  and  turn  back,  and  try  to  get  back  to  Fort  Hall. 
While  we  were  stopping  there,  one  day  two  others  and  myself  left  the  party, 
and  went  up  to  some  of  the  higher  peaks  of  the  mountains  to  explore  and  see 
if  we  could  find  any  place  where  we  could  cross.  We  returned  and  reported 
that  we  could  see  no  opening  in  the  mountains,  that  so  far  as  we  could  see, 
the  mountains  seemed  rather  higher  beyond  than  lower,  and  there  was  no 
appearance  of  any  end  or  termination  of  them,  and  very  little  chance  to  get 
through.  There  was  a  vote  taken  in  the  company  to  determine  whether  we 
should  go  on  and  try  to  get  across  the  mountains,  or  turn  back  and  try  to 
reach  Fort  Hall.  I  think  we  had  only  one  majority  for  going  ahead. 
Although  it  looked  discouraging  on  the  mountains,  my  idea  was  that  we 
should  perish  in  trying  to  get  back  to  Ft.  Hall,  and  we  had  better  take  our 
chances  of  getting  across  the  mountains.  So  we  decided  to  travel  on.  The 
next  morning  we  were  packing  up  to  start  into  the  mountains,  and  in  looking 


CHILES'  SECOND  ADVENTURE.  65 

In  1842  L.  W.  Hastings  led  a  company  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  to  Oregon.  The  following  year 
Hastings  passed  with  a  small  party  into  California 
In  1845  he  published  at  Cincinnati  The  Emigrant's 
Guide  to  Oregon  and  California,  copies  of  which  were 
found  distributed  along  the  road  the  following  year. 

Joseph  B.  Chiles,  of  the  Bartleson  company  of  1841, 
having  returned  to  the  States,  organized  a  company 
which  in  1843  followed  the  usual  route  to  Fort  Hall, 
where  they  divided,  some  of  the  men  proceeding  by  a 
new  route  by  way  of  Fort  Boise  and  the  Malheur  and 
Pit  rivers  to  the  Sacramento  Valley,  leaving  the  wagons 
and  families  in  charge  of  Joe  Walker,  acting  as  guide, 
to  be  taken  to  California  by  a  southern  route,  through 
Walker  pass  and  by  Owen  Peak,  the  one  by  which  he 
had  returned  from  California  to  Great  Salt  Lake  in 
1834.  This  they  accomplished,  following  down  the 
Humboldt  to  the  sink,  then  to  Walker  Lake,  and  over 
the  Sierra;  theirs  being  the  first  wagons  to  cross  the 
state,  as  Bartleson's  had  been  the  first  to  enter  Nevada. 

When  Fremont  returned  from  Oregon  in  the  winter 
of  1843,  he  kept  along  the  eastern  base  of  the  Cas 
cade  and  Nevada  ranges,  entering  Nevada  late  in 
December.  Snow  arid  sage  brush  covered  the  valleys, 
but  grass  for  the  animals  was  found  on  the  hills  of 

back  we  saw  the  dust  rising  on  the  trail  we  had  travelled  the  day  before,  and 
we  waited  to  see  what  it  was;  and  presently  we  saw  the  nine  men  who  had  left 
us  several  days  before  with  the  idea  of  going  ahead,  coming  up  on  our  trail, 
very  hungry  and  forlorn-looking.  We  had  a  quarter  of  beef  left  from  the 
last  animal  we  had  killed,  and  gave  them  something  to  eat.  They  had  made 
a  kind  of  circle,  and  reached  our  camp,  having  struck  our  trail.  We  then  all 
went  on  together.  We  worked  our  way  into  the  mountains  with  a  great  deal 
of  difficulty  and  hardship.  The  way  was  very  rough,  and  one  day  in  wind 
ing  round  the  side  of  a  mountain  we  lost  four  of  our  animals,  who  missed 
their  footing  and  rolled  down  the  mountain.  We  finally  reached  the  sum 
mit  with  great  labor  and  difficulty,  and  after  getting  a  little  beyond  the 
summit  on  the  other  side,  we  struck  a  little  stream  of  water  that  seemed  to 
run  westward,  and  we  judged  that  we  had  got  over  the  divide,  and  thought 
that  by  following  the  stream  as  well  as  we  could,  it  would  lead  us  down  the 
westerly  slope  of  the  mountain.  Meantime  we  had  eaten  the  last  of  our  beef 
from  our  cattle,  and  we  were  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  killing  our  horses 
and  mules,  and  living  on  them.'  Historical  Facts,  MS.  For  continuation  of 
the  narrative  after  crossing  the  Sierra  see  Hist.  Cal.,  this  series. 


W  PASSAGE  OF  THE  EMIGRANTS. 

•  slight  elevation,  dividing  the  successive  plains,  while 
in 'the  mountain  passes  were  seen  large  cedars.     The 
Shoshones  here  encountered  stole  horses,  caught  hare, 
;in  whose  skins  they  sometimes  sought  to  cover  them 
selves,  and  huddled  almost  naked  over  a  sage  fire. 

Following  a  grassy  hollow,  into  some  meadows,  on 
the  29th  the  party  came  to  a  willow  grove,  where  they 


FREMONT'S  ROUTE,  1843-4. 

.made  camp.  Next  day  they  saw  a  stream  enter  a 
canon  which  they  could  not  follow,  but  doubted  not 

,  it  flowed  into  Mary  Lake.  "On  both  sides  the  moun- 
tains  showed  often  stupendous  and  curious-looking 

'rocks,  which  at  several  places  so  narrowed  the  valley 

;  that  scarcely  a  pass  was  left  for  the  camp.     It  was  a 


FREMONT'S  EXPEDITION.  57 

singular  place  to  travel  through,  shut  up  in  the  earth, 
a  sort  of  chasm,  the  little  strip  of  grass  under  our  feet, 
the  rough  walls  of  bare  rock  on  either  hand,  and 
narrow  strip  of  sky  above." 

New  Year's  day,  1844,  saw  them  continuing  down 
the  valley  "between  a  dry -looking  black  ridge  on  the 
left,  and  a  more  snowy  and  high  one  on  the  right." 
The  grass  was  gone,  and  a  finely  powdered  sand  and 
saline  efflorescence  covered  the  ground.  Next  day 
they  crossed  south-easterly  the  dry  bed  of  a  large 
muddy  lake.  In  a  dense  fog  which  scattered  the  men 
and  animals,  on  the  3d  of  January,  the  search  for 
Ogden  River  was  continued.  "Our  situation  had  now 
become  a  serious  one,"  writes  the  leader.  "We  had 
reached  and  run  over  the  position  where,  according  to 
the  best  maps  in  my  possession,  we  should  have  found 
Mary's  lake  or  river.  We  were  evidently  on  the 
verge  of  the  desert  which  had  been  reported  to  us; 
and  the  appearance  of  the  country  was  so  forbidding 
that  I  was  afraid  to  enter  it,  and  determined  to  bear 
away  to  the  southward,  keeping  close  along  the  moun 
tains,  in  the  full  expectation  of  reaching  the  Buena 
ventura  River."  In  fact  the  search  for  this  mythical 
stream  brought  upon  the  expedition  much  confusion, 
its  absence  being  scarcely  less  bewildering  than  the 
continuing  fog.  They  had  but  to  ascend  a  hill,  how 
ever,  to  find  it  all  bright  sunshine.  Then  they  crossed 
the  bed  of  another  lake,  where  were  traces  of  sheep 
and  antelope,  and  came  through  grass  to  some  hot 
springs.  Since  leaving  The  Dalles  the  party  had  lost 
fifteen  animals. 

On  the  6th,  with  Godey  and  Carson,  Fremont  pro 
ceeded  in  advance  to  explore.  They  soon  came  to 
grass  with  springs  overshadowed  with  cottonwood, 
harbingers  of  better  lands.  On  the  mountains  they 
saw  heavy  timber,  which  led  them  to  infer  that  they 
were  not  far  from  the  Pacific.  While  Carson  and 
Fremont  were  again  reconnoitring  they  came  upon  a 
sheet  of  green  water,  which  they  estimated  to  be 


58  PASSAGE  OF  THE  EMIGRANTS. 

twenty  miles  in  width.  "It  broke  upon  our  eyes  like 
the  ocean.  The  neighboring  peaks  rose  high  above 
us.  .  .the  waves  were  curling  in  the  breeze,  and  their 
dark  green  color  showed  it  to  be  a  body  of  deep 
water."  It  lay  at  the  foot  of  the  Sierra,  communi 
cating  at  what  they  call  the  western  end  with  a  series 
of  basins.  Wild  sheep  were  seen ;  also  ducks  and  fish. 
Rising  from  the  middle  of  the  lake  was  a  remark 
able  rock,  estimated  by  them  to  be  six  hundred  feet 
in  height,  in  form  like  the  pyramid  of  Cheops,  where 
upon  they  called  the  sheet  Pyramid  Lake.  They 
were  surprised  to  find  at  the  southern  end  a  large 
fresh- water  inlet  instead  of  an  outlet;  the  latter  did 
not  exist,  as  they  were  then  informed  by  the  natives. 
There  was  here  an  Indian  village,  whose  inhabitants 
brought  fish  of  excellent  quality  to  trade< 

The  natives  made  a  drawing  on  the  ground  repre 
senting  this  river  as  issuing  from  another  large  lake, 
three  or  four  days  distant  over  the  mountains  toward 
the  south-west.  Then  they  drew  a  mountain,  and 
beyond  it  placed  two  more  rivers,  from  all  which  the 
explorers  concluded  they  were  not  on  the  waters  of 
the  Sacramento,  or  even  of  the  Humboldt,  though  at 
every  turn  they  still  expected  to  come  upon  the  great 
Buenaventura.  The  16th  they  continued  their  jour 
ney  along  the  beautiful  Truckee,  which  they  called 
Salmon  Trout  River;  on  their  right  was  the  great 
snow-enshrouded  Sierra,  while  at  their  feet  flowed  the 
limpid  stream  in  places  almost  hidden  by  large  cotton- 
woods.  Carson  searched  everywhere  for  beaver  cut 
tings,  which  he  maintained  would  be  found  only  on 
streams  flowing  into  the  ocean,  and  failing  to  find  such 
signs  he  became  convinced  that  the  waters  thereabout 
had  no  outlet  from  the  great  interior. 

They  then  crossed  to  Carson  River.  Smoke-signals 
rose  on  every  side;  yet  the  natives  being  unmolested 
gave  no  trouble,  and  even  brought  pine-nuts  to  trade. 
The  shoes  of  horses  and  men  were  becoming  worn 
out,  and  the  commander  determined  at  this  juncture 


THE  MURPHY  COMPANY.  59 

to  pass  over  the  mountains  into  California,  which, 
after  proceeding  southward  up  the  eastern  branch  of 
Walker  River  for  some  distance  and  returning,  he 
accomplished  under  the  guidance  of  natives  near  where 
Walker,  Bartleson,  and  others  had  crossed  before  him, 
and  still  searching  for  his  Buenaventura.5 

Fremont  next  entered  Nevada  from  southern  Cali 
fornia  by  way  of  Tehachapi  pass  in  April  1844.  The 
view  of  the  great  basin  eastward  from  this  point  was 
not  pleasing.  White  and  glistening,  under  a  hot  mist, 
lay  an  apparently  illimitable  desert,  with  blistering 
buttes  and  isolated  black  ridges.  A  spur  of  the 

O  JL 

Sierra,  stretching  easterly  some  fifty  miles,  showed 
peaks  of  snow  pronounced  by  the  natives  perpetual. 
Descending  the  eastern  slope  the  party  followed  the 
Santa  Fe  trail,  over  which  the  caravan  had  not  passed 
this  year,  so  that  at  the  camping-grounds  was  found 
good  grass.  They  were  troubled  occasionally  by  the 
natives,  through  whom  they  lost  one  man,  and  one  by 
accident.  They  were  joined  by  Walker  at  Las  Vegas, 
and  on  reaching  the  Rio  Virgen  they  ascended  that 
stream  and  arrived  at  Utah  Lake  the  latter  part  of 
May.  Thence  they  proceeded  by  way  of  the  Uintah 
River  and  Three  Parks  to  the  Kansas. 

A  party  under  Elisha  Stevens,  sometimes  called 
the  Murphy  company,  passed  though  Nevada  in  1844, 
by  the  usual  route  down  the  Hum  bold  t  to  the  sink, 
on  their  way  from  the  Missouri  River  to  California. 
The  names  of  the  party,  who  were  the  first  to  trav 
erse  the  entire  distance  in  wagons,  are  given  in  my 
History  of  California.  There  were  one  or  two  women 
present;  and  save  the  fact  that  the  party  underwent 
some  suffering  at  the  sink  of  the  Humboldt,  where 

5  Fremont's  report  shows  that  in  this  expedition  he  had  not  seen,  or  did 
not  care  to  give  heed  to,  the  previously  published  history  and  map  of  the  ex 
plorations  of  Bonneville;  for  had  he  done  so  he  would  probably  not  have  been 
led  into  the  error  to  which  he  attributed  a  great  deal  of  his  hardships,  of  con 
stantly  looking  for  the  hypothetical  river  of  Buenaventura,  which,  as  he  sup 
posed,  taking  its  rise  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  emptied  itself  into  the  bay  ol 
San  Francisco,  and  upon  which  he  expected  to  winter. 


-FASSAWJU   UP    iMJW   H.MHjr±tAJNT». 


they  arrived  about  the  first  of  November  and  re 
mained  a  month,  later  narrowly  escaping  the  thrilling 
adventures  afterward  involving  the  Conner  party, 
there  is  nothing  of  special  interest  to  mark  their  pro 
gress  through  Nevada. 

It  was  common  for  part  of  the  Oregon  immigration 
to  branch  off  at  Fort  Hall  and  go  to  California. 
Among  the  first  so  to  do  in  1845  was  a  party  of 
twelve  young  men,  among  whom  were  Jacob  R.  Sny- 
der,  William  F.  Swasey,  Blackburn,  and  Todd,  who 
with  pack-animals  preceded  the  wagons.  Following 
these  was  a  party  of  fifteen  under  Sublette  from  St 
Louis;  and  next  the  Grigsby-Ide  company.  As  the 
emigrants  merely  passed  through  the  country  by  a 
well  beaten  road,  on  their  way  to  California,  seeing 
nothing  new,  doing  nothing  in  particular,  making 
no  stay  in  Nevada,  and  leaving  no  mark,  there  is 
little  to  be  said  of  them  in  this  place.  Speaking  of 
their  journey  along  the  Humboldt  Mrs  Healy,  who 
was  of  the  party,  says:  "  None  of  our  company  were 
killed  by  the  Indians;  but  John  Greenwood,  son  of 
the  pilot,  shot  down  an  Indian  by  the  roadside,  and 
afterward  boasted  of  it."  And  Thomas  Knight  in 
his  manuscript  Statement  writes:  "  We  left  Independ 
ence  in  April  1845.  After  we  had  learned  about  this 
country  from  Col.  Joe  Walker,  George  McDougall, 
Snyder,  Blackburn,  and  myself  determined  to  come 
here  if  possible,  as  we  did  not  like  the  idea  of  going  to 
Oregon.  We  came  on  to  Fort  Bridger,  in  the  Snake 
Indian  country.  There  we  fell  in  with  hunters  from 
whom  we  got  more  information,  and  we  crossed  the 
Bear  River,  and  went  north  to  Fort  Hall,  not  the 
Salt  Lake  route,  for  that  was  not  known  till  the  year 
afterwards.  We  got  a  book  written  by  Hastings, 
extolling  the  country  highly,  and  depicting  it  in  glow 
ing  colors.  We  read  it  with  great  interest.  We  met 
Hastings  on  the  way.  At  Fort  Hall  we  camped 
some  time,  and  recruited  our  animals,  which  had  be- 


NOMENCLATURE  AGAIN. 


61 


come  very  much  jaded  at  that  time,  feed  being  scarce. 
There  the  party  divided,  and  those  of  us  who  were 
bound  for  California  joined  some  others,  and  a  new 
party  was  made  up,  with  about  15  wagons.  We 
started,  and  went  down  and  struck  the  head  of  Mary's 
River,  at  that  place  only  three  or  four  feet  wide. 
The  Indians  killed  some  of  our  cattle,  and  some  of 
the  Indians  were  killed,  the  Shoshones;  they  had  no 
fire-arms  at  that  time.  They  would  come  around  after 
dark,  and  make  a  noise  like  a  coyote,  and  call  to  each 
other." 

Fremont  with  a  party  of  sixty  came  again  this  year 
by  way  of  Bent  Fort,  the  Arkansas  River,  and  Utah 
Lake.  Thence  they  passed  on  to  Nevada,  entering 


FREMONT'S  ROUTE,  1845. 

near  Pilot  Peak.  On  the  5th  of  November  at  Whit- 
ton  Spring,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  head-waters  of 
Ogden  River  the  company  divided,  Fremont  with  a 
few  men  striking  due  south-west,  and  reaching  Walker 
Lake  the  23d.  The  stations  named  by  the  explorers 
were  Crane's  branch  of  the  south  fork  of  the  Hum- 
boldt;  the  head-waters  of  the  south  branch  of  the 
Humboldt;  Connor  Spring;  Basil  Creek;  Boiling 
Springs;  Moore  Creek;  and  Secondi  Spring,  Sheep 
Mountain,  meaningless  terms  for  the  most  part  to-day, 
although  the  latitude  and  longitude  are  given.  The 
main  body  followed  the  Humboldt  to  the  sink,  and 
then  turned  south,  reaching  Walker  Lake  the  27th. 


62  PASSAGE  OF  THE  EMIGRANTS. 

This  party  was  under  Joseph  Walker,  from  whom  the. 
lake  was  named. 

Here  they  all  remained  for  two  days,  when  Fre 
mont  with  fifteen  men  crossed  into  California  by  way 
of  Walker  and  Truckee  rivers,  while  the  others, 
among  whom  were  Theodore  Talbot,  Joe  Walker, 
and  E.  M.  Kern,  on  the  8th  of  December  proceeded 
southward  to  Owen  Lake  and  on  to  Kern  Kiver.6 

We  have  seen  the  veteran  trapper  and  pioneer  Jede- 
diah  Smith  crossing  Nevada  from  west  to  east  along 
what  was  later  the  track  of  the  emigrant  road  and 
the  railway.  A  more  difficult  and  dangerous  journey 
was  that  achieved  by  fifteen  men  from  Oregon  in 
1840,  under  Levi  Scott,  Jesse  Applegate,  and  Lindsey 
Applegate,  a  full  account  of  which  is  given  in  my 
History  of  Oregon.  Their  object  was  to  find  a  pass 
through  the  southern  end  of  the  Cascade  Mountains, 
by  means  of  which  immigrants  could  enter  the  Wil 
lamette  Valley  direct  by  travelling  due  west  from 
Great  Salt  Lake,  or  rather  by  bending  south  and  fol 
lowing  the  California  trail  along  the  Humboldt  for 
some  distance,  then  striking  northerly  toward  the 
Modoc  country  and  Klamath  Lake,  and  thus  avoiding 

6  Thomas  S.  Martin,  in  his  Narrative  of  Fremont's  Expedition  in  1845-6, 
MS.,  9-10,  gives  the  following  version:  '  We  left  Hardscrabble  with  about 
60  men;  followed  the  Ark.  to  its  head.  Here  we  crossed  the  dividing  ridge 
between  the  head-waters  of  the  Ark.  and  Grand  rivers.  On  or  near  the  top 
of  this  ridge  we  found  a  fine  lake  about  half  a  mile  across.  Striking  the 
Grand  River  we  followed  down  it  for  several  days,  and  then  left  it,  going 
about  due  west,  I  think,  across  to  Hams  Fork,  which  we  followed  down  to 
Utah  Lake.  Thence  by  Jordan  River  to  Salt  Lake.  Here  we  remained  22 
days  taking  soundings.  From  here  we  crossed  to  Mary's  River,  followed  it 
to  its  sink,  thence  due  south  to  a  large  lake,  and  thence  to  Carson  sink  just 
above  Lake.  Here  Fremont  took  15  men  to  cross  the  Sierra  Nevada  at  Bear 
River,  while  the  rest  of  us,  under  Lieut.  Talbot,  proceeded  southward  and 
crossed  at  the  forks  of  the  Kern  River.  Bill  Williams,  Capt.  Walker,  and 
Kit  Carson  were  with  us,  the  former  two  as  guides.  Bill  Williams  left  us  I 
think  before  we  left  Salt  Lake.  Fre'mont  was  to  meet  us  at  the  point  of  the 
Sierra  Nevada,  or  rather  a  little  above  it,  at  the  forks  of  the  Kern  River. 
Having  reached  this  appointed  place  we  waited  18  days  without  hearing  any 
thing  of  Frtimont  and  party.  By  this  time  provisions  had  given  out,  and  all 
the  men  threatened  to  leave  Talbot  if  he  did  not  move.  We  then  crossed 
over  to  the  San  Joaquin  and  followed  it  down  to  where  the  railroad  now 
crosses  it,  where  we  arrived  Feb.  17,  1846.' 


EXPLORATIONS  OF  THE  OREGONIANS.  63 

the  Rogue  River  Valley.  Thence  their  course  was 
along  the  banks  of  the  main  stream  until  they  en 
countered  its  southeast  branch,  which  they  followed 
to  the  base  of  the  Siskiyou  Range,  and  from  this 
turned  eastward  toward  the  Cascades,  passing  through 
a  region  now  for  the  first  time  explored,  and  only  a 
few  miles  north  of  the  boundary  line  of  California. 
Ascending  the  slopes  of  the  latter,  a  stream  named 
Keene  Creek  conducted  them  to  a  small  valley,  after 
ward  known  as  Round  Prairie.  A  day  or  two  later, 
Long  Prairie  was  reached,  and  near  it  a  pass  from 
which,  following  a  ridge  trending  toward  the  north, 

'  O  O  O 

they  reached  the  summit  of  the  Cascades  on  the  4th 
of  July. 

Crossing  the  mountains,  they  entered  the  valley  of 
the  Klamath,  and  following  the  course  of  the  river 
to  a  point  where  it  separates  from  the  lower  Klamath 
Lake,  crossed  by  a  ford  to  the  western  shore  of  the 
lake,  skirting  its  banks  until  they  arrived  at  Hot 
Creek,  where  they  encamped  on  the  very  spot  where 
three  of  Fremont's  party  had  been  murdered  a  few 
weeks  before  by  the  Modocs.  From  Hot  Creek  they 
made  their  way  to  Modoc  Lake,  thence  to  Goose  Lake 
and  Surprise  Valley,  and  over  the  ridge  dividing  the 
Pacific  lake  basin  from  the  great  interior  basin,  and 
after  innumerable  hardships,  they  finally  struck  the 
Humboldt  River  about  where  now  stands  Humboldt 
City.  They  were  now  upon  a  well  known  road, 
which  it  would  be  useless  for  them  to  travel  for  pur 
poses  of  exploration.  So  striking  northeasterly  they 
examined  the  country  in  that  direction  to  ascertain  if 
any  better  or  more  direct  route  might  be  found  than 
that  which  they  had  just  now  for  the  first  time 
marked  out.  They  continued  their  course  to  Thou 
sand  Springs  Valley,  and  satisfied  that  further  search 
was  needless,  the  company  divided,  part  going  to 
Bear  River  and  part  to  Fort  Hall. 

It  was  the  intention  of  the  Oregon  company  to 
locate  a  direct  road  to  Bear  River,  but  one  not  less 


64  PASSAGE  OP  THE  EMIGRANTS. 

than  fifty  miles  to  the  southward  of  Fort  Hall,  which 
point  would  be  avoided  by  Americans  in  the  event  of 
hostilities  with  England,  then  threatened  by  the  de 
termined  attitude  of  both  nations  in  regard  to  the 

O 

boundary  question.  But  as  provisions  ran  short,  the 
party  divided,  some  proceeding  to  Bear  River,  and 
the  remainder  turning  off  toward  Fort  Hall  for  sup 
plies,  hoping  also  to  induce  a  portion  of  the  emi 
grants,  then'  probably  in  its  neighborhood,  to  journey 
by  the  new  route,  and  thus  open  the  road  for  travel. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

SETTLEMENT. 
1847-1860. 

CESSION  FROM  MEXICO— ADVENT  OF  THE  MORMONS — COLONIZATION— MORMON 
STATION — TRAFFIC  WITH  EMIGRANTS— INTERCOURSE  WITH  CALIFORNIA — 
GOVERNMENT  ASSUMED— LAND  CLAIMS  MADE  AND  RECORDED — CATTLE 
TRADE,  FARMING,  AND  BUILDING— FIRST  SETTLERS— PETITION  FOR  AN 
NEXATION  TO  CALIFORNIA — MOVEMENTS  TOWARD  A  TERRITORIAL  GOV 
ERNMENT — CONFLICTS  WITH  THE  LATTER-DAY  SAINTS — POLITICAL  AND 
JUDICIAL. 

IN  the  sudden  occurrence  of  remarkable  events  which 
followed  the  war  between  the  United  States  and 
Mexico,  the  settlement  of  the  great  American  basin 
was  included.  Much  notoriety  was  given  to  Fre 
mont's  explorations,  and  less  to  a  far  greater  move 
ment — that  of  the  Latter-day  Saints,  who  founded  a 
city  two  thirds  of  the  way  across  the  continent,  and 
in  so  doing  forestalled  the  necessity  about  to  arise  for 
such  a  station  in  such  a  place.  The  treaty  of  Gua- 
dalupe  Hidalgo  was  no  sooner  signed  than  the  new 
owners  of  the  California  territory,  by  discovering  gold, 
attracted  toward  it  a  stream  of  immigration.  The 
founders  of  Salt  Lake  City,  saved  from  nakedness  by 
the  advent  of  trains  of  starving  but  better  clad  pil 
grims  to  the  land  of  gold,  were  glad  to  sell  grain  and 
vegetables  to  the  westward  bound,  which  saved  the 
latter  much  suffering.  This  mutually  beneficial  ar 
rangement  of  demand  and  supply  was  not  confined  to 
Salt  Lake,  but  Mormon  and  other  traders  soon  posted 
themselves  along  the  line  of  travel  to  the  mines,  and 
particularly  in  the  valley  of  Carson  river,  where,  in 

HIST.  NEV.    5  f6W 


66  SETTLEMENT, 

1849,  they  founded  the  first  settlements  in  what  is  now 
the  state  of  Nevada. 

Ceded  to  the  United  States  at  the  same  time,  and, 
indeed,  as  one  with  California,1  this  region  of  the 
Spanish  domain  had  not,  like  that  west  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada,  a  distinctive  name,  but  was  described  by 
local  names,  and  divided  into  valleys. 

In  March  following  the  treaty  with  Mexico  and  the 
discovery  of  gold,  the  inhabitants  of  Salt  Lake  valley 
met  and  organized  the  state  of  Deseret,  the  boundaries 
of  which  included  the  whole  of  the  recently  acquired 
Mexican  territory  outside  of  California,  and  something 
more.2 

Soon  afterward  a  company  was  organized  among 
the  same  people  to  visit  the  mines,  consisting  of 
eighty  men,  led  by  a  captain  named  De  Mont,  and 
having  for  secretary  H.  S.  Beatie,3  who,  becoming 
enamored  of  the  valley  of  the  Carson,  and  the  oppor 
tunities  offered  for  turning  an  honest  penny,  took 
possession  of  the  site  of  the  present  town  of  Genoa, 
and  thereupon  erected  a  log  house.  Several  of  the 
company  remained  with  Beatie,  while  the  others  con 
tinued  on  to  the  mines.* 

After  putting  up  the  walls  of  the  first  house5  built 

1  Statutes  of  Cal,  1850,  16;  Hayderis  Great  West,  a  book  historical,  scien 
tific,  and  descriptive,  by  Prof.  F.  V.  Hayden,  once  U.  S.  geologist,  in  a  brief 
sketch  of  Nevada  history,  says  that  it  was  at  first  a  '  part  of  California  terri 
tory,  and  was  subsequently  attached  to  Utah,'  a  statement  which  is  some 
what  misleading. 

2  The  Mormon  State  of  Deseret  included  what  has  since  become  Nevada, 
Utah,  Arizona,  portions  of  Colorado,  Wyoming,  and  Oregon,  and  in  Califor 
nia  the  counties  of  San  Diego  and  Los  Angeles  as  far  north  as  Santa  Monica, 
whence  the  line  extended  north  to  the  Sierra,  taking  in  half  of  Kern,  a  part 
of  Tulare,  all  of  Inyo  and  Mono,  a  part  of  Alpine,  the  whole  of  Lassen,  and 
a  part  of  Shasta  and  Siskiyou  counties.   See  Hist.  Utah,  this  series. 

3  Beatie,  from  whose  manuscript  narrative,  The  First  in  Nevada,  I  take 
the  history  of  this  expedition,  was  born  in  Va  in  1826.     He  moved  with  his 
parents  to  Mo.  at  the  age  of  10  years,  and  in  1840  to  Ky,  returning  to  Va 
and  entering  college.     In  1848  he  immigrated  to  Utah  with  his  wife,  whom 
he  had  married  in  Mo.     From  that  period  his  history  is  a  part  of  the  history 
of  Utah. 

4  De  Mont,  Abner  Blackburn  and  brother,  Kimball,  and  Carter  were  five 
of  the  men  who  remained  in  Carson  valley.  Beatie  s  First  in  Nevada,  MS.,  2. 
Three  other  names  are  given  in  Beatie's  MS. — Pearson,  Smith,  and  Brown — 
but  1  am  not  certain  that  they  remained. 

6  The  structure  is  what  is  called  a  double  log  house — that  is,  two  com 
partments  connected  by  a  covered  passage-way,  after  the  style  of  the  Mis- 


BEATIE  IN  CARSON  VALLEY.  67 

in  Nevada  since  the  disappearance  of  the  old-time 
fabulous  cities,6  Beatie  and  one  of  the  Blackburns 
crossed  the  mountains  by  the  Carson  pass  to  the 
American  river,  to  purchase  supplies  for  the  re 
mainder  of  the  summer.  There  he  learned  that  a 
large  immigation  might  be  expected  from  the  United 
States  to  California;  so  he  sold  three  yokes  of  cattle 
for  a  good  price,  and  purchased  provisions.  Return- 
ing  to  Carson  valley,  the  cargo  was  quickly  disposed 
of  to  the  immigration,  and  another  journey  made  to 
the  mines,  this  time  with  pack  animals,  and  by  the 
way  of  a  pass  over  the  mountains  three  miles  south 
of  Beatie's  claim,  the  adventurers  crossing  the  streams 
on  bridges  and  floats  of  logs.7  At  the  end  of  the  sum 
mer  the  little  party  in  Carson  valley  found  itself  better 
off  from  the  profits  of  trade  than  many  who  had  spent 
the  time  digging  for  gold  in  California.  Other  traders 
had  come  over  the  mountains  from  the  west,  and  dis 
posing  of  their  goods  disappeared  with  the  immigra 
tion.  When  he  returned  to  Salt  Lake  in  September, 
Beatie  sold  his  house  and  claim  to  one  Moore,  of 
whom  I  know  nothing  further,8  except  that  he  prob 
ably  sold  in  1851  to  John  Reese.  It  is  certain  that 
one  of  the  Mormon  party  kept  possession  until  Reese 
came.  Two  of  Beatie's  associates  went  to  California. 
The  other  five,  with  ten  who  came  back  from  the 
mines,  travelled  back  in  company  to  Salt  Lake,  and 
were  attacked  by  the  Bannacks  in  the  vicinity  of 
Bear  river,  losing  all  their  horses  and  provisions,  and 

souri  frontier  in  the  past  generation.  It  had  neither  floor  nor  roof,  but  as  it 
did  not  rain  that  season,  was  not  uncomfortable.  A  corral  was  also  con 
structed,  in  which  to  keep  cattle  and  horses. 

6  It  has  been  claimed  that  the  Morgan  exploring  expedition  to  southern 
Nevada  and  Utah  found  in  a  desert  valley,  two  days'  journey  south  of  Reese 
river,    remnants  of  an  extensive  city,    with  regularly  laid  out  streets  and 
good  masonry.     The  ruins  were  covered  several  feet  deep  under  pand.     Tbe 
reader  may  take  the  statement  at  what  he  deems  it  worth.     Corr.  N.  Y. 
TrVmne,  in  Eiko  Independent,  Oct.  23,  1877. 

7  This  was  probably  the  route  opened  by  the  returning  Mormon  battalion 
in  the  spring  of  1848.   See  Hist.  CaL,  this  series. 

8  Beatie  says    his  house  was    directly  west  of  Reese's  saw-mill,    subse 
quently  erected,  and  about  50  yards  from  where  Reese  built  his  trading  post. 
First  in  Nevada,  MS.,  3. 


68  SETTLEMENT. 

being  relieved  by  a  company  from  Oregon  carrying 
provisions  to  Fort  Hall  for  the  new  military  post.' 

In  1850  there  were  about  twenty  trading  posts, 
built  of  saplings  and  green  boughs,  at  intervals  along 
the  length  of  the  Carson  valley,  most  of  them  estab 
lished  by  men  from  California,  who  this  year  did  not 
reap  the  same  profit  as  before,  the  principal  part  of  the 
immigration  having  taken  the  route  by  the  Truckee 
river.  As  there  was  no  communication  between  the 
two  routes,  the  traders  could  not  take  their  flour, 
which  the  immigrants  greatly  needed,  to  them;  in 
consequence  of  which  failure  to  meet  in  Carson  valley, 
the  former  suffered  loss  and  the  latter  hunger.10 

A  disease  resembling  cholera  prevailed  in  the  val 
ley,  which  took  off  ten  or  twelve  daily,  the  immigrants 
falling  easy  victims,  owing  to  previous  exhaustion. 
These  several  circumstances  retarded  the  settlement 
of  the  Carson  valley,  and  in  1852  there  had  been  no 
houses  erected,  although  the  returning  Mormon  gold- 
hunters  made  selection  of  several  claims  as  they  passed 
homeward.11  Reese's  establishment  was  called  the 
Mormon  station,  and  was  known  to  all  immigrants 
between  1851  and  1857.12  Reese's  capital  in  trade 

'I  find  that  some  have  placed  the  advent  of  the  Mormons  in  Nevada  as 
early  as  1847-8;  but  for  such  assertions  there  are  no  grounds.  The  founding 
of  Salt  Lake  did  not  take  place  till  1847,  and  the  Mormons  were  in  no  con 
dition  to  send  out  colonies  at  that  time;  nor  was  there  any  object  for  so  doing 
before  the  State  of  Deseret  was  organized.  Powell's  Nevada,  a  book  which 
should  have  been  more  correct,  makes  the  same  mistake,  and  the  additional 
one  of  stating  that  gold  was  discovered  in  Nevada  '  during  the  absence '  of 
the  Mormon  settlers  in  1849.  In  Browne*  Min.  Resources,  87,  the  same  error 
in  dates  is  repeated  which  occurs  elsewhere;  as  in  Kelly's  Nev.  Dir.,  1862, 
95;  Virginia  Uity  Enterprise,  June  6,  1875;  San  Jose  Pioneer,  May  26,  1877. 

19  Those  who  did  reach  the  immigrants  on  the  Humboldt  desert  could  get 
a  horse,  an  ox,  or  mnle  for  12,  10,  or  even  2  pounds  of  flour;  while  the  50,000 
pounds  of  that  commodity  at  the  trading  posts  on  the  Carson  route— so  said 
E.  Eyre,  a  trader— could  be  purchased  for  15  cents  a  pound.  Sacramento  Tran 
script,  Oct.  14,  1850;  Gal  Courier,  July  23,  1850. 

11 1  take  this  statement  from  a  manuscript  by  A.  H.  Hawley,  called  Lake 
Tahoe,  full  of  pertinent  facts  and  suggestions.  Hawley,  who  was  born  in 
Vt  in  1813  immigrated  to  the  Pacific  coast  overland  in  1852.  He  speaks  of 
seeing  no  other  building  than  the  '  Old  Mormon  Station,'  kept  by  John  Reese, 
except  the  abanded  and  never  completed  one  erected  by  Beatie,  and  16 
mile*  farther  up  the  valley  a  brush-tent  called  Lucky  Bill's  trading  post.  See 
also  Sic.  Transcript,  in  Cal  Courier,  July  23,  1850. 

12  Reese's  station  was  a  two-story  log  structure  shaped  like  an  L.  It  had 
a  frontage  of  30  feet,  a  depth  of  50  feet,  and  at  one  time  formed  2  sides  of  a 


REESE'S  MORMOX  STATION.  69 

consisted  of  ten  wagon-loads  of  flour,  butter,  eggs,  and 
other  articles.  His  company  from  Salt  Lake  com 
prised  John  and  Rufus  Thomas,  Stephen  A.  Kinsey, 
two  or  three  of  the  name  of  Lee,  Condie,  Brown,  and 
Gibson,  and  a  few  passengers  for  California — sixteen 
in  all.  He  stopped  for  a  short  time  near  the  eastern 
end  of  the  valley,  at  a  place  which,  from  the  debris 
around  the  camping-ground,  acquired  the  name  of 
Ragtown,  by  which  it  was  long  known ;  but  Kinsey 
having  proceeded  to  the  western  end  of  the  valley 
and  reported  Beatie's  former  location  a  better  one,  he 
removed  in  July  to  that  spot.15 

On  the  9th  of  September,  1850,  congress  defined 
the  boundaries  of  Utah,  which  did  not  extend  west 
of  the  Sierra  Nevada.14  In  the  autumn  of  1851  a 
little  handful  of  settlers,  part  Mormon  and  part  gen 
tile,  in  order  to  be  enabled  to  take  and  hold  land 
claims,  assumed  to  form  a  government  for  themselves 
in  this  remotest  western  valley  of  Utah.  The  popu 
lation  at  this  time  did  not  number  more  than  one 
hundred,  and  of  these  not  more  than  twenty  were 
actual  settlers.  The  first  meeting  for  this  purpose 
was  held  on  the  12th  of  November,  A.  Woodward 
presiding.  The  resolutions  passed  provided  for  a  peti 
tion  to  congress  to  erect  a  distinct  territorial  govern 
ment  in  the  valley ;  for  the  survey  of  land  claims,  and 
the  appointment  of  James  H.  Haynes  as  surveyor. 
The  governing  and  appointing  power  was  vested  in  a 
committee  of  seven,  namely,  William  Byrnes,  John 
Reese,  E.  L.  Barnard,  A.  Woodward,  H.  H.  Jameson, 
T.  A.  Hylton,  and  N.  R.  Haskill.  The  committee  on 

pentagon-shaped  fort.  The  land  which  Moore  purchased  from  Beatie,  and 
Reese  from  Moore,  was  also  purchased  again  from  a  chief  of  the  Washoes, 
named  Captain  Jim,  for  2  sacks  of  flour.  Wriy/tt's  Big  Bonanza,  20. 

la  Reese  was  born  in  N.  Y.  state  in  1808.  He  came  to  Utah  in  company 
with  Enoch  Reese,  his  brother,  in  1849,  and  was*in  business  in  Salt  Lake  as  a 
member  of  the  firm  J.  &  E.  Reese  at  the  time  he  removed  to  Carson  valley. 
Reese's  Mormon  Station,  MS.,  1. 

14  The  boundaries  of  Utah  as  first  organized  were,  west  by  California,  north 
by  Oregon,  east  by  the  summit  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  and  south  by  lat. 
37°. 


70  SETTLEMENT. 

resolutions,  or  laws,  consisted  of  John  Eeese,  J.  P. 
Barnard,  William  Byrnes,  Washington  Loomis,  and 
H.  H.  Jameson.  The  amount  of  land  which  could  be 
taken  was  limited  to  one  quarter-section ;  a  recording 
officer  was  appointed,  who  was  also  treasurer. 

At  the  second  meeting,  held  on  the  19th,  John 
Keese  presiding,  this  pioneer  legislature  resolved  to 
give  claimants  a  right  to  sell  their  claims  and  take 
new  ones;  required  improvements  to  the  amount  of 
five  dollars  before  the  expiration  of  six  months;  gave 
authority  to  companies  to  take  claims  for  each  mem 
ber,  and  to  hold  the  whole  by  improving  one  claim 
to  the  amount  of  five  dollars  each  ;  and  decreed  that 
timbered  land  should  be  common  to  all,  except  in  the 
case  of  lumber  manufacturers,  who  should  be  limited 
to  a  certain  number  of  acres. 

At  the  third  meeting  of  the  settlers,  which  occurred 
on  the  20th  of  November,  the  same  officers  presiding, 
it  was  agreed  that  a  justice  of  the  peace,  a  clerk  of  the 
court,  and  a  sheriff  should  be  elected,  and  that  E.  L. 
Barnard  should  be  magistrate,  William  Byrnes  sheriff, 
and  T.  A.  Hylton  clerk.  To  provide  against  abuses, 
citizens  should  have  the  right  of  appeal  to  a  court  of 
twelve  men  summoned  in  the  manner  of  a  jury,  from 
whose  decision  there  should  be  no  appeal.  A  con 
stable  and  clerk  of  these  courts  were  also  provided  for. 
At  another  meeting,  in  May  1852,  J.  C.  Fain  being 
chairman,  it  was  decided  that  to  any  one  who  should 
build  a  saw-mill,  the  right  to  take  up  a  section  of 
timber  land  should  be  granted.15  No  further  action 
appears  to  have  been  taken  in  the  matter  of  govern 
ment  before  the  intervention  of  the  territorial  author 
ities  of  Utah.16 

15  The  several  authorities  conflict  concerning  the  date  of  the  first  saw-mill. 
Beatie  says  that  in  1853,  on  revisiting  Carson  valley,  he  found  houses  built 
of  sawed  lumber,  but  there  is  reason  to  believe  those  he  mentions  were  made 
of  wagon-boxes. 

16  It  has  been  later  reported  of  those  living  in  Carson  valley  in  1851-2, 
that  John  Reese  is  a  comparatively  poor  man    in  Salt  Lake  City;  Frank 
Barnard  was  killed  by  an  immigrant  in  the  winter  of  1852;  A.   Woodward 
was  killed  by  Indians  at  Rocky  Point  on  the  Huuiboldt,  about  the  end  of 


.LAJN1JS,   HJAULE,   AJNi)  KUEJN.  71 

The  first  land  claim  recorded  under  the  govern 
ment  of  Utah,  on  December  1852,  was  that  of  Reese, 
which  extended  from  his  trading  house  south  "  to  a 
lone  tree,"  and  included  all  between  the  river  and  the 
mountains  on  the  west.  Five  other  claims  were  re 
corded  south  of  Reese's,  in  the  order  following:  E.  L. 
Barnard,  S.  A.  Kinsey,  James  C.  Fain,  J.  Brown, 
and  William  Byrnes.  J.  H.  Scott  and  brother  took 
a  claim  north  of  Reese,  these  seven  being  all  that 
were  recorded  previous  to  1853.17 

The  land  law  was  amended  by  a  citizens'  meeting 
in  1853,  when  it  was  decreed  that  notice  of  a  claim 
must  be  given,  and  $100  worth  of  improvements  put 
upon  it  within  60  days.  A  married  man  might  take 
640  acres,  and  a  single  man  half  that  amount.  Joseph 
P.  Barnard,  Frank  Barnard,  George  Follensbee,  A.  J. 
Rollins,  Frank  Hall,  and  W.  L.  Hall  came  over  the 
mountains  from  the  California  mines  in  November 
1851  to  look  for  gold  in  Carson  valley  ;  but  not  finding 
paying  diggings,  they  took  up  the  land  where  Carson 
City  now  stands,  and  erected  a  trading-post.  Frank 
Hall  one  day  shot  an  eagle  and  stretched  its  skin  on 
the  front  of  their  cabin,  from  which  circumstance 
travellers  first  called  this  Eagle  station,  then  Eagle 
rancho,  and  lastly  spoke  of  Eagle  valley,  which  name 
the  region  still  retains  ;  but  these  men  disregarded  the 
authority  of  the  self-constituted  government  in  the 
matter  of  land  claims.  In  the  autumn  of  1852  a  man 
named  Clark  erected  a  cabin  under  the  shelter  of  a 
timbered  spur  of  the  mountains,  near  the  site  of 

1851 ;  E.  L.  Barnard,  one  of  the  firm  of  Reese  &  Co.,  absconded  in  the  autumn 
of  1854  with  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  a  large  drove  of  cattle,  and  broke  up 
the  firm;  N.  R.  Haskill,  in  the  spring  of  1852,  attempted  the  assassination  of 
William  Byrnes,  shooting  him  full  of  bullets,  and  leaving  him,  as  he  believed, 
dead.  A  miner's  court  compelled  Haskill  to  leave  the  country,  together  with 
his  partner,  Washington  Loomis,  who  was  afterward  hanged  at  Los  Angeles 
for  stealing.  Byrnes,  who  had  been  a  Texan  ranger,  recovered  from  the 
shooting,  and  became  an  inmate  of  the  Stockton  insane  asylum.  Thorring- 
ton  was  accused  of  murder  and  theft,  and  hanged. 

17  The  records  of  this  government,  made  by  T.  G.  Barnard  and  T.  A. 
Hylton,  are  preserved  in  a  book  of  60  leaves,  6  by  7  inches  in  size,  in  the 
possession  of  Martin  M.  Gaige  of  Carson  City, 


72  SETTLEMENT. 

Franktown,  and  called  his  place  the  garden  of  Eden, 
to  which  fabled  spot  he  fancied  it  bore  some  resem 
blance.18  Like  the  first  Adam,  he  deserted  his  para 
dise  after  a  short  residence  for  a  more  lucrative  exist 
ence  in  the  outside  world. 

The  Utah  legislature,  on  the  3d  of  March,  1852, 
created  out  of  western  Utah  the  counties  of  Weber, 
Deseret,  Tooele,  Juab,  Millard,  Iron,  and  Washing 
ton.  The  territory  was  divided  by  parallel  lines  run 
ning  east  and  west,  and  the  first  three  named  divisions 
occupied  the  northern  part  of  what  is  now  Nevada 
down  to  about  the  present  northern  line  of  Washoe 
county.  The  next  two  divisions  on  the  south,  Juab 
and  Millard,  included  all  of  the  Carson  valley  settle 
ments.  Judges  were  appointed  for  a  term  of  four 
years.  For  Weber  and  Deseret,  Isaac  Clark  ;  for 
Tooele,  Alfred  Lee ;  for  Juab,  George  Bradley  ;  for 
Millard,  Anson  Call ;  for  Iron  and  Washington,  Chap 
man  'Duncan.  It  would  seem  from  these  appoint 
ments  that  the  Mormons  were  scattered  over  the 
whole  territory,  or  that  it  was  their  intention  to  send 
out  colonies. 

In  roads,  bridges,  and  mail  contracts  they  became 
prominent.  In  December  1852  John  Reese  and  Israel 
Mott19  secured  a  franchise  for  five  years  to  construct 
a  toll-bridge  over  the  Carson  river,  and  improve  the 

18  B.  L.  King  settled  in  1852  at  the  mouth  of  a  canon  in  Eagle  valley,  which 
bears  his  name.     A  man  named  Bowen  tarried  through  the  summer  and  raised 
a  crop,  but  went  away  in  the  autumn.     A  few  others  in  Carson  valley  in  1852- 
3  were  Lee,  Condie,  and  Gibbon,  Mormons;  and  Joseph  Webb,  T.  G.  Barnard, 
and  James  Fennimore,  or  Old  Virginia  as  he  was  called,  gentiles.     Jacob  H. 
or  '  old  man '  Rose,  was  another  atom  of  humanity  which  found  lodgment 
about  this  time  at  the  mouth  of  King's  canon  in  Eagle  valley.     G.  "W.  Dodge 
and  John  Campbell,  who  had  been  mining  in  Gold  canon,  took  up  a  claim  in 
Washoe  valley,  and  Christopher  West  located  himself  near  them.     On  the 
Truckee  meadows  lived  a  Mormon  named  Jameson.     Dagget  took  a  place 
two  miles  west  of  Reese,  and  John  Redding  in  Jack's  valley.     Jones,  James, 
and  Hayward  settled  in  Carson  valley  about  1852. 

19  Mott,  with  his  wife,  left  Salt  Lake  for  Cal.  with  a  train  in  May  1852. 
He  first  settled  4  miles  above  Reese,  and  built  a  house  out  of  the  beds  of 
wagons  abandoned  in  the  valley.     He  made  a  window-sash  with  a  jack-knife, 
paying  75  cts  a  light  for  7  by  9  inch  glass  to  put  in  it.     He  was  the  founder 
of  Mottsville.     His  wife,  who  was  the  first  female  settler,  married  a  second 
time  to  A.  M.  Taylor,  and  later  resided  in  Carson  valley 


PROGRESS  IN  1852-53.  73 

road  up  the  mountains  beyond.  A  mail  route  was 
established  between  Salt  Lake  City  and  San  Bernar 
dino,  and  a  post  established  at  Las  Vegas  spring, 
which  was  for  the  protection  of  this  route.  At  Car 
son  valley  this  was  a  prosperous  year.  The  immi 
gration  was  large  and  hungry.  At  Mormon  station 
turnips  grown  in  the  virgin  soil  of  the  valley  sold  for 
a  dollar  a  bunch ;  watermelons,  potatoes,  and  corn 
brought  extravagant  prices  ;  wheat  and  barley  were 
also  marketable  for  cash,  or  cattle,  which  were  better 
than  cash.  Reese,  who  was  the  principal  trader, 
bought  out  a  would-be  rival,  Ben  Holladay,  after 
ward  famous  as  a  stage- owner. 

In  1853  the  settlements  had  very  much  increased, 
and  land  entries  became  frequent.2'  A  number  of 
families  had  been  added  to  the  population,  aad  some 
of  the  forms  of  social  life  begun  to  be  observed  that 
year,  notably  a  marriage,  a  divorce,  and  a  ball.21  It 
was  a  year  later  before  a  school  was  opened. 

20  J.  H.  Scott  and  Charles  Ferguson  filed  a  claim  April  llth;  also  the  same 
day  J.  H.  Haynes  and  David  Barry,  and  Thomas  and  E.  H.  Knott.     On  May 
12th  Charles  A.  Daggett  filed  a  claim;  May  17th  R.  T.  Hawkins  in  Jack's 
valley;  July  22d,  L.  M.  Young  and  James  Greene;  Sept.  30th,  L.  Olds  and 
John  Olds;  Oct.  5th,  John  L.  Cary  and  Thomas  Knott  sold  a  farm  to  W.  B. 
Thorrington  for  $600.     Oct.  6th,  four  sixth  of  the  Eagle  rancho  was  sold  by 
Frank  and  W.  L.  Hall  to  E.  L.  Barnard,  two  sixths  having  already  been  sold 
to  them  by  their  former  partners,  A.  J.  Rollins  and  George  Follensbee. 

21  Mrs  Laura  M.  Dittenrieder,  who  arrived  June  9,  1853,  was  at  that  time 
the  wife  of  James  B.  Ellis.     Her  husband  took  a  land  claim  1£  miles  below 
where  Dayton  now  stands,  and  erected  a  substantial  log  house.    Oct.  4,  1854, 
Ellis  accidently  shot  himself.     Mrs  Ellis,  like  an  intelligent  woman,  kept  a 
journal,  in  which  she  wrote  the  following  facts:  SpafFord  Kail,  from  Fort 
Wayne,  Indiana,  kept  a  trading  post  and  station  at  the  Gold  canon,  on  what 
is  now  Mine  street.     Opposite  to  it  was  a  blacksmith  shop  made  of  wagon 
beds.     The  only  women  she  found  in  western  Utah,  outside  of  Carson  valley, 
were  Mrs  McMarlin,  Mrs  Cosser,  her  12-years-old  daughter,  and  the  wife  of 
the  blacksmith  named  Henry  Van  Sickle,  who  went  to  Cal.  before  winter. 
In  her  place,  however,  came  a  family  with  several  daughters,  one  of  whom 
married  Lucien  Olds,  and  another  Al.  Squires,  both  of  Carson  valley.     The 
Halls,   after  selling   Eagle   rancho,    returned  to  Cal.  and  Frederic  Bishop 
resided   at  the   rancho,  later   the   property  of  Reese  and   Barnard,     'ihat 
autumn  Walter  Cosser  began  business  in  the  mercantile  line,  at  a  point 
which  eventually  became   known   as   Johnston.      In  March  1854  Thomas 
Knott  began  building  a  saw-mill  for  John  Cary,  at  the  head  of  Carson  valley. 
The  first  plank  was  sawed  on  the  26th  of  July;  the  first  lumber  produced  in 
western  Utah  bringing  SI 00  per  1,000. 

The  marriage  and  divorce  occurred  under  the  following  circumstances: 
An  immigrant  named  Powell,  whose  wife  had  died  on  the  road,  had  among 
his  children  a  daughter  14  vears  of  age,  named  Mary.  While  the  father  was 


74  SETTLEMENT. 

In  February  1853  there  was  presented  in  the  legis 
lature  of  California  a  petition  of  forty-three  citizens 
of  Carson  valley,  praying  to  be  annexed  to  California 
for  judicial  purposes  until  congress  should  otherwise 

absent  looking  for  a  place  to  live,  Benjamin  Cole,  a  young  man  from  Missouri, 
induced  the  child  to  marry  him,  the  ceremony  being  performed  by  a  justice 
of  the  peace  named  Parker.  Having  no  home  to  take  her  to,  he  left  her  with 
Mrs  Cosser  while  he  proceeded  to  erect  a  cabin,  and  that  motherly  Scotch 
woman  advised  Mary  to  remain  with  her  until  her  father's  return,  to  which 
the  girl  consented.  The  husband  demanded  his  wife,  but  Mary  declined  to 
leave  the  protection  of  Mrs  Cosser  until  her  father  should  sanction  it.  This 
late  prudence  created  a  feud  in  society,  some  approving  it,  and  others  advo 
cating  the  rights  of  Cole.  On  the  return  of  Powell  he  took  possession  of  his 
child,  and  started  with  his  family  for  Cal.,  followed  by  the  irate  bridegroom 
and  his  friends,  with  the  purpose  of  abducting  the  girl.  But  the  Cosser- 
Powell  party  also  mounted  their  horsea  and  rode  after  them  to  prevent  any 
forcible  measures.  To  avoid  a  bloody  conflict,  Powell  at  length  offered  to 
abide  by  the  decision  of  his  daughter  if  the  other  party  would  do  the  same, 
to  which  they  agreed,  and  Mary  declaring  her  desire  to  go  with  her  father, 
Cole  returned  to  Gold  canon.  The  divorce  was  even  less  informal  than  the 
marriage,  for  no  other  proceedings  were  ever  instituted. 

The  first  ball  was  held  on  the  last  night  of  1853,  in  a  room  over  Spafford 
Hall's  store,  at  the  mouth  of  Gold  canon.  There  were  present  9  females, 
great  and  small — all  of  womankind  there  was  in  western  Utah  except  three 
— and  about  100  men.  While  the  dancing  was  going  on  the  VVashoes  made  a 
descent  oil  the  horses  of  the  company,  and  drove  them  all  off.  The  animals 
were  recovered,  with  the  exception  of  two  which  had  been  roasted  and  eaten. 
Spafford  Hall,  having  been  accidently  wounded  and  disabled,  sold  his  sta 
tion  to  James  McMarlin,  his  clerk,  early  in  1854,  and  returned  to  Indiana. 
John  McMarlin,  on  the  way  to  join  his  brother,  was  killed  by  Indians  at 
Slippery  Ford  a  few  years  later.  Asa  Kenyon  located  himself  at  Ragtown, 
where  the  overland  road  first  touched  Carson  river.  Above  Ragtown  4  miles, 
a  blacksmith,  Thomas  Pitt  had  a  station,  and  called  his  place  The  Willows. 
James  and  Harvey  Hughes,  from  Mo.,  established  themselves  not  far  from 
Honey  lake  on  Carson  river;  and  John  Smith  purchased  the  trading  post  of 
a  Californian  at  tho  west  end  of  Twenty -six  Mile  Desert,  which  place  became 
later  known  as  Coonie's  rancho.  George  Brown  settled  at  a  station  on  the 
river  about  3  miles  above  old  Fort  Churchill.  J.  S.  Child  and  Moses  Job 
were  traders  who  established  stations  near  Cosser 's.  Job's  peak  was  named 
in  honor  of  the  latter;  and  the  former  became  an  influential  citizen  of  Nevada. 
Oa  the  1st  of  May,  1854,  the  first  white  child  was  born  in  western  Utah,  a 
boy,  named  James  Brimmel  Ellis,  who  died  in  1869  at  Virginia  City.  In 
July^l854  Charles  H.  Albrecht  and  family,  from  St  Louis,  were  encamped  at 
Ellis'  place.  Among  his  party  was  Rachel  F.  Albrecht,  his  sister,  who  cap 
tivated  a  miner  named  James  Dover.  The  enslavement  was  mutual  and  the 
couple  wished  to  marry,  but  there  was  neither  justice  of  the  peace  nor  minis 
ter  on  that  side  of  the  mountains.  In  this  dilemma,  by  the  advice  of  Mrs 
Ellis,  a  marriage  contract  was  drawn  up,  signed  in  triplicate,  and  witnessed, 
as  follows:  '  Carson  River,  July  4,  1854.  By  these  presents  we  hereby  cer 
tify,  in  the  presence  of  witnesses,  that  we  will,  from  this  time  henceforth,  to 
the  end  of  our  lives,  live  together  as  man  and  wife,  obeying  all  the  laws  of 
the  U.  S.,  as  married  persons.  In  witness  we  set  our  hands  and  seals,  this 
4th  day  of  July,  1854.  James  Dover,  Rachel  F.  Albrecht.  Witnesses:  James 
tt.  Ellis,  Charles  H.  Albrecht,  Augustus  C.  Albrecht.'  The  contract  was 
published  in  the  Placerville  Mountain  Democrat  of  July  29,  1854.  For  8 
years  the  obligation  was  kept,  but  at  the  end  of  that  time  Mrs  Dover  left 
her  husband,  and  went  to  live  with  her  brother  at  Placerville,  and  finally 
was  regularly  divorced. 


CARSON  COUNTY  CREATED.  75 

provide.  The  committee  to  which  the  petition  was 
referred  asked  that  jurisdiction  be  extended  east 
ward  to  120°  of  longitude,  as  far  north  as  the  42d 
parallel,"  and  south  to  the  intersection  of  the  35th 
parallel  with  the  Colorado  river.  This  action  on  the 
part  of  the  people  caused  the  Utah  government  to 
take  action  for  their  relief. 

On  the  17th  of  January,  1854,  the  legislature  of 
Utah  passed  an  act  creating  the  county  of  Carson, 
which  embraced  all  of  western  Utah,  from  above  the 
present  southern  line  of  Humboldt  county,  south  as 
far  as  about  latitude  38°,  and  east  as  far  as  to  about 
the  11 8th  meridian.  It  was  made  the  3d  judicial  dis- 

After  Thomas  Knott  had  built  the  saw-mill  for  John  Gary  he  erected  a 
saw  and  grist  mill,  with  a  stationary  thrasher,  for  Reese,  at  Mormon  station. 
The  dishonesty  of  E.  L.  Barnard,  before  mentioned,  crippled  Reese  finan 
cially,  who  was  unable  to  pay  for  his  mill,  which  added  debt  to  his  disaster. 

The  land  claims  recorded  in  1854  were  J.  C.  Fain  and  E.  L.  Barnard,  Feb. 
28th;  H.  Van  Sickle  and  Post,  March  28th;  R.  De  Frost  and  Frederick 
Bishop,  April  2d;  John  Stephens,  April  6th;  Joseph  Williams,  May  18th; 
A.  C.  Stewart  and  A.  Clark,  and  C.  D.  Daggett,  May  27th;  George  Lambe, 
October  30th;  Nicholas  Johnson,  Dec.  4th;  R.  Sides,  R.  Abernethy,  and  J. 
M.  Baldwin,  Dec.  20th.  There  were  also  several  transfers  of  claims.  The 
claim  of  Samuel  Blackford  in  Jack's  valley  had  passed  into  the  hands  of 
Julius  Peltier,  who  sold  it  to  George  Fogle  Nov.  29th.  The  farm  of  one 
Brown  was  sold  by  the  constable,  and  bought  in  by  Samuel  Blackford  for 
$787.32.  G.  B.  Parker,  who  had  purchased  the  Clear  Creek  rancho,  first 
taken  by  George  Mires  and  C.  Phillips,  sold  it  to  R.  Sides  and  Rolland  Aber 
nethy  Dec.  7th.  Joseph  Brown  sold  a  farm  to  Rufus  Adams  Dec.  26th. 
Jan  3,  1856,  W.  P.  Cosser  recorded  a  claim;  A.  L.  Kenyon,  Jan.  12th;  I.  N. 
Hix,  Jan.  20th;  Reese  &  Co.  transferred  land  and  property  to  Thomas 
Knox,  valued  at  $4,000,  to  pay  him  for  erecting  the  mills  already  mentioned. 
The  transfer  was  made  Jan.  23d.  On  the  same  day  J.  £  E.  Reese  &  Co. 
sold  or  conveyed  to  William  B.  Thorrington  $23,000  worth  of  property  to 
make  good  a  loan.  The  Eagle  rancho  was  included  in  this  transfer.  On  the 
10th  of  Feb.  the  same  firm  conveyed  the  remainder  of  their  property  to  their 
creditors.  On  the  12th  of  March  W.  P.  Allen  and  E.  A.  Parkerson  recorded 
a  land  claim.  Nicholas  Ambrosia  recorded  a  claim  on  the  24th  of  March.  The 
last  entry  on  this  record  was  of  a  sale  by  Julius  Peltier,  of  land,  to  R.  D. 
Sides,  J.  M.  Baldwin,  and  L.  B.  Abernethy.  James  B.  Ellis  kept  a  record 
of  arrivals  of  Cal. -bound  emigrant  wagons,  in  1854,  up  to  July  1st,  finding 
them  to  foot  up  213  wagons,  360  horses  and  mules,  7,528  cattle,  and  7,150 
sheep.  In  this  year  John  Reese,  accompanied  by  a  sergeant  and  3  men  of 
the  U.  S.  troops,  pioneered  a  new,  shorter,  and  straighter  route  between  Salt 
Lake  and  Carson  valley  than  the  one  previously  travelled  down  the  Hum 
boldt.  It  was  expected  that  Steptoe,  who  was  to  march  to  Oregon  with 
troops,  would  come  this  way.  The  road  was  not  opened  until  1860,  when 
Reese  again  piloted  Capt.  Simpson,  of  Johnston's  army,  with  10  wagons, 
across  the  country  by  this  route,  afterward  adopted  as  the  mail  route  and  a 
wagon-road.  A  school  was  taught  in  the  winter  of  1854-5,  at  the  residence 
of  Israel  Mott,  by  Mrs  Allen.  Prices  were  high,  but  not  so  high  as  they  had 
been,  which  is  proof  of  a  full  market. 

Jour.  Sen.,  1853,  90,  130-1,  and  App.  Doc.,  46. 


76  SETTLEMENT. 

trict  of  the  territory,  United  States  Judge  George  P. 
Stiles  being  assigned  to  preside  in  it.  Stiles,  Hyde, 
and  Hay  wood  were  also  commissioners  to  establish  ap 
proximately,  together  with  commissioners  from  Cali 
fornia,  the  boundary  between  Utah  and  that  state. 
The  organic  act  authorized  the  governor  to  appoint  a 
probate  judge,  whose  duty  it  should  be  to  organize 
the  county,  the  person  selected  being  Orson  Hyde. 
Accordingly,  on  the  15th  of  June,  District  Judge 
Stiles,  Probate  Judge  Hyde,  United  States  Marshal 
Joseph  L.  Haywood,  and  John  and  Enoch  Reese, 
with  an  escort  of  thirty-five  men,  arrived  at  Mormon 
station  from  Salt  Lake  City.  An  election  was  called 
to  take  place  September  20th  for  the  choice  of  county 
officers,  which  resulted  in  the  election  of  James  C. 
Fain,  sheriff;  Henry  W.  Niles,  surveyor;"  Charles 
D.  Daggett,  prosecuting  attorney ; 2*  R.  D.  Sides, 
treasurer ;  H.  M.  Hodges  and  James  A.  Williams, 
constables ;  Nicholas  Ambrosia  and  Henry  Van 
Sickle,  justices  of  the  peace;25  Henry  D.  Sears, 
William  P.  Allen,  and  James  McMarlin,  selectmen," 
whose  duties  were  to  act  as  associates  with  the  probate 
judge,  and  attend  to  the  care  of  the  county's  poor, 
orphaned,  and  insane.  There  was  but  little  business  in 
the  courts  during  the  ante-mining  period  of  western 
Utah  history.27  The  first  criminal  prosecution  oc- 

23  Niles  was  appointed  clerk  of  the  probate  court  Oct.  2d,  by  Orson  Hyde, 
also  ex-officio  clerk  of  the  county  court, 

24  Appointed  assessor  and  collector  in  Dec.  1855. 

25  James  McMarlin  was  appointed  justice  of  the  peace  for  Gold  Canon 
Dec.  3d. 

26  Fain  resigned  in  May  1856,  Russell  Kelly  appointed.     Niles  resigned  in 
May  1856   from  the  office  of  surveyor,    Orson  Hyde  appointed.     Resigned 
from  the  clerk's  office  Dec.  1855,   S.  A.  Kinsey  appointed  in  March  1856. 
Hodges  resigned  in  May  1856,  Daniel  Woodford  appointed.     Woodford  was 
killed  by  Indians  at  Slippery  Ford  in  1857. 

27  The  first  lawsuit  on  record  was  brought  by  John  Reese  against  George 
Chorpenning,  the  surviving  partner  of  Woodward  &  Co.,  in  March  1853,  to 
recover  $075  for  supplies  furnished  them  while  carrying  the  mail  from  Salt 
Lake  to  Cal.     It  was  brought  before  E.  L.  Barnard,  magistrate,  and  judgment 
rendered  against  Woodward  &  Co.  for  the  amount  and  $25  costs.     The  prop 
erty  sold  to  satisfy  the  judgment  brought  $499;  but  as  Reese  b  ought  it  all  in, 
it  is  probable  that  he  obtained  full  value.     Among  the  effects  sold  was  '  Mor 
mon  Station  to  J.  Reese,  $130.'     The  second  suit  was  brought  in  April  1854 


ORGANIZATION  OF  COURTS.  77 

curred  November  2,  1855,  a  negro  man  named 
Thacker  having  been  arrested  for  using  threatening 
language  against  A.  J.  Wyckoff  and  Mrs  Jacob  Rose. 
The  judge  held  that  "  a  man  may  have  malice  enough 
in  his  heart  to  kill  another,  and  judgment  and  dis 
cretion  to  prevent  him  from  committing  the  deed ;  he 
may  have  the  ability  to  cut  a  lady's  heart  out  and 
roast  it  upon  the  coals,  and  at  the  same  time  he  may 
have  the  good  sense  not  to  do  it."  The  judgment 
rendered  was  that  Thacker  should  pay  $50  and  the 
costs  of  the  suit ;  he  was  advised  for  his  own  safety  to 
return  to  California.  At  the  first  meeting  of  the  pro 
bate  court  Charles  D.  Daggett  and  Samuel  C.  Perren 
were  admitted  to  practise  in  that  court. 

Judge  Stiles  appears  to  have  returned  to  Salt  Lake 
with  Marshal  Hay  wood  after  settling  upon  an  approx 
imate  western  boundary  for  Utah,28  as  no  proceedings 
of  the  United  States  court  are  recorded  before  1856. 
Meanwhile  few  events  of  importance  had  occurred,  the 
most  noteworthy  act  of  the  people  being  an  attempt 
to  shake  off  the  authority  of  Salt  Lake  by  draughting 
a  territorial  constitution  or  compact  for  the  govern 
ment  of  Carson  valley.2'  On  the  27th  of  October, 
1855,  a  special  term  of  court  was  held  at  the  house  of 
John  Reese  for  the  purpose  of  granting  "  the  sole  and 
exclusive  right  to  take  out  any  portion  of  the  waters 
of  Carson  river  which  they  may  desire  in  a  ditch  or 
canal,  for  mining  and  other  purposes,  in  the  vicinity 
of  Gold  canon,  to  J.  C.  Fain,  John  Reese,  Stephen  A. 
Kinsey,  John  McMarlin,  James  McMarlin,  Christo 
pher  Merkley,  Morris  Fitzgibbon,  and  Orson  Hyde." 
This  is  the  first  mention  of  any  enterprise  of  this 

by  Henry  McCalla  vs  Thomas  Knott,  judgment  rendered  $11 3. 43.  No  other 
appears  on  record  before  the  organization  of  Carson  county.  The  first  session 
of  the  probate  court  was  held  Oct.  3,  when  the  complaint  of  James  Mclntyre 
vs  Asa  A  Knouse,  to  recover  $187.75,  was  filed.  The  case  was  tried  on  the 
12th,  at  the  house  of  one  Cowan.  Mclntyre  lost  his  case,  and  was  ordered 
to  pay  $38. 50. 

'^Beatits  First  in  Nevada,  MS.,  7. 

aThis  instrument  was  draughted  by  William  A.  Cornwall  of  Cal.  S.  F. 
AUa,  Oct.  27,  1854. 


78  SETTLEMENT. 

nature.30     There  was  some  increase  in  the  population, 
but  the  number  of  women  was  still  small.31 

In  January  1856  the  inhabitants  of  Carson  valley 
again  petitioned  the  California  assembly  to  annex 
them  for  judicial  and  other  purposes.  A  resolution 
was  passed  in  that  body  asking  congress  to  make  the 
118th  meridian  the  east  boundary  of  California.3' 
This  move  a  second  time  aroused  the  Utah  authori 
ties,  although  congress  denied  the  prayer.  No  at 
tempt  to  form  a  religious  colony  in  Carson  was  made 
before  1856.33  At  this  time  there  was  a  movement  on 
foot  in  Salt  Lake  and  eastern  Utah  to  reinvigorate 
the  church  of  Latter-day  Saints  by  founding  new  col 
onies  or  missions,  and  also  by  preaching  a  reformation 
among  the  members.  A  colony  of  between  sixty  and 
seventy  families  was  ordered  to  Carson  valley  in  the 
spring,  most  of  which  arrived  before  the  election  in 
September,  when  the  Mormons  took  the  conduct  of 
affairs  into  their  own  hands,  being  considerably  in  the 
majority  over  the  gentiles.34  With  this  colony  came 

**0n  the  27th  of  May,  1854,  at  a  citizens'  meeting,  it  was  resolved  that  in 
the  use  of  water  no  settler  should  be  deprived  of  sufficient  for  household  pur 
poses;  that  it  should  not  be  diverted  from  its  original  channels,  and  when  two 
or  more  levied  on  the  same  stream  they  should  share  water  according  to  the 
number  of  acres  cultivated,  each  using  on  alternate  days  when  water  was 
scarce.  The  sole  right  to  take  water  from  Carson  river  compelled  settlers 
to  pay  a  water  rate.  Jacob  H  Rose  fell  heir  to  the  ditch  before  its  comple 
tion,  and  when  the  work  was  finished  found  the  foot  to  be  higher  than  the 
head. 

31  The  Reese  brothers  had  brought  their  families  from  Salt  Lake,  Alex 
ander  Cowan  had  arrived  with  his  wife,  destined  to  become  famous  a  few 
years  later  as  the  richest  woman  in  Nevada,  and  the  wife  of  Sandy  Bowers. 
Miss  Mary  Wheeler  was  married  Oct.  28,  1855,  to  Squire  Mott,  son  of  Hiram 
Mott,  the  officiating  justice  being  Orson  Hyde.  Miss  Mary  Gibson  was 
married  Nov.  6,  1855,  to  Henry  Van  Sickle  by  Judge  Hyde,  at  the  house  of 
Niles  and  Sears.  Miss  Sarah  Jane  Thompson  was  married  Oct.  2,  1866,  to 
Stephen  A.  Kinsey,  at  the  house  of  Judge  Hyde,  in  Washoe  valley,  by  that 
dignitary. 

*-Scn.  Misc.  Doc.,  48;  34th  cong.  1st  sess.;  H.  Com.  Kept,  116,  34th  cong. 
3d  sess. 

3J  William  Jennings,  in  his  Carson  Valley,  MS.,  2,  says  that  a  mission  was 
got  up  in  1852  by  the  two  Reeses  and  others.  On  page  3  he  says:  '  The  Car 
son  valley  people,  I  think,  were  mostly  apostate  Mormons  before  1856.  The 
Reeses.'  he  continues,  '  were  only  partially  connected  with  the  church.' 

'The  following  Mormon  officers  were  elected:  Richard  Bently,  recorder; 
Russell  Kelly,  sheriff  (joined  the  Mormon  church);  William  Nixon  and  Per- 
mens  Jackman,  selectmen;  Chester  Loveland,  justice  of  the  peace;  Nelson. 


THE   MORMONS.  79 

another  judge  of  the  3d  district,  W.  W.  Drummond, 
who  held  a  term  of  court  in  Mott's  barn,  four  miles 
above  Mormon  station.  No  business  was  really  exe 
cuted  beyond  convicting  two  men  of  grand  larceny, 
who  escaped  after  being  sentenced,  and  impannelling  a 
grand  jury,  which  brought  in  no  indictments.  Drum 
mond,  who  was  not  beloved  by  the  authorities  of  the 
church,  departed  almost  immediately  for  San  Fran 
cisco,  whence  he  sailed  for  the  east. 

The  new-comers  settled  in  Carson,  Eagle,  Washoe, 
Jack,  and  Pleasant  valleys,  founding  several  towns.35 
Genoa,  at  Mormon  station,  was  named  by  Judge 
Hyde  after  the  birthplace  of  Christopher  Columbus. 
A  saw-mill  was  erected  by  Hyde  in  Washoe  valley, 
and  Franktown  was  settled  and  named.  The  little 
burg  of  Dayton,  at  the  mouth  of  Gold  canon,  also 
took  its  rise  in  1856." 

An  attempt  was  made  to  form  society  on  the  plan 
of  eastern  Utah.  The  settlements  were  laid  out  with 
broad,  regular  streets,  on  either  side  of  which  ran 
small  ditches  carrying  water  for  irrigating  gardens 
and  fields,  as  well  as  for  supplying  families.  The 
architecture  was  of  the  simplest  and  rudest;  nothing 
was  done  for  ornament,  but  everything  for  use.  In 
dress  the  same  principle  prevailed ;  personal  adorn 
ment  was  unknown.  To  work  and  get  the  most  with 
the  least  self-indulgence  was  the  law  laid  down  to 
these  patient  builders  of  Zion.  Their  one  amuse- 

Merkeley  and  Seth  Dustin,  constables;  Charles  D.  Daggett  (gentile)  was  ap 
pointed  assessor,  collector,  and  treasurer.  Placerville  American,  Sept.  13, 
1856;  Sac.  Union,  Sept.  15,  1856. 

35  Among  the  members  of  the  mission  who  came  in  1855  were  Christopher 
Merkley,  Jesse  M.  Perkins,  Reuben  Perkins,  Shepherd,  and  William  Hutch- 
ins,  who  were  sent  on  the  special  business  of  the  church.  Beatles  First  in 
Nevada,  MS.,  7.     Other  colonists  of  the  same  year  were  Chester  Loveland 
and  George  Hancock.     In  1856  came  William  Jennings,  Christopher  Layton, 
William  Nixon,  R.  Walker,  Peregrine  Sessions,  who  founded  Sessions'  set 
tlement,  Albert  Dewey,  William  Kay,  founder  of  Kaysward,  George  Nebe- 
ker,  Cherry,  and  others. 

36  Kleins  Fonnders  of  Carson  City,  MS.,  2,  6;  S.  F.  Golden  Era,  May  11, 
1856;  Carson  State  Renter,  July  29,  1871;  Kelly  s  Nev.  Directory,  1862,  54-5; 
Wright's  Biy  Bonanza,  23,  24-5;  S.  F.  Alto,  Oct.  6,   1856;  Sac.  Union,   Dec. 
19,  1859;  Id,,  Jan,  2,  1860;  S.  F,  Bulletin,  June  8,  I860. 


80  SETTLEMENT. 

ment  of  dancing  was  forbidden  to  be  practised  in  the 
company  of  gentiles,  and  to  wash  away  their  sins  re 
peated  baptisms  were  enjoined.  Still,  the  authorities 
in  the  west  did  not  neglect  the  subject  of  instruction. 
At  the  December  term  of  court  in  1856  it  was  ordered 
that  Carson  county  should  be  divided  into  four  school 
districts.  A  school-house  was  erected  at  Franktown 
in  1857,  which  was  afterward  sold  to  Lucky  Bill,  who 
moved  to  Genoa  and  used  it  for  a  stable.  Affairs 
were  already  so  shaping  themselves  in  Salt  Lake  that 
nothing  less  than  the  complete  abandonment  of  west 
ern  Utah  would  make  the  city  of  the  Saints  secure. 
In  November  1856  Orson  Hyde  left  Carson  county 
to  return  to  it  no  more.  When  he  departed  he  leased 
his  saw-mill  in  Washoe  valley  to  Jacob  Rose,  that 
being  the  best  that  he  could  do  with  it  at  the  time. 
In  the  following  year  the  colony  of  the  faithful  was 
ordered  home  to  Salt  Lake  to  defend  Zion  against 
Johnston's  army.  As  the  order  was  peremptory,  they 
were  forced  either  to  abandon  their  property  or  sell 
it  at  a  small  part  of  its  value,  and  they  chose  the  latter 
course.87  Apostate  Mormons,  some  of  whom  had  fled 
from  the  reformation  at  Salt  Lake,  and  gentiles, 
scarcely  less  hateful  in  the  eyes  of  the  saints,  became 
the  possessors  of  their  improvements  ;  for  which  result 
of  a  futile  undertaking  the  fortunate  heirs  of  Mormon 
enterprise  suffered  condemnation,  even  to  a  curse 
uttered  by  Orson  Hyde  in  1862.38 

37  On  the  16th  of  July,  1857,  P.  Gr.  Sessions'  train  from  Cal.,  consisting  of 
31  men,  16  women.  18  children,  17  wagons,  40  horses  and  32  mules,  left 
Eagle  valley  for  Salt  Lake.  On  the  5th  of  Sept.  the  Conover  express  from 
Salt  Lake  arrived  in  Washoe  valley  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  on  the  26th 
450  persons,  some  of  whom  were  from  Cal.  and  Or.,  started  with  123  wagons 
for  Salt  Lake,  which  they  reached  Nov.  2d.  Reese  left  with  this  train, 
travelling  l>y  the  route  south  of  the  Humboldt  to  avoid  the  Indians.  Jen- 
nintjs'  Carson  Valley,  MS.  4. 

<38  In  a  letter  of  Orson  Hyde,  dated  Jan.  27,  1862,  addressed  to  the  people 
of  Carson  and  Washoe  valley3,  in  which  he  relates  the  history  of  his  mill, 
he  says  it  was  built  by  himself  and  a  Mr  Price;  that  the  property  was  worth 
$10,OOJ  when  he  left  it;  that  for  the  rent  of  it  he  had  received  in  advance 
'  1  span  of  small  indifferent  mules,  an  old  worn-out  harness,  2  yokes  of  oxen, 
and  an  old  wagon,'  things  which  he  required  for  his  journey  to  Salt  Lake. 
A  war  followed  between  the  Mormons  and  the  U.  S.  govt,  an  event  which 
was  unfavorable  to  the  perfection  of  Mormon  titles,  after  the  orgam~ation 


THE   MORMONS.  81 

The  abandonment  of  Carson  county  "  by  the  Mor 
mons  left  it  with  a  scant  population,  and  for  a  time 
without  a  government,  although  attached  by  an  act 
of  the  legislature  to  Great  Salt  Lake  county  for  elec 
tion,  revenue,  and  judicial  purposes.  From  July  5, 
1856,  to  September  12,  1859,  the  operation  of  the 
probate  court  was  suspended,  although  the  county 
was  allowed  to  retain  its  organization  so  far  as  a  re 
corder,  surveyor,  and  precinct  officers  were  concerned, 
and  these  might  be  elected  in  accordance  with  exist, 
ing  laws,  "until  further  directed  by  Great  Salt  Lake 
county  court  or  legislative  enactment;  "  but  the  "  rec 
ord-books,  papers,  blanks,  and  seals,  both  of  probate 
and  county  courts,  shall  be  handed  over  to  the  order 
of  the  probate  court  of  Great  Salt  Lake  county." 
This  act  was  passed  January  14,  1857.  On  the  13th 
of  April  the  county  court,  Chester  Loveland  presid 
ing,  adjourned  to  the  following  week,  but  without 
meeting  again  for  three  years.*0 

of  the  territory  of  Nevada,  upon  the  abandoned  premises.  Hyde  gave  the 
people  of  Carson  va^ey  choice  between  paying  him  $20,000,  or  being  cursed 
with  earthquakes,  floods,  pestilence,  and  famine,  and  they  took  the  risk  of 
the  latter.  Hyde  was  accompanied  on  his  return  to  Salt  Lake  by  Simon 
Baker,  James  Kathall,  John  Vance,  William  Price,  Durffee,  Carter,  Har- 
shee,  Woodland,  and  Butcher  and  family,  and  travelled  the  route  explored 
by  Reese  in  1854.  He  died  Nov.  28,  1878,  at  .-Spring  City,  San  Pete  county, 
Utah,  a  man  distinguished  among  his  sect  as  a  faithful  and  gifted  servant 
of  God. 

39 There  is  a  statement  in  the  8.  F.  AUa,  Sept.  29,  1857,  that  Brigham 
Young  had  ordered  an  organization  of  secret  cavalry  to  western  Utah.  It 
was  certainly  not  to  Carson.  Much  comment  on  the  exodus  of  the  Mor 
mons  is  to  be  found  in  the  A  Ita.  They  were  ordered  in  from  Cal.  also. 
Mention  in  Nevers'  Nevada  Pioneers,  MS.,  1-2;  CradlebamgKs  Nevada  Bioy- 
raplty,  MS.,  3;  Gold  Hilt  News,  May  16,  1873;  San  Jose  Pioneer,  May  26, 
1877. 

"Samuel  A.  Nevers  was  born  in  Boston,  March  1,  1824,  came  to  Cal.  in 
1849  by  sea,  in  the  ship  Sweden;  settled  in  Eagle  valley  in  1859,  and  mar 
ried  thereabout.  In  a  manuscript  account  of  Nevada  Pioneers,  in  my  collec 
tion,  he  says:  'There  were  but  4  persons  settled  in  this  part  of  the  valley  at 
that  time,  to  wit,  B.  L.  King,  Mart.  Stebbins,  Jacob  H.  Rose,  and  John 
Mankin,  who  were  settled  on  land  taken  up  by  them  under  the  laws  of 
Utah. . .  .None  of  the  above  named  were  Mormons. . .  .Nearly  all  the  Mor 
mons,  when  leaving  for  Salt  Lake,  sold  their  land  to  John  Mankin  for  a 
nominal  sum,  payment  to  be  made  in  wheat,  which  was  sold  for  a  very  low 
price.  This  sale  carried  a  strip  of  land  from  King's  canon  down  to  the  Hot 
springs,  but  Mankin  subsequently  claimed  the  whole  lower  portion  of  the 

valley Society  was  on  a  low  plane,  every  man  doing  about  as  he  pleased 

There  was  no  law  here  until  Judge  Cradlebaugh  came,  who  to  a  great 

extent  brought  order  out  of  chaos.' 
HIST.  NEV.    6. 


82  SETTLEMENTS. 

Before  the  Mormons  had  made  their  final  exodus, 
the  remaining  inhabitants  seized  the  opportunity  to 
prevent  their  return  by  again  petitioning  congress  for 
a  territorial  organization  in  Western  Utah,  with  por 
tions  of  California  and  New  Mexico/1  At  a  mass- 
meeting  held  at  Genoa  August  8th,  by  appointment 
of  a  previous  informal  meeting  held  on  the  3d,"  it  was 
declared,  in  a  series  of  resolutions,  that  it  was  the 
sense  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  region  that  the  security 
of  life  and  property  of  immigrants  passing  through  it 
depended  upon  the  organization  of  a  territorial  gov 
ernment.  No  other  reason  for  the  proposed  division 
of  Utah  was  given  in  the  resolutions,  but  in  the 
memorial  accompanying  it  other  causes  were  set  forth ; 
namely,  that  no  law  existed  in  western  Utah  except 
theocratic  rule,  which  was  exercised  by  the  Mormon 
church  without  reference  to  statutory  regulations. 
The  Utah  legislature  had  abolished  the  courts  of  the 
county  of  Carson,  leaving  no  officers  to  execute  the 
laws  except  two  justices  of  the  peace  and  one  con 
stable,  whose  authority  no  one  respected.  The  county 
was  reduced  to  an  election  precinct,  in  which  no  one 
voted,  or  cared  to  vote.  There  were  bad  men  in  the 
community,  whose  crimes  could  only  be  punished  by 
resort  tolynch-law  ;  the  country  was  cut  off  from  Cal 
ifornia  four  months  of  the  year  by  snow,  and  equally 
from  the  then  seat  of  government  by  distance.  In 
claiming  a  white  population,  however,  of  between 
7,000  and  8,000,  and  75,000  to  100,000  natives,  the 

41  The  petition  makes  the  Goose  Creek  mountains  the  eastern,  the  Colo 
rado  river  the  southern,  Oregon  the  northern,  and  the  Sierra  Nevada  the 
western  boundary. 

4'2  The  first  meeting  was  held  at  Gilbert's  saloon,  and  was  presided  over  by 
John  Reese,  William  Nixon  being  secretary.  Ihe  mass-meeting  was  also 
presided  over  by  Reese,  the  vice-presidents  being  Isaac  Roop,  F.  C.  Smith, 
B.  L.  King,  and  Solomon  Perrin.  The  committee  on  resolutions  consisted 
of  William  M.  Ormsby,  R.  D.  Sides,  Elijah  Knott,  Thomas  J.  Singleton, 
B.  L.  King,  Daniel  Woodford,  S.  Stephens,  Warren  Smith,  and  John  Mc- 
Marlin.  The  meeting  was  addressed  by  James  M.  Crane,  a  California 
journalist  of  some  repute,  in  a  speech  of  an  hour's  length,  the  substance  of 
which  was  probably  contained  in  the  memorial  which  he  was  elected  to 
present  to  congress. 


SEPARATION.  83 

memorialists  greatly  exceeded  the  truth."  In  October 
a  mass-meeting  was  held  at  Honey  Lake  valley,  which 
was  presided  over  by  Peter  Lassen,  approving  the 
action  of  the  Genoa  meeting,  and  in  January  1858  the 
California  legislature  and  Governor. Johnson  endorsed  it. 

As  an  inducement  to  congress  to  grant  their  peti 
tion,  it  was  submitted  that  all  the  routes  across  the 
continent  would  be  guarded  by  the  people  of  the  pro 
posed  territory.  A  committee  **  was  appointed  to 
solicit  signatures,  and  James  M.  Crane  was  chosen  to 
proceed  to  Washington  city  with  the  resolutions  and 
memorial  of  the  meeting,  and  also  to  represent  the 
territory  as  delegate,  when  it  should  be  organized,  in 
congress.  Committees  were  also  appointed  to  "  man 
age  and  superintend  all  matters  necessary  and  proper 
in  the  premises," 45  and  the  newspapers  of  California, 
Oregon,  Washington,  Utah,  and  New  Mexico  were 
requested  to  publish  the  proceedings  of  the  conven 
tion,  as  well  as  the  leading  papers  in  all  the  eastern 
cities.46 

The  attitude  of  the  Mormons  had  its  influence  on 
congress.  Crane  wrote  to  his  constituents  from  Wash 
ington  in  February  1858  that  the  committee  on  ter 
ritories  had  agreed  to  report  a  bill,  and  that  it  would 
be  pressed  through  both  houses  47  as  a  war  measure, 
to  "  compress  the  limits  of  the  Mormons,  and  defeat 

43  8.  F.  Alta,   Sept.  5  and  Oct.  21,   1857;  Cal   Jour.  Assembly,  1858,  56; 
Cal  Stit.,  1853,  350;  Sen.  Mis.  Doc.,  181,  35th  cong.  1st  sess. 

44  W.  W.  Nicoh,  R.  D.  Sides,  Orrin  Gray,  J.   K.   Truinbo,  and  William 
Rogers. 

45  Iu  Honey  Lake  valley,  Isaac  Roop,  Peter  Lassen,  William  Hill,   Mc- 
Murtry,  and  Arnold;  Eagle  valley,  B.  L.  King  and  Martin  Stebbins;  Carson 
valley,  William  M.  Orinsby,  James  McMarlin,  C.  D.  Daggett,  John  Reese, 
William  Rodgers,  Thomas  J.   Singleton,   Moses  Job,  William  Thorrinston, 
Isaac  Farwell,  Daniel  Woodford,  Orrin  Gray,  and  D.  E.  Gilbert;  Willow, 
town,   Solomon  Perrin;    Ragtown,  James  Quick;   Twenty-six  Mile  desert, 
Jefferson    Atchison;  Sink    of  Humboldt,    Samuel  Blackford;    Walker   rn-er 
and   valley,  T.  J.   Hall   and   James   Mclntyre;  Hope   valley,  S.  Stevenson; 
Lake  valley,  M.  Smith. 

46  A  memorial  addressed  to  President  Buchanan  was  presented  by  him  to 
the  house  April  19,  J858.     It  was  signed  by  William  M.  Ormsby  and  Martin 
Smith,  and  indorsed  by  Gov   Weller.   H.  Ex.  Dtr.,  102,  35th  cong.  1st  sess. 

47  The   house  committee  reported  favorably   May   12,  1858,  in  a  bill  to 
organize  the  territory  of  Nevada.   H.  Jour.,  789,  1221,  3£th  cong.  1st  sess.; 
H.  Com.  Bept,  375,  35th  cong.  1st  sess. 


84  SETTLEMENTS. 

their  efforts  to  corrupt  and  confederate  with  the  Ind 
ian  tribes."  So  certain  was  the  prospective  delegate 
that  an  organization  would  be  effected  that  he  ad 
vised  the  sowing  and  planting  of  heavy  crops,  which 
he  prophesied  they  would  be  able  to  sell  for  good  cash 
prices  to  the  government  to  supply  the  army  and  the 
Indian  reservations.  But  the  army  under  Johnston 
having  made  it  possible  for  federal  officers  to  reside  in 
Salt  Lake  City,  and  a  governor  being  appointed  for 
Utah  in  place  of  Brigham  Young,  the  necessity  no 
longer  existed  of  creating  another  territory,  and  the 
project  slumbered.  Under  Governor  Cummings 
Carson  county  was  reorganized,  so  far  as  the  appoint 
ment  of  John  S.  Childs  probate  judge,  and  the  order 
ing  of  an  election,  were  concerned.  Previous  to  the 
election,  and  in  the  absence  of  courts,  a  committee  of 
citizens  had  handed  William  B.  Thorrino*ton  for  com- 

O  \^ 

plicity  in  the  murder  of  a  cattle-owner,  and  selling  his 
herd.  Thorrington's  guilt  was  not  clearly  established 
by  the  evidence,  but  from  the  facts  of  his  being  a  gam 
bler,  acquiring  property  with  extraordinary  rapidity, 
and  having  sheltered  the  real  murderer,  he  was  con 
victed  in  a  citizen's  court,  and  suffered  the  extreme 
penalty.48  This  exercise  of  the  judicial  functions  by 

48  It  seems  that  in  spite  of  his  known  character,  Lucky  Bill  was  a  popular 
man  on  the  frontier.  He  was  born  in  N.  Y.  state,  removing  to  Michigan  in 
1848,  and  to  Cal.  in  1850,  across  the  plains.  He  had  little  education,  but 
possessed  a  fine  person,  a  handsome  face,  and  a  gay  and  benevolent  dispo 
sition;  benevolent  in  the  sense  that  Robin  Hood  was  so,  he  robbed  those  that 
had  money  or  property,  and  good-naturedly  gave  of  his  easily  gotten  gains  a 
small  portion  to  those  who  had  not,  when  they  appealed  to  his  sympathies— 
a  trait  which  often  distingushes  the  gambler.  Being  a  large  and  powerful  man 
he  had  the  reputation  of  great  courage;  and  often  defending  the  weaker  party 
in  a  quarrel  gave  him  a  character  for  magnanimity.  He  owned  a  farm  and 
a  toll-road,  in  addition  to  his  trading-post,  and  he  acquired  a  large  amount  of 
miscellaneous  property  from  travellers  at  thimble  rig.  In  the  spring  of  1858 
William  Edwards,  who  had  shot  a  man  in  Cal.,  took  up  his  quarters  with 
Thorrington,  to  whom  it  was  said  by  the  friends  of  the  latter  he  denied  hie- ' 

Later  he  stopped  for  a  time  with  W.  T.  C,  Elliott  and  John  N.  Gilpin, 

at  Honey  lake.     Afterward,  with  one  Mullins,  he  murdered  Harry  Gordier, 

tor  his  property,  including  a  herd  of  cattle,  an  innocent  man  named  Snow 

being  hanged  for  the  act.     Circumstances  coming  to  light  which  pointed  to 

i  6-  gU",  m     E(lwards»  he  fle(l  to  Carson  valley,  and  declaring  his  innocence, 

aimed  Thorrington's  protection  from  threatened  peril.     Edwards  wished  to 
leave  the  country,  and  begged  his  friends  to  sell  a  valuable  horse  which  he 

>de,  and  help  him  to  escape.     While  endeavoring  to  effect  these  ends,  two 


ELECTION.  85 

the  people  created  a  division  of  sentiment,  and  the 
formation  of  two  political  parties,  the  sympathizers 
with  Thorrington  being  called  Mormon,  and  the  op 
posite  party  anti-Mormon/'  The  latter  party  accused 
the  former  of  condoning  Thorrington's  guilt  because 
he  was  conveniently  blind  to  certain  practices  of  their 
own;  and  they  also  made  war  upon  Judge  Childs  as  a 
Mormon  appointee.  At  the  election,  October  30,  1858, 
the  votes  of  four  out  of  six  precincts  were  thrown  out 
because  ot  alleged  illegal  voting,  and  a  majority  of  the 
"Mormon"  candidates  elected.  H.  B.  demons  was 
chosen  representative;  M  M.  Gaige  treasurer;  L. 
Abernethy  sheriff;  W.  G.  Vyatt,  James  McMarlin, 
and  R.  D.  Sides  selectmen;  C.  N.  Noteware  surveyor; 
S.  A.  Kinsey  recorder;  Benjamin  Sears  and  James 
Farwell  justices  of  the  peace;  T.  J.  Atchison  and  J. 
A.  Smith  constables.  Sides  and  Abernethy  did  not 
belong  to  the  Mormon  party.69  Little  heed  was  given 
to  the  officers  elected,  whose  duties  were  not  of  an 
onerous  nature. 

detectives  from  the  vigilance  committee,  Elliott  and  Gilpin,  purchased  the 
horse  and  wormed  themselves  into  the  confidence  of  Edwards  and  Thorring 
ton,  learning  of  the  proposed  elopement  of  the  former,  whereupon  Loth  men 
were  arrested  and  tried  by  a  citizen's  court,  the  evidence  being  recorded  by 
C.  N.  Noteware,  afterward  secretary  of  Nevada.  W.  T.  C.  Elliott  acted  as 
sheriff,  John  L.  Gary  as  judge,  and  18  others  as  jurors.  Edwards  finally  con 
fessed,  and  declared  the  innocence  of  Thorrington;  but  the  jury,  prejudiced 
by  the  loose  character  of  the  latter,  and  the  fear  of  other  crimes,  committed 
one  themselves  by  convicting  a  man  without  evidence.  Edwards  was  hanged 
at  the  scene  of  the  murder,  in  Honey  Lake  valley,  June  23,  1858,  and  Thor 
rington  at  his  farm  at  Clear  creek,  on  the  19th,  two  days  after  the  trial. 
Thorrington  had  a  son,  Jerome,  who  died,  while  his  wife  went  to  the  insane 
asylum  at  Stockton.  There  were  2  accomplices  of  Edwards,  who  were  fined 
$1,000  each,  and  ordered  to  leave  the  country.  Van  Sickle's  Utah  Desperadoes, 
MS. ;  3.  See  also  Pop.  Tribunals,  this  series. 

49  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  there  were  not  enough  professed  Mor 
mons  left  in  Carson  valley  to  make  a  party;  but  there  were  apostates,  and 
perhaps  also  secret  believers.     rlhey  were  too  well  drilled  in  obedience  to 
venture  upon  the  vigilant  system  of  justice  unless  ordered  to  do  so  by  the 
officers  of  the  church.     Reese  names  the  families  of  Moore,  John  Dilworth, 
John  Hawkins,  and  Perkins,  who  were  Mormons  and  remained  in  Carson 
valley.  - 

50  The  candidates  of  the  anti-Mormon  party,  in  the  order  given  above,  were 
Martin  Stebbins;  H.  Mott,  sen.;  George  Chedic;  John  L.  Carey,  J.  H.  Rose, 
and  W.    Cosser;  John  F.   Long;  S.    Taylor;  A.   J.    Hammack  and  H.  Van 
Sickle;  J.  M.  Herring  and  J.  M.  Howard.     The  vote  between  demons  and 
Stebbins  was  a  tie,  but  the  result  was  '  declared  in  favor  of  Mr  demons,  ac 
cording  to  the  Utah  statutes,  page  234,  sec.  12.'     Had  the  votes  of  4  pre 
cincts  not  been  thrown  out,  Stebbins  would  have  had  a  majority  of  48. 


86  SETTLEMENTS. 

In  this  year  Carson  City  was  laid  out  in  Eagle 
valley  by  Abraham  V.  Z.  Curry,51  who  erected  a 
stone  house,  which  was  followed  the  same  year  by 
three  or  four  others;52  but  no  rapid  influx  of  popula 
tion  followed  that  year  or  the  next.53  Only  at  one 
point  was  there  any  perceptible  increase  in  population, 
and  that  was  at  what  is  now  Gold  Hill,  where  the 
discovery  of  rich  placers  in  1859  had  attracted  the 
usual  rush  of  miners  which  follows  a  report  of  new 
gold  diggings. 

By  this  mixed  and  migratory  population  the  need  of 
some  laws  and  regulations  was  felt,  and  they  accord- 

51  A.  V.  Z.  Curry  was  an  energetic  pioneer.     He  settled  in  Warm  springs 
and  built  the  hotel  and  swimming  baths.     He  discovered  the  extensive  sand 
stone  deposit  at  Carson,  and  erected  the  stone  buildings  in  the  town.     He 
was  with  Gould  in  the  Gould  and  Curry  mine;  was  a  member  of  the  terri 
torial  council,  and  active  in  various  branches  of  business.      '  He  belonged  to 
that  sturdy  class  of  men  who  found  empires  and  build  up  states.' 

52  Nevers,  in  Nevada  Pioneers,  MS.,  2,  states  that  he  himself  built  the  third 
house,  'in  what  is  now  Carson  valley,'  in  1859.     O.  H.  Pierson,  writing  in 
the  Carson  Trifmne,  Aug.  5,  1870,  says  that  when  he  entered  Eagle  valley  in 
1859  he  found  there  three  houses  only,  one  of  which  was  occupied  by  Abram 
Curry,  one  by  William  M.  Ormsby,  and  another  by  Martin  Stebbins.     Pier- 
son  also  says  that  he  erected  the  fourth  house,  which  was  the  St  Nicholas 
hotel. 

53  Granville  W.  Huffaker,  in  a  manuscript  entitled  Early   Cattle  Trade  in 
Neva/la,  mentions  some  of  the  settlers  in  western  Utah  whom  he  found  in 
1859.     Huffaker  was  in  Salt  Lake  in  1857-8,  when  the  gentiles  were  ordered 
out.     Among  those  who  left  were  John  H.  Kinkead,  Bell,  Gilbert,  and  Gear- 
ish,  the  latter  two  settling  in  Los  Angeles,  California.     Huffaker  had  permis. 
sion  to  remain,    couched  in  the  following  trenchant   phrase,    '  Keep  your 
tongue  in  your  head,  and  you  will  not  be  molested.'     He  remained,  on  those 
terms,  until  1859,  and  then  sold  his  stock  of  goods,  and  with  a  drove  of  cattle 
removed  to  the  Truckee  Meadows  in  western  Utah,  where  he  took  a  land 
claim  of  160  acres,  and  by  purchase  from  other  claimants  acquired  a  total  of 
640  acres.     Huffaker  was  born  in  Ky  in  1831 ;  was  educated  at  Jacksonville 
college,  111.;  removed  to  St  Louis  in  1846  and  to  Salt  Lake  in  1851,  bringing 
a  train  of  40  wagon-loads  of  goods,  which  he  sold  in  three  weeks.     He  con 
tinued   in   trade  in  that  place  till  1859.     Huffaker  says  that  he  found  in 
Truckee  and  Steamboat  valleys  6  or  7  white  men.     Henry  Miller  and  Edward 
Ing  were  on  the  north  of   Truckee;  four   miles  south   of  them,  at  the  dairy 
farm  of  James  and  M.  F.  Evans,  called  the   stone-house  rancho,  and  living 
with  them,  were  Richard  Martin  and  Henry  Berryman.     Peleg  Brown  was 
another  settler  of  this  region.     In  Pleasant   valley  was  '  Mormon '  Smith. 
Theodore,  Joseph,  and  John  D.  Winters,  with  their  mother,  were  settled  in 
Washoe  valley,  where   they  had   been   since    1857.     Richard   D.  Sides   and 
William  Best  were  also  in  Washoe  valley.     South  of  the  sink  of   the  Hum- 
boldt  was  the  trading  post  of  John  F.  Stone  and  C.  C.  Gates,  where  Glen- 
dale   now  is,  then  called  Stone   and  Gates'  crossing.     Buckland   mentions 
Jacob  Winters  as  living  in  Jack's  valley  as  early  as  1857;  and  Evan  Jones 
m  Carson  valley  next  or  nearest  to  McMarlin's  rancho,  at  the  same  time. 
Indian  Fiyhtiwj,  MS.,  1. 


PROVISIONAL  GOVERNMENT.  87 

ingly,  on  the  llth  of  June,  agreed  among  themselves 
to  adopt  certain  simple  rules  of  conduct,  and  to  enforce 
them  on  others.54 

At  the  same  time  certain  politicians  stood  ready  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  suggestion  toward  another 
effort  for  a  separate  territorial  organization,  and  to 
make  use  of  the  feeling  against  the  Mormons  of  east 
ern  Utah  to  give  force  to  their  arguments.  These 
patriots  called  a  mass-meeting  for  the  6th  of  June  at 
Carson  City,  which  meeting  divided  Carson  county 
infco  precincts  for  election  purposes,  and  called  an  elec 
tion  to  take  place  on  the  14th  of  July,  to  choose  a 
delegate  to  visit  Washington  city  and  complete  the 
work  begun  by  Crane  of  getting  a  bill  through  con 
gress  creating  the  territory  of  Nevada,  and  to  elect 
delegates  to  a  convention  to  be  held  at  Genoa  on  the 
18th  of  July,  when  the  votes  for  delegate  would  be 
counted,  and  other  business  connected  with  the  pro 
posed  change  of  government  be  attended  to. 

The  convention  met  pursuant  to  appointment,  re 
maining  in  session  nine  days.55  It  was  not  altogether 
a  harmonious  session,  the  majority  being  determined 
to  consider  it  a  convention  to  frame  a  constitution  for 
a  provisional  government,  which  congress  would  be 
asked  to  recognize,  as  in  the  case  of  Oregon,  and  a 
minority  insisting  that  the  delegates  had  been  elected 
merely  to  provide  for  a  constitutional  convention  to 
be  held  in  the  future  by  other  delegates  elected  for 
the  purpose.  A  constitution  was,  however,  framed, 
modelled  closely  after  that  of  California,  and  adopted 
by  a  vote  of  the  people  on  the  7th  of  September.56 

54  This  was  the  miners'  code:  for  murder,  hanging;  wounding,  robbing, 
and  other  crimes  were  to  be  punished  as  the  jury  should  determine.  'No 
banking  game  shall,  under  any  consideration'  be  allowed  in  this  district, 
under  the  penalty  of  final  banishment  from  the  district,'  Under  these  laws 
George  Ruspas  and  David  Reise  had  their  ears  cut  off  for  stealing  cattle. 
Writ/fit's  Birj  Bonanza,  72. 

^Marysville  Democrat,.  July  26,  1859;  Carson  Valley  Territorial  Enter 
prise,  July  30,  1859:  Sac.  Union,  Sept.  18,  1859;  Kelly  s  Nev.  Dir.,  1862,  26-7. 

56  In  the  declaration  of  cause  for  separation,  two  principal  evils  were 
complained  of:  the  usurpation  and  abuse  of  power  by  the  Mormons,  and  the 
danger  to  life  and  property  upon  the  routes  leading  to  the  Mormon  capital. 


88  SETTLEMENTS. 

No  record  has  been  preserved  of  the  election  re 
turns,57  but  there  is  evidence  that  the  majority  for  a 
constitution  was  about  four  hundred,  that  Crane  was 
reflected  delegate,  and  that  Isaac  Hoop  was  elected 
governor,  although  the  board  of  canvassers  failed  to 
meet  to  canvass  the  votes,  and  the  certificate  of  the 
president  of  the  board,  J.  J.  Musser,  alone  testified 
to  the  result.  The  cause  of  this  sudden  ^difference 
to  politics  and  patriotism  will  be  given  in  the  next 
chapter. 

Immediately  after  the  election  the  probate  judge, 
John  S.  Child,58  appointed  by  the  Utah  legislature, 
attempted  to  reestablish  the  authority  of  the  probate 
court  in  Carson  county,  by  giving  notice  of  a  term 
commencing  on  the  12th  of  September,  at  Genoa,  P. 
H.  Lovell  clerk;  but  the  only  business  transacted  at 
the  term  was  the  appointment  of  a  coroner,  W.  P. 
Morrison,  to  sit  upon  the  body  of  John  Buckley,  killed 
in  a  quarrel,  and  the  application  of  Rebecca  A.  Bristol 
for  a  divorce  from  Essie  C.  Bristol,  which  was  granted. 

Judge  Child  made  a  further  effort  to  reorganize  the 
county  by  calling  an  election  for  the  8th  of  October, 
first  dividing  the  county  into  ten  precincts.  Out  of 
the  ten,  only  three  opened  any  polls,  and  the  officers 
elected  in  these  refused  to  qualify,  although  their 
commissions  were  forwarded  by  Governor  Cummings, 
successor  of  Governor  Young,  with  his  urgent  advice 
to  them  to  do  so,  and  the  county  continued  to  be 
without  a  proper  corps  of  officers. 

But  if  the  courts  of  Utah  could  not  sustain  their 
authority  against  the  people,  neither  could  the  United 

57  From  some  partial  returns  it  is  probable  that  the  following  persons  were 
elected;  together  with  the  adoption  of  the  constitution:  Isaac  Roop  governor, 
A.    S.    Dorsey  secretary  of  state,    John  D.   Winters  auditor,    B.    L.  King 
treasurer. 

58  Child  was  born  in  Vt  in  1825.     At  the  age  of  21  years  he  came  to  the 
Pacific  coast  by  sea,  via  Nicaragua.    After  mining  two  years  in  Cal.  he  went 
to  Carson  valley.     In  1859  he  married  A.  E.  Lufkin  of  Placerville,  Cal.,  who 
died   in   1873.     He  married,  in   1874,   Eveline   A.  Gilbert  of   Carson   City. 
Child  was  appointed  commissioner  of  Douglas  county,  and  elected  to  the  as 
sembly  in  1870. 


POLITICAL  MATTERS.  89 

States  court  properly  administer  the  laws  of  the 
country.  John  Cradlebaugh,  one  of  the  district 
judges  appointed  to  Utah,  was  assigned  to  Carson 
county,  and  arrived  in  the  summer  of  1859  at  Genoa, 
where  the  grand  jury  of  the  second  district  congratu 
lated  him,  in.  their  report  of  October  25th,  upon  the 
organization  of  a  court  of  justice,  "  under  the  immedi 
ate  protection  of  the  United  States  flag,"59  but  they 
had  not  taken  into  account  the  difficulty  of  establish 
ing  courts,  against  which  the  laws  b9  practised  in  them 
raised  insuperable  obstacles,  controlling,  as  they  did, 
the  marshalships  and  the  juries,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
witnesses.  The  people,  instead  of  welcoming  Judge 
Cradlebaugh,  were  opposed  to  his  holding  court  as  a 
branch  of  the  Utah  government,  and  his  position  be 
came  as  disagreeable  to  him  as  it  was  useless  to  them. 
In  October  1860  R.  B.  Flaniken  superseded  Cradle 
baugh,  and  held  his  court  in  Carson  City  until  the 
organization  of  the  territory,  in  the  midst  of  a  rebel 
lious  people,  the  prosecuting  attorney  being  P.  H. 
Clayton.61 

All  efforts  to  revive  the  county  organization  had 
failed,  but  the  hearts  of  the  patriots  had  not.  A  mis 
fortune  had  befallen  them  in  the  loss  of  their  delegate 
elect,  Crane,  who  died  suddenly  of  heart  disease  on 
the  27th  of  September,  at  Gold  Hill.62  An  election 

59  Hayes1  Mining  Scraps,  xi.  24-6.  Alfred  James  was  clerk  of  the  court, 
and  George  W.  Hepperly  U.  S.  marshal. 

wln  Clarke's  Statement,  MS.,  10,  he  mentions  that  the  lawyers  practising 
in  the  courts  quoted  the  laws  of  Utah. 

61  The  persons  chosen  at  the  late  election  who  refused  to  qualify  were 
C.  H.  Fountain  representative,  W.  C.  Armstrong  and  L.  Drixley  selectmen, 
E.  C.  Morse  sheriff,  Henry  Van  Sickle  treasurer,  and  J.  F.  Long  surveyor. 
The  only  legally  constituted  officers  in  1859-60  were  the  probate  judge  and 
county  clerk,  road  commissioners,  B.  G.  Gloyd,  A.  Kinne,  and  James 
White— the  last  four  already  named,  the  recorder,  S.  A.  Kinsey,  the  sur 
veyor,  P.  C.  Rector;  three  being  appointed  in  the  spring  of  1860. 

62  Crane  ran  against  Frederick  Dodge,  U.  S.  Indian  agent,  beating  him  by 
61  votes.  The  election  was  irregular  on  both  sides.  Crane  was  a  native  of 
Va,  about  40  years  of  age,  and  a  printer.  He  was  a  well-informed  politician, 
and  founded  the  first  whig  paper  in  Cal.— the  California  Courier.  After  the 
discontinuance  of  this  journal  he  made  careful  researches  into  the  Spanish 
records,  arranging  his  knowledge  of  history  in  the  form  of  lectures.  Before 
his  researches  were  completed  he  died.  Kelley's  JTeo,  Directory,  29-30. 


90  SETTLEMENTS. 

for  his  successor  was  held  November  12th,  resulting 
in  the  choice  of  J.  J.  Musser;63  also  an  election  for 
members  of  the  legislative  assembly,  which  was  ap 
pointed  to  meet  in  December.  The  vote  for  governor 
was  canvassed ;  Roop  was  declared  elected,  and  duly 
sworn  in  by  F.  M.  Preston,  United  States  commis 
sioner  for  the  second  judicial  district. 

On  the  21st  of  November  the  inhabitants  of  Car 
son  valley  held  another  meeting,  at  which  a  memorial 
to  congress  was  adopted,  asking  for  the  organization 
of  the  territory  of  Nevada.  On  the  15th  of  December 
four  members  of  the  legislature  elect  met  at  the  house 
of  J.  B.  Blake  of  Genoa,  O.  H.  Pierson64  speaker, 
H.  S.  Thompson  clerk,  and  J.  H.  McDougal  sergeant- 
at-arms.  Governor  Roop  delivered  his  message, 
some  resolutions  were  passed,  a  committee  appointed 
to  draw  up  a  memorial  to  congress,  and  the  legislature, 
being  without  a  quorum,  was  then  adjourned  to  the 
first  Monday  in  July.  In  his  message  the  governor 
alluded  to  the  peculiar  condition  of  western  Utah, 
and  the  helplessness  of  the  United  States  judge, 
Cradlebaugh,  to  administer  the  laws  of  the  country,65 
but  expressed  his  confidence  in  the  justice  of  congress, 
and  in  the  disposition  of  the  people  to  wait  upon  its 
action.  The  administration  of  Governor  Roop  was 
entirely  of  the  negative  kind,  and  corresponded  in  this 
respect  with  the  two  other  governments  exercising  a 
nominal  authority  over  the  country.66  But  the  faith 
of  the  people  in  congressional  interposition  was  des- 

63  Musser  left  Carson  for  Washington  city  Dec.  12,  1S59,  carrying  a  large 
piece  of  silver  ore  from  the  Ophir  mine  for  the  Washington  monument.  S.  F. 
AUa,  Dec.  12,  1859. 

64  Pierson  came  to  Carson  City  in    1859,  and  built  the  first  hotel— the  St 
Nicholas — on  the  corner  of  Carson  and  First   streets.     It  was  filled  as  soon 
as  completed.    He  erected  12  other  houses  in  Carson.     A  portion  of  the  town 
was  called  Pierson's  Addition.   Carson  Tribune,  Aug  5,  1870. 

66  The  court-house  at  Genoa  is  described  as  a  building  30  by  60  feet,  1| 
storier  high,  in  the  upper  part  of  which  Judge  Cradlebaugh  held  his  first 
IT.  S.  D.  court,  access  to  it  being  had  by  means  of  a  ladder  from  the  street. 
Later,  stairs  were  built  from  the  sidewalk. 

66 The  only  instances  of  Roop's  official  action  were  in  connection  with  the 
Indian  difficulties  of  1860,  of  which  I  shall  speak  hereafter. 


POLITICAL  MATTERS.  91 

tined  to  another  year  of  trial.  Delegate  Musser  re 
turned  from  Washington,  having  done  no  more  than 
to  reiterate  the  appeals  of  his  constituents  and  his 
predecessor,  which  reiteration  may  have  served  to 
deepen  the  impression  already  produced,  and  thereby 
to  hasten  in  some  degree  the  end, 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  COMSTOCK  LODE. 
1849-1860. 

CONFIGURATION— PLACER  GOLD— EARLY  MINING  IN  GOLD  CANON — SILVER 
FOUND  BY  THE  GROSCH  BROTHERS— DEATH  OF  THE  DISCOVERERS— COM 
STOCK,  OLD  VIRGINIA,  AND  ASSOCIATES — JOHNTOWN  AND  GOLD  HILL 
CLAIMS  AND  LOCATIONS— OPHIR,  SILVER  CITY,  OR  VIRGINIA  TOWN — 
DISCOVERIES  ELSEWHERE — WALSH  AND  WOODWORTH— TESTING  AND 
SEPARATING— INTRODUCTION  OF  MILLS— PROCESSES— DESCRIPTION  OF 
THE  CALIFORNIA,  A  REPRESENTATIVE  MILL. 

THE  state  of  Nevada  came  into  being  through  the 
discovery  and  development  of  the  Comstock  lode.  No 
doubt  the  corruption  of  the  federal  judiciary  hastened 
the  formation  of  a  state  government.  Nowhere  else 
in  the  annals  of  the  world  do  we  find  a  society  spring 
ing  up  in  a  desert  wilderness,  so  wholly  dependent  on 
a  mountain  of  metal,  so  ruled  by  the  ever-changing 
vagaries  attending  its  development,  and  which  finally 
attained  the  full  measure  of  a  fair  and  prosperous 
commonwealth.  Hence  it  is  that  the  history  of  the 
Comstock  lode  is  to  a  great  extent  the  history  of  Ne 
vada.  The  yield  of  this  vast  deposit  aided  greatly  in 
enabling  the  nation  to  resume  specie  payment  after 
the  close  of  the  civil  war. 

The  range  of  mountains  in  which  the  great  mineral 
vein  of  western  Utah  was  situated  is  separated  from 
the  eastern  slope  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  by  a  continu 
ous  parallel  depression,  which  is  divided  into  the 
smaller  valleys  of  the  Truckee,  Washoe,  and  Carson 
rivers.  Irregular  in  outline  and  height,  it  gradually 
slopes  at  the  south  into  the  basin  of  the  Carson,  be 
coming  more  elevated  farther  south,  where  it  merges 

(92) 


GEOLOGY.  93 

in  the  Pine  Nut  range.  Toward  the  west  the  hills 
sink  rapidly  to  the  detrital  beds  of  the  Washoe  and 
Truckee  valleys,  being  connected  with  the  Sierra 
Nevada  by  two  granite  ridges  crossing  the  northern 
and  southern  extremities  of  Washoe  valley.  To  the 
north  the  range  extends,  with  several  breaks,  to  the 
boundary  of  Oregon,  and  to  the  southeast  it  melts 
away  abruptly  into  the  Carson  valley.  The  culminat 
ing  point  of  elevation  is  a  peak  something  over  thirty 
miles  from  Genoa,  and  eighteen  from  Carson  City, 
known  as  Sun  peak  by  the  earliest  settlers,  and  some 
times  as  Mount  Pleasant  by  subsequent  mining  in 
habitants.  It  was  named  Mount  Davidson1  in  later 
years  by  the  California  state  geologist,  who  ascertained 
its  height  to  be  7,827  feet. 

Down  from  the  south  side  of  this  peak  runs  a  ravine 
to  the  Carson  river,  a  distance  of  several  miles,  which 
is  the  Gold  carion  referred  to  in  the  previous  chapter. 
It  obtained  its  name  from  the  fact  that  some  gold 
mining  had  been  carried  on  in  it  ever  since  the  settle 
ment  of  the  valley.  It  comes  quite  down  to  the  im 
migrant  road,  and  consequently  was  well  known  to 
early  passers-by.  Beatie  relates  that  in  1849,  while 
he  and  one  of  the  Blackburns  were  on  their  first  visit 
to  the  California  gold  mines,  Abner  Blackburn  occu 
pied  himself  in  prospecting  in  the  lateral  ravines  of 
Carson  valley,  and  discovered  gold  in  this  canon  in 
the  month  of  July,2  but  not  in  quantities  sufficient  to 
cause  a  fever  in  the  blood  of  the  saints.  No  mining 

1  After  Prof.  George  Davidson  of  the  coast  survey — a  fitting  tribute  to  his 
genius. 

*  First  in  Nevada,  MS.,  4-5.  There  are  various  versions  of  the  first  dis 
covery  of  gold  in  western  Utah,  but  none  more  authentic.  See  Browns Min. 
Resources,  87;  Vinjinia  City  Occidental,  in  Downieville  Mountain  Messenger, 
May  14,  1864;  San  Jose.  Mercui-y,  April  14,  1804;  Sac.  Transcript,  Aug.  30 
1850  (steamer  edition);  S.  F.  Herald,  July  1,  1850;  Mariposa  Gazette, March 
23,  1878;  Morgans  Trip  (1849),  19-20;  Wrvflifs  Blj  Bonanza,  26;  Gold  Hill 
Eve,  New*,  Feb.  24,  and  May  18,  1880;  Cal  'Courier,  July  23,  1850;  Prtnluma 
Arym,  June  18,  1880;  8.  F.  Alta,  May  17,  1880;  Elko  Independent,  May  20, 
and  23,  1880.  The  Reno  Gazette  of  Feb.  12  1880,  gives  the  date  as  1851. 
That  18")0  has  been  so  generally  named  as  the  year  is  due,  probably,  to  the 
fact  that  the  newspapers  did  not  publish  the  Mormon  discovery  until  miners 
began  to  go  to  Cal. 


94 


THE  COMSTOCK  LODE. 


was  done  by  Beatie's  company,  which  returned  to 
Salt  Lake  the  same  season.  But  on  his  second  visit 
to  California,  Beatie  informed  the  Mormon  company 
in  the  mines  of  the  discovery,  and  subsequently  some 
of  them,  with  immigrants  from  the  states  on  their 
way  to  California,  stopped  to  mine  for  a  while  in  Gold 
canon.  The  gold  it  produced  was  poor,  being  worth 
no  more  than  fourteen  dollars  to  the  ounce ;  but  as 


CARSON  VALLEY. 

the  diggings  continued  to  yield  a  fair  day's  wages, 
there  were  at  work  generally  in  the  mining  season 
from  one  to  two  hundred  men,  some  of  whom  had 
made  settlements  upon  land  claims  near  by.  But  down 
to  the  period  where  the  last  chapter  ends,  there  had 
never  been  any  marked  recognition  of  western  Utah 
as  a  mining  countrv. 

Gold  canon  was  the  only  mining  ground  worked  in 
this  district  before  1857, '  It  opens  from  the  north- 


GOLD  CA&ON.  95 


west  near  where  the  Carson  river  turns  rather  abrupi  ^ 
to  the  southwest.  At  the  distance  of  about  four 
miles  from  its  mouth  it  forks,  the  middle  branch  of 
three  being  called  American  Flat  ravine.  Near  the 
head  of  this  ravine  is  a  mound,  which  in  1858  acquired 
the  name  of  Gold  hill,  to  distinguish  it  from  Gold 
canon.  This  hill  is  a  mile  or  more  from  Mount  Da 
vidson.  Coming  from  the  north  side  of  the  mountain 
is  another  large  ravine,  whose  head  is  within  a  mile 
of  the  head  of  Gold  canon,  whose  mouth  is  on  the 
Carson  river,  a  few  miles  northeast  of  Gold  canon, 
and  which  was  known  as  Six-mile  canon.  It  had  no 
settlement  at  this  period,  but  at  the  mouth  of  Gold 
canon  was  the  little  town  of  Dayton,  then  known  as 
Chinatown,  from  the  presence  there  of  a  camp  of 
Chinese  employed  in  digging  the  canal  before  men 
tioned,  for  which  Reese  obtained  a  franchise,  and 
which  was  finished  by  Rose.  The  white  inhabitants 
called  the  place  Mineral  rapids,  and  it  never  received 
its  final  christening  until  November  3,  1861,  when  in 
a  public  meeting  this  important  matter  was  decided.3 

About  four  miles  up  the  canon  was  another  camp, 
known  as  Johntown.  Neither  of  these  places  had  a 
dozen  houses  of  any  kind,  the  migratory  habits  of 
the  miners  and  the  scarcity  of  timber,  with  the  entire 
absence  of  lumber  in  that  part  of  the  valley,  causing 
them  to  live  in  tents,  which  at  the  end  of  the  season 
were  easily  removed.  Nor  wrere  there  ever  more 
than  150  or  200  miners  in  Gold  canon  at  one  time 
before  1859. 

That  mysterious  something  which  is  called  fate  by 
pagan,  and  providence  by  Christians,  and  which  like 

Wright's  Big  Bonanza,  28-9.  William  Wright,  whose  nom  de  plume  as  a 
popular  writer  on  Nevada  journals  was  Dan  De  Quille,  was  reporter  on  the  Vir 
ginia  City  Territorial  Enterprise  for  16  years,  and  had  the  best  facilities  for 
acquiring  historical  facts.  His  book  is  made  popular  by  the  introduction  of 
facetious  anecdotes,  and  a  style  of  raillery  much  in  vogue  in  writing  of  min 
ing  affairs,  with  no  better  reason  than  that  in  early  times  one  or  two  humor 
ous  journalists  set  the  fashion,  which  few  have  been  able  to  follow  with 
similar  success.  Wright's  book  is,  however,  a  storehouse  of  information, 
generally  correct,  on  current  events  connected  with  the  mining  history  of 
Nevada,  which  gives  it  a  permanent  value  among  my  authorities. 


96  THE  COMSTOCK  LODE. 

love  and  justice  should  be  painted  with  bandaged 
eyes,  with  one  extended  hand  holding  a  crown,  and 
the  other  the  emblematic  cap-and-bells,  that  whoever 
passed  under  the  one  or  the  other  should  be  its  pos 
sible  recipient,  held  now  suspended  above  the  mining 
camp  of  Johntown  the  fateful  wreath.  How  it  fell 
where  the  cap-and-bells  would  have  been  more  fitting 
let  me  here  relate. 

As  early  as  1849  two  brothers,  E.  Allen  Grosch 
and  Hosea  B.  Grosch  of  Reading,  Pennsylvania,  sons 
of  a  universalist  preacher,  educated  and  serious- 
minded  youncr  men,  came  to  the  Pacific  coast  via 

t/  c5 

Tampico  and  Mazatlan,  and  engaged  in  mining  in  El 
Dorado  county,  California.  In  1851,  hearing  of  the 
Gold  canon  placers,  they  paid  them  a  visit,  returning 
the  same  season  to  California.  In  1853  they  made 
another  and  longer  visit,  prospecting  in  Carson,  Lake, 
and  Washoe  valleys,  Gold  canon,  and  in  some  of  the 
adjacent  mountains.  In  Gold  canon  they  found  what 
they  called  "  carbonate  of  silver,"  which  they  described 
as  a  "dark  gray  mass,  tarnished  probably  by  sulphuric 
acid  in  the  water.  It  resembles  thin  sheet-lead 
broken  very  fine,  and  lead  the  miners  supposed  it  to 
be.  The  ore  we  found  at  the  forks  of  the  canon ;  a 
large  quartz  vein — at  least,  bowlders  from  a  vein  close 
by  here — shows  itself.  .  .  Other  ore  of  silver  we  have 
found  in  the  canon,  and  a  rock  called  black  rock,  very 
abundant,  we  think  contains  silver."4 

In  1857  the  Grosch  brothers  were  living  in  a  stone 
cabin  in  American  Flat  ravine.  In  their  later  corre 
spondence  with  their  father  they  mentioned  a  mine 
which  had  been  named  the  Frank,  after  a  Mexican 
called  Old  Frank,  an  experienced  miner,  who  corrob 
orated  their  impressions  concerning  the  nature  of 
their  discoveries.  They  spoke  also  of  "  our  monster 
vein,"  and  of  a  "  smaller  but  richer  vein,"  and  "  suits 
of  veins  crossing  the  canon  at  two  other  points."5 

*  Letter  to  A.  B.  Grosch,  the  father,  in  1853. 

5  This  description  should  fix  the  fact  of  the  discovery  of  the  great  silver 


THE  GROSCH  BROTHERS.  97 

But  the  development  of  silver  mines  requires  capital, 
in  order  to  obtain  which  a  company  was  formed  in  the 
east  of  the  friends  of  the  young  men,  called  the  Utah 
Enterprise  company,  and  another  partly  in  El  Dorado 
county,  California,  and  partly  in  Carson  valley.  There 
seems  not  to  have  been  much  money  in  either,  for  in 
the  autumn  of  1857  they  were  waiting  for  a  partner 
named  Brown,  who  kept  the  mail  station  at  Gravelly 
ford  on  the  Humboldt,  to  close  his  season's  operations 
and  bring  his  profits  to  be  applied  to  opening  what 
they  called  the  Pioneer  claim. 

While  they  waited,  they  heard  of  the  murder  of 
Brown,  by  which,  and  the  loss  of  the  expected  aid, 
they  were  much  cast  down.  About  the  same  time 
Hosea  struck  a  pick  into  his  foot,  from  which  blood- 
poisoning  resulted,  and  he  died  on  the  2d  of  Septem 
ber.  A  friend  had,  however,  in  the  meantime,  offered 
pecuniary  aid  ;6  and  Allen,  having  to  go  to  California 
on  business,  started  about  the  middle  of  November, 
with  one  other  person,  to  cross  the  mountains.7  They 
were  caught  in  a  terrible  snow-storm,  compelled  to 
kill  and  eat  their  pack-mule,  and  to  abandon  their 
baggage  and  specimens,  while  they  wandered  about 
in  the  trackless  waste  of  snow  for  eleven  days,  at  the 
end  of  which  time  they  reached  the  carnp  of  a  Mexi 
can  miner  on  the  west  side,  with  their  legs  frozen  to 
and  above  the  knees.  Grosch  would  not  submit  to 
amputation,  and  died  December  19,  1857. 

It  was  said  that  when  Allen  Grosch  left  for  Cali 
fornia,  he  placed  his  cabin  in  charge  of  Henry  T.  P. 

lode  with  the  Grosch  brothers,  as  it  crosses  the  heads  of  both  canons.  Wright's 
Big  Bonanza,  31.  Two  of  their  claims  were  near  the  forks  of  the  canon,  as 
described  in  their  letters.  See  account  of  Comstock  lode,  in  Mining  Review 
and  Stock  Ledger,  1878,  149-61;  Nev.  Sen.  Jour.,  1866,  app.  no.  7,  19. 

6  This  was  Mrs  Ellis,  afterward  Mrs  Dittenreider,  who  was  so  much  im 
pressed  by  the  faith  of  the  Grosches  in  the  value  of  their  discoveries  that 
she  offered  to  sell  some  property  in  California  and  furnish  them  $1,500.    Mrs 
Dittenreider  states  that  she  saw  the  brothers  at  their  cabin,  and  that  Allen 
took  her  to  some  elevated  ground,  and  pointing  to  Mount  Davidson,  said  that 
the  Pioneer  claim  was  'down  at  the  base  of  that  point.' 

7  This  person  was  R.  M.  Bucke,  since  superintendent  of  the  Dominion 
insane  asylum,  at  London,  Canada. 

HIST.  NEV.    7 


98  THE  COMSTOCK  LODE. 

Comstock,8  a  miner  in  Gold  canon,  who  also  lived 
about  Johntown,  and  had  been  in  western  Utah  since 
1856.  How  much  or  how  little  Comstock  knew  of 
the  plans  of  the  Grosch  brothers  previous  to  coming 
into  the  possession  of  their  books  and  papers  through 
the  death  of  Allen  Grosch  is  uncertain  ;  but  probably 
he  had  never  been  admitted  to  their  confidence  fur 
ther  than  to  engage  his  services,  and  to  explain  to 
him  what  the  consideration  would  be,9  with  assurances 
of  the  prospective  value  of  their  mining  claims.  The 
total  disappearance  of  their  books  and  papers,  with 
all  the  evidences  of  their  company  and  individual 
rights,  is  strong  presumptive  evidence  against  Com 
stock  as  the  person  in  charge.  Whatever  knowledge 
he  had  he  kept  to  himself,  and  with  equal  care  re 
moved  the  traces  of  their  claims,10  which  might  lead 

8  William  Jennings,  in  his  Carson  Valley,   MS.,  3,  states  that  Comstock 
came  into  the  valley  in  1856,  driving  a  flock  of  sheep,  but  that  '  the  Indiana 
got  most  of  the  sheep. '     Comstock  says  of  himself  that  his  name  was  H  enry 
Thomas  Paige  Comstock,  and  that  he  was  the  son  of  Noah  Comstock  of  Cleve 
land,  Ohio,  and  was  born  in  Canada  in  1820.     He  declared  that  he  had  been 
in  the  wilderness  from  childhood  hunting  and  trapping,  except  when  he  was 
serving  in  the  Black  Hawk,  Patriot,  and  Mexican  wars.     His  mind  was  ill 
balanced,  or  if  not  so  naturally,  he  had   suffered  so  many  shocks  of  fortune 
that  the  last  years  of  his  life  were  but  the  record  of  a  feeble  struggle  against 
advancing  dementia.     After  leaving  Nevada,  which  he  did  in  1862  to  go  to 
the  eastern  Oregon  and  Idaho  mines,  he  wandered  about  in  those  countries 
for  several  years,  and  constructed  a  road  from  Auburn  to  Baker  City,  Oregon, 
before  going  to  Boise,  and  finally  going  to  Montana.     He  accompanied  the 
Bighorn  expedition  in  1870,  and  on  his  return,  September  27th,  when  near 
Bozeman,  committed  suicide  by  shooting  himself  in  the  head  with  his  revolver. 
WrviM*  Bi'/  Bonanzi,  82-7;  Silver  City  Nevada  Times,  Aug.  27,  1879;  Eureka 
Sentinel,  July  14,  1875;  Gold  Hill  News,  Aug.  30,  1875. 

9  A  writer  in  the  Sac.  Union  of  Aug.  17,  1863,  signing  himself  "****)" 
but  speaking  as  one  who  knows,  says  that  Allen  Grosch  made  a  written  con 
tract  with  Comstock  to  go  into  his  ca.bin  and  take  charge  of  the  '  Hill '  claim 
during  his  absence  for  the  winter,  for  which  service  he  was  to  receive  a 
fourth  interest  in  that  claim;  said  claim  being  recorded  with  a  diagram  and 
marked  by  posts,  the  claim  covering  3,750  feet  north  of  the  ledge  where  the 
first  notice  was  posted,  and  extending  beyond  the  ravine  on  the  north  side 
of  Virginia  City.     This,  if  true,  would  fix  the  locality  and  the  value  of  the 
Grosch  mines. 

10  Wright  says   that   he   saw  the   old   furnaces  of  the   Grosch   brothers 
nnearbhed  in  1860,  they  having  been  covered  up  Math  a  foot  of  mud  and  sand 
from  Gold  canon.     They  were  2  in  number,  only  2  or  3  feet  in  length,  a  foot 
in  height,  and  1£  feet  in  width.     One  had  been  used  as  a  smelter,  and  the 
other  as  a  cupel  furnace.     The  remains  of  melting-pots  and  fragments  of 
cupels  were  found  in  and  about  the  furnaces;  also  a  large  piece  of  argentifer 
ous  galena,  which  had  doubtless  been  procured  a  short  distance   west  of 
Silver  City.     After  the  discovery  of  the  furnaces  there  was  much  search  by 


GOLD  DISCOVERIES.  99 

to  identification  by  either  of  the  companies,  or  by  the 
heirs  of  the  Grosch  brothers.  For  more  than  a  year 
after  the  death  of  Allen  Grosch,  Comstock  remained 
in  Gold  canon,  keeping  a  silent  watch  upon  the  pro 
gress  of  discovery,  and  ready  to  profit  by  it.  At  the 
last  it  came,  as  he  expected.11 

Returning  to  the  history  of  mining  for  gold  by  the 
residents  of  Johntown:  during  the  summer  of  1857 
a  number  of  men  from  Gold  canon,  prospecting  in 
Six-mile  canon,  discovered  a  new  field  about  a  mile 
below  the  ground  now  occupied  by  Virginia  City. 
The  gold  was  not  found  in  auriferous  sand  and  gravel, 
but  in  blue  clay  so  tough  that  it  had  to  be  dissolved 
to  free  the  metal.  From  $5  to  $13.50,  the  value  of 
an  ounce,  was  a  day's  wages,  and  in  1858  the  same 
miners  returned  to  these  diggings,  puzzled  to  under 
stand  their  peculiar  features,  but  satisfied  with  the 
pay.  With  them  came  a  few  others,  who  were  forced 
to  take  claims  higher  up  the  canon. 

Among  the  newer  comers  was  James  Fennimore,  an 
intemperate  Virginian,  without  either  brains  or  educa 
tion,  who  for  some  breach  of  lawful  etiquette  com 
mitted  elsewhere,  had  found  it  convenient  to  remove 
to  Carson  valley  in  185 1,12  where  he  had  remained 
ever  since,  digging  his  season's  wages  out  of  the  earth 
to  pour  it  down  his  throat  in  bad  whiskey  during  his 
leisure  months.  When  he  first  came  to  Carson  valley 
he  called  himself  James  Finney,  until  outgrowing  his 
apprehensions,  he  acknowledged  his  true  name  to  be 
Fennimore.  But  although  so  well  supplied  with  ap 
pellations,13  he  was  dubbed  by  the  miners  Old  Virginia, 

miners  in  the  neighborhood  for  the  mine  they  had  been  prospecting,  but  it 
was  not  found.  Big  Bonanza,  34. 

11  Wright  relates  that  Comstock  obtained  the  sobriquet  of  Old  Pancake 
among  the  miners,  because  he  could  not  take  time  to  make  bread.      '  Even  as, 
with  spoon  in  hand,  he  stirred  up  his  pancake  batter,  it  is  said  that  he  kept 
one  eye  on  the  top   of  some  distant  peak,  and  was  lost  in  speculations  in 
regard  to  the  wealth  in  gold  and  silver  that  might  rest  somewhere  beneath 
its  rocky  crest.'  Big  Bonanza,  41. 

12  It  is  said  that  Fennimore  came  to  Carson  valley  with  Reese's  company 
in  1851  as  a  teamster.    Thompson  &  West's  Hixt.  Nev.,  31. 

13  He  is  often  called  Mr  Berry.  See   Territorial  Enterprise,  Sept.  24,  1859; 
S.  F.  AUa,  Sept.  28,  1859. 


100  THE  COMSTOCK  LODE/ 

a  sobriquet  significant  of  his  characteristics  rather 
than  of  his  years,  which  really  were  not  yet  in  the 
decline  of  life.  In  company  with  Fennimore  were 
Peter  O'Riley,  Patrick  McLaughlin,  Joseph  Kirby, 
and  Nicholas  Ambrose,  the  latter  not  a  miner,  but  a 
restaurateur.  They  worked  contentedly  in  their  new 
claims  through  the  summer  of  1858,  returning  to  John- 
town  to  winter.  But  in  January  1859,  during  some 
warm  weather,  which  melted  the  snow,  and  gave  plenty 
of  water,  prospecting  in  Gold  caiion  was  resumed  by 
the  residents  of  Johntown,  and  among  others,  by 
James  Fennimore,  John  Bishop,  and  H.  T.  P.  Corn- 
stock. 

On  the  29th,  after  further  examination  of  the  mound 
at  the  head  of  the  caiion,  aud  finding  the  prospects 
rich,  though  the  gold  was  very  fine,  Comstock,  Fenni 
more,  Bishop,  and  others  staked  off  claims,  and  called 
the  place  Gold  Hill.  In  connection  with  their  claims, 
Fennimore  discovered  and  claimed  a  spring  of  water, 
which  could  be  brought  to  their  ground.  Several  log 
houses  were  soon  erected  at  Gold  Hill,  which  became 
the  centre  of  the  mineral  region,  the  miners  in  Six- 
mile  canon,  who  had  worked  to  within  a  mile  or  two 
on  the  north  side,  making  it  their  headquarters. 

Although  the  gravel  in  which  the  Gold  canon 
miners  were  now  working  was  evidently  decomposed 
quartz,  and  almost  black  in  color,  no  one  appears  to 
have  guessed  the  secret  of  it  at  this  period.14  The 
miners  also  in  Six-mile  canon  continued  to  work  their 
claims,  which,  as  they  advanced  toward  the  head,  be 
came  darker  In  color.  Early  in  June,  being  short  of 
water,  they  excavated  a  small  reservoir  a  short  dis 
tance  above  their  claims,  in  which  to  collect  it  from  a 

14  James  Thompson,  a  Norwegian,  who  carried  the  mail  from  Carson  val 
ley  to  California  on  snow-shoes,  used  to  bring  specimens  to  Frank  Stewart, 
geologist,  connected  with  the  Placerville  Observer.  Among  others,  in  the 
winter  of  1857-8  he  brought  to  Stewart  a  small  package  of  black-looking 
rock,  rich  in  gold,  which  he  said  came  from  Gold  canon,  and  the  miners 
desired  to  be  informed  of  its  nature  Stewart  called  it  black  sulphuret  of 
silver,  containing  gold.  Virginia  Enterprise  in  Stockton  Independent,  June  10, 
1875.  The  writer  is  evidently  more  than  a  year  too  early  in  his  date,  unless 
the  package  caine  from  Comstock,  and  was  found  in  Grosch  s  cabin. 


THE  DISCOVERERS.  101 

rivulet  for  the  use  of  their  rockers.  On  the  10th,  at 
a  depth  of  four  feet,  they  came  to  a  stratum  of  strange- 
looking  earth,  the  nature  of  which  they  did  not  under 
stand.  It  is  upon  record,  however,  that  Comstock, 
who  appears  to  have  been  extremely  watchful  of  the 
movements  of  prospectors,  immediately  appeared  upon 
the  spot,  with  the  remark,  "  You  have  struck  it,  boys,"11 
the  persons  addressed  being  McLaughlin  and  O'Riley. 
At  the  same  time  he  made  known  that  the  spring 
from  which  they  were  conducting  the  water  was 
claimed  by  himself,  Emanuel  Penrod,  and  Fennimore 
(Old  Virginia),  the  latter  owning  but  one  share.  As 
McLaughlin  and  O'Riley  tested  their  discovery,  and 
found  it  as  rich  as  it  was  queer,  Comstock  further  in 
formed  them  that  the  ground  they  were  on  belonged 
to  some  persons  then  absent  ;  namely,  Fennimore, 
Joseph  Kir  by,  James  White,  and  William  Hart,  and 
thereupon  proposed  an  arrangement  by  which  these 
persons  were  to  be  bought  off,  and  himself  admitted 
to  a  firm  consisting  of  Penrod,  Comstock,  McLaughlin, 
and  O'Riley.16  As  the  claim  was  evidently  a  valuable 
one,  and  as  it  could  not  be  worked  without  water, 
which  Comstock  controlled,  the  proposition  was 
agreed  to.  Penrod  was  employed  to  obtain  a  bill  of 
sale  of  the  claimants,  only  three  of  whom  could  be 
found.  To  these  he  paid  $50  for  their  rights,  and 
Comstock  negotiated  the  purchase  of  Fennimore's 
interest  in  the  spring  for  an  old  blind  horse.  But 
there  yet  remained  one  of  the  original  claim-owners, 
who  was  not  satisfied,  and  Joseph  D.  Winters  seeing 
that  it  was  yielding  $300  a  day  to  the  rocker,  made 
haste  to  find  the  missing  share-owner,  and  secure  his 
right,  without  informing  him  of  its  value  To  avoid 

15  This  exclamation  has  been  taken  as  proof  that  Comstock  knew  of  this 
deposit,  or  at  least  that  he  recognized  its  value  from  knowledge   obtained 
from  the  contents  of  the  Grosch  cabin,  such  knowledge  not  being  possessed 
by  the  other  miners.     If  this  were  true,  he  acted  with  consummate  tact 
throughout  the  whole  subsequent  proceedings. 

16  Book  of  Deeds  of  the  White  and  Mw-pliy  Ground,  by  George  Wells,  MS., 
2      In  this  document  it  is  stated  that  'they  also  busied  themselves  that  day 
to  secure  the  surface  claims  previously  located.'     This  manuscript  is  a  history 
of  the  Great  Bonanza,  from  evidence  found  in  searching  for  title. 


102  THE  COMSTOCK  LODE. 

litigation.  Winters  was  admitted  as  a  partner,  after 
the  lode  was  discovered  upon  which  the  fame  of  the 
state  of  Nevada  was  so  soon  to  be  built. 

For  only  about  one  week  did  the  claim  continue  to 
pay  in  the  rich  decomposed  ore,  of  which  the  miners 
were  ignorantly  throwing  away  the  greater  part  of 
the  value,17  when  the  miners  came,  on  the  llth  of 
June,  to  a  solid  ledge  four  feet  in  width,  which  Pen- 
rod  declared  to  be  a  quartz  vein,  but  which  Com  stock 
at  first  denied,  and  finally  admitted,  the  other  two 
partners  still  assenting  and  objecting  to  "  locating  "  as 
such.  Penrod  and  Comstock,  however,  prevailed, 
giving  notice  of  their  claims,  which  included  1,500  feet 
on  the  ledge — 300  for  each  man  in  the  company,  and 
300  additional  for  the  discoverer,  according  to  the 
mining  laws  in  California.18  Comstock  claimed  100 
feet  to  be  segregated  to  himself  and  Penrod,  where- 
ever  he  should  chose  in  the  company's  claim,  in  con 
sideration  of  their  services  in  securing  O'Riley's  and 
McLaughlin's  claims  to  them  by  including  them  in 
the  location.  This  segregated  claim  became  the 
famous  Mexican,  from  which  millions  of  dollars  were 
taken.  By  these  methods,  without  ever  having  dis 
covered  anything,  and  always  claiming  everything, 
by  much  loud  talking  and  a  display  of  stolen  knowl 
edge — for  the  hints  obtained  from  the  papers  of 
the  Grosch  brothers,  never  before  well  understood, 
now  enabled  him  to  discourse  with  a  show  of 
learning — Comstock  caused  people  to  talk  about  the 
Comstock  lode.  Many  located  claims  upon  it.  The 
ore  was  sent  to  California  to  be  assayed,  and  with 
the  astonishing  returns  came  hordes  of  new  adven- 

17  Assays  from  the  top  of  this  mine  (the  Ophir)  yielded  $1,595  in  gold  and 
$4,791  silver.  S.  F.  Alta,  Nov.  16,  1859;  N.  Pac.  fieview,  i.  149-51;  Blake's 
Review,  in  Min.  Mag.,  1860,  221-5. 

^HitteWs  Hand-Book  of  Mining,  184.  In  WeWs  Boole  of  Deeds,  MS.,  it 
is  said  that  the  public  meeting  mentioned  in  the  previous  chapter  was  called 
by  Comstock  and  associates  the  day  after  their  discovery,  and  before  it  was 
made  known,  in  order  to  induce  the  miners  to  pass  laws  and  regulations 
which  would  enable  them  to  hold  quartz  claims.  This  is  an  error,  as  it  was 
not  known  to  be  a  quartz  claim  until  about  the  17th,  and  the  meeting  was 
held  ou  the  llth. 


CLAIMS  LOCATED.  103 

turers,  who  quickly  converted  the  quiet  haunts  of 
western  Utah  into  roaring  mining  camps.  Such  is 
fame.19 

Penrod,  Comstock,  &  Co.,  this  being  the  name  of 
the  firm  in  Book  A  of  the  mining  records  of  Virginia 
City,  called  their  mine  the  Ophir,  and  it  was  the  first 
claim  recorded  on  this  lode,  but  it  was  not  the  first 
recorded  in  western  Utah.  On  the  22d  of  February 
Fennimore  located  a  claim  on  a  large  vein  lying  west 
of  the  Comstock,  which  came  to  be  called  the  Virginia 
lead,  after  the  nickname  of  the  claimant. 

Among  the  " notices"  recorded  at  Virginia  City 
appears  one  of  a  location  made  May  12,  1859,  by  A. 
Curry,  J.  E.  Clark,  H.  F.  Clark,  and  C.  W.  Curry, 
but  on  what  vein  is  not  stated,  though  it  could  not 
have  been  the  Comstock  at  that  date.28 

Other  mines,  both  placer  and  quartz,  had  been  dis 
covered  in  different  parts  of  what  is  now  Nevada, 
previous  to  any  locations  in  Carson  valley.  As  early 
as  1849  an  hnmigrant  named  Hardin,  while  hunting 
with  two  other  men,  discovered  silver  in  the  Black 
Rock  range,  in  the  Humboldt  country,  one  and  a 
half  miles  from  Hardin ville.21  In  1857  quartz  mines 

19  There  are  many  who  speak  of  Old  Virginia  as  the  discoverer  of  the 
Comstock,  hut  without  shadow  of  truth.     It  appears  prohable  that  his  claim 
on  another  large  lead,  ahove  mentioned,  gave  rise  to  the  belief.     It  was  at 
one  time  thought  by  some  to  be  the  mother  lode  of  the  range,  as  the  Com 
stock  appeared  to  dip  toward  it.     The  purchasers  of  Fennimore's  claim  began 
a  suit  against  the  Ophir  company,  asserting  that  they  were  on  the  lead  located 
by   Fennimore.     The   Ophir   company  finally  paid  $60,000  to  quiet   title. 

Writ/fa's  Big  Bonanza,  53^4.  This  was  probably  the  '  monster  vein  '  of  the 
Grosch  brothers.  Accounts,  varying  according  to  recollection  or  prejudice, 
abound  of  the  discovery  of  silver  in  Nevada.  Instance  Harpers  Mag. ,  June, 
1877,  72;  Browne's  Min.  Resources,  27-36,  87-8;  Knoxs  Underground,  94-101. 
Alining  Rev.,  1876,  11-12;  Sec,  Int.  Kept,  i.  261-6,  44th  cong.  1st  sess.;  Nev. 
Sen.  Jour.,  1866,  app.  7,  19-20;  Reeses  Mormon  Station,  MS.,  3;  Jennings 
Carson  Valley,  MS.,  3-4;  dark's  Statement,  MS.,  12;  Min.  Mag.,  1860,  i.  35; 
Barbers  Western  States,  490;  Gazlays  Pac.  Monthly,  34-40;  Western  Monthly, 
236-41;  Boise  News,  March  5,  1864. 

20  Leaves  from  an  old  Book  of  Comstock  Locations,  in   Virginia  City  Evening 
Chronicle.,   Aug.  30,  1878;  Gold  Hill  Eoe.   News,  Apr.    10,  1880.     This  early 
record  shows  evidences  of  altered  dates  in  more  than  this  instance. 

21  Hardin  brought  specimens  to  Cal. ;  but  the  Indians  being  troublesome, 
nothing  could  be  done  until  1858,  when  he  revisited  that  region  with  Albert 
E.  Jamison  and  others.     They  failed  to  find  the  spot,  and  on  the  following 
year  he  repeated  the  search  with  like  result.     In  1860  several  hundred  pros 
pectors  were  looking  for  the  lost  mine,  but  their  search  was  interrupted  by 


104  THE   COMSTOCK   LODE. 

were  discovered  in  the  Keese  river  country,  eighteen 
miles  from  Kingston  springs,  on  the  road  to  Salt 
Lake.  A  San  Francisco  company  purchased  the 
Armagosa  mine,  and  sending  out  an  expensive  mill, 
soon  sunk  themselves  in  debt.  The  mill  remained  for 
some  months  with  a  guard  of  a  few  men,  when  down 
upon  it  swooped  a  band  of  Piutes,  and  both  guard 
and  mill  were  destroyed,  which  ended  Keese  river 
mining  for  the  time. 

The  Potosi  silver  mines,  situated  eighteen  miles 
from  Las  Vegas,  in  the  extreme  southern  part  of 
western  Utah,  were  discovered  by  the  Mormons 
about  the  time  the  Keese  river  mines  were  found. 
Believing  them  to  be  lead,  Brigham  Young  sent  a 
party  of*  miners  to  work  in  them,  in  anticipation  of 
the  "war  with  the  United  States  troops,  but  the 
product  proved  too  hard  for  bullets,  and  the  mines 
were  abandoned." 

About  the  same  time  the  silver  mines  of  the  dis 
trict  lying  at  the  head  of  Walker  river,  in  what  was 
later  Mono  county,  California,  but  which  was  then 
claimed  as  a  part  of  western  Utah,  were  beginning 
to  attract  attention,  and  in  1859  were  well  known. 
Rich  diggings  were  also  reported  in  the  Truckee  val 
ley.  But  the  principal  interest  centred  in  the  so- 
called  Washoe  mines,  another  misnomer,  not  so 
easily  accounted  for  as  the  first,  since  there  were  no 
mines  in  the  Washoe  valley,23  whose  name  was  applied 

Indian  hostilities.  Late  in  1865,  however,  Jamison  discovered  rich4  prospects, 
and  in  1866  Hardinville  was  settled.  S.  F.  AUa,  March  1802,  and  Sept.  6, 
1866.  Mining  in  Humboldt  county  became  profitable  about  1869. 

M  Afterward  $20,000  was  expended  on  these  mines  by  Capt.  Allen,  who 
derived  no  benefit  from  it,  though  the  wealth  of  the  mine  was  unquestioned. 
Assays  made  by  the  '  camel '  boundary  line  expedition  showed  $35  per  ton  in 
silver.  The  want  of  railroad  transportation  was  the  chief  drawback.  See 
Sullirnans  Eept  on  Potosi. 

23 '  The  name  of  Washoe  mines  has  been  derived  from  "Washoe  valley, 
which  is  some  25  miles  distant  [actual  distance  12  miles],  and  in  no  way  con 
nected  with  the  mines.'  B.  O.,  in  S.  F.  Bulletin,  Oct.  11,  1859.  In  the  Nevada, 
(Cal.)  Democrat  is  the  following,  furnished  by  Foster,  expressman  between 
Nevada  City  and  Carson  valley:  'Collins  &  Co.,  immigrants,  located  a  ledge 
about  the  1st  of  October,  4  miles  from  Washoe  lake,  which  assayed  $940  per 
ton  in  gold.  Subsequently  a  number  of  locations  were  made  in  the  valley, 
and  raining  districts  organized;  but  there  is  nothing  in  this  to  account  for  the 


EARLY  DEVELOPMENT.  105 

to  the  system  of  mines  on  the  great  silver  lode,  and 
all  the  region  thereabout,  until  the  name  became  as 
widely  known  as  Cornstock's. 

The  discovery  of -diggings  yielding  several  hundred 
dollars  a  day  caused  from  the  first  a  fever  of  excite 
ment,  the  existence  of  a  valuable  lode  beneath  being 
to  most  persons  a  matter  of  doubt  and  of  secondary 
importance.  Locations  of  quartz  were  made,  because 
it  could  do  no  harm,  so  long  as  the  same  results  were 
obtained  on  the  surface.  Miners  from  California 
hastened  over  the  mountains  to  secure  claims.  Soon 
the  whole  country  was  covered  with  prospectors.  By 
the  time  the  ore  had  been  further  assayed  by  com 
petent  mineralogists,  and  pronounced  to  be  richer  in 
silver  than  in  gold,  all  the  ground  on  the  Comstock 
had  been  taken  up  for  the  gold  known  to  be  present. 

The  Ophir  company  proceeded  at  once  to  make  a 
practical  test,  and  in  order  to  be  able  to  do  so,  ad 
mitted  a  sixth  partner,  J.  A.  Osburn,  who  with  J.  D. 
Winters  agreed  to  construct  two  arastras  worth  $75 
each,  and  furnish  the  horses  or  mules  to  propel  them, 
the  proceeds  of  the  mine  on  working  to  be  equally 
divided  between  the  six  owners,  any  member  of  the 
company  to  have  the  preference  should  one  or  more 
desire  to  sell.  In  a  few  months  not  one  of  the  orig 
inal  owners  of  this  pioneer  bonanza  24  firm  owned  any 
thing  on  the  Comstock,  while  more  than  a  hundred 
others  had  claims  there.25 

Among  the  first,  if  not  quite  the  first  Californians 
to  arrive  at  the  new  mines  were  James  Walsh  and 

lesser  giving  its  name  to  the  greater.  In  some  of  the  earlier  Mormon  records 
it  is  written  Wassaw. 

24  The  Spanish  word  Ixmanza,  signifying  prosperity,  fair  weather  at  sea, 
good  fortune  in  mining,  was  introduced  by  the  Mexicans,  and  here  applied 
to  the  large  finds. 

"^Browns  Min.  Resources,  88-9.  The  names  of  locators  up  to  Sept.  1, 
1859,  according  to  the  record,  are  as  follows:  Thomas  Winters,  James  Webber, 
John  S.  Butler,  G.  F.  Rogers,  John  Bishop,  M.  L.  Powell,  F.  Leary,  W.  P. 
Morrison,  P.  T.  Heally,  H.  Johnson,  H.  B.  Camp,  A.  G.  Hamack,  A.  White, 
Joseph  Curly,  W.  Henderson,  James  Finney,  John  Berry,  L.  C.  Savage,  A. 
O.  Savage,  W.  Sturtevant,  C.  Chase,  R.  Crall,  B.  Abernather,  L.  S.  Bowers, 
John  Murphy,  James  Lee.  James  Buchanan,  Abe  Field,  A.  Cower,  Ephraim 
G.  Scott,  W.  W.  Capen,  F.  McNeil,  Gecrge  C.  Rosenbaker,  John  Carter,  A. 


106  THE   COMSTOCK    LOLE. 

Joseph  Woodworth  of  Grass  Valley.  Walsh  had 
procured  an  assay  of  a  piece  of  the  ore  from  the 
Ophir  early  in  July,  and  immediately  started  with 
Woodworth  to  inspect  it.  The  result  of  the  exam 
ination  was  that  on  the  12th  ,of  August  Walsh  offered 
and  Comstock  accepted  $11,000  for  his  one-sixth  in 
terest  in  the  Ophir  mine,  which  was  exclusive  of  the 
100  fuet  owned  by  Penrod  and  Comstock  in  the  midst 
of  the  claim.26  The  transfer  from  Comstock  conveyed 
also  "one  undivided  half  of  200  feet  of  mining  ground 
being  worked  by  the  California  company  at  the  pres 
ent  time  under  an  agreement  made  wTith  me,"  besides 
certain  claims  in  Six-mile  canon  known  as  the  Cald- 
well  claims,  one  half  of  the  spring  before  mentioned,27 
and  "  also  my  recorded  title  to  a  ranch,  on  which  the 
aforesaid  village  of  Ophir  is  located."  :  In  Septem 
ber  McLaughlin  sold  his  interest  in  the  company's 

Bell,  S.  P.  Randall,  M.  Guinness,  S.  Stogie,  G.  A.  McBride,  J.  McConnell, 
T.  A.  Reid,  L.  S.  Pickering,  H.  Bacon,  E.  T.  Martin,  A.  R.  Jenkins,  S.  S. 
Penry,  J.  S.  Crenshaw,  Charles  Whitehead,  David  Ebaugh,  Ellen  Cowan, 
Benjamin  Gaboon,  J.  E.  Squire,  Edwin  C.  Morse,  M.  Benham,  N.  Pearrnan, 
W.  Ross,  D.  R.  Loyd,  Hiram  Eckert,  P.  C.  Van  Horn,  Alexander  Gilmore, 
John  Lowe,  Joseph  H.  Gardiner,  A.  B.  Cole,  Robert  Johnson,  S.  M.  Beard, 
William  Justice,  I.  W.  Hastings,  G.  W.  Heperly,  A.  D.  Allen,  William 
Pratt,  John  Havens,  A.  Thornton,  John  Correr,  W.  B.  Boyden,  A.  Lovewell, 
E.  Scott,  Melville  Atwood,  A.  Delano,  W.  K.  Spencer,  A.  H.  Walsh,  Richard 
Tibbals,  Joseph  Woodworth,  A.  E.  Head,  W.  P.  Morrison,  M.  S.  Powers, 
W.  W.  Caperton,  Joseph  Webb,  A.  Richard,  R.  Wilkins,  W.  Gill,  I.  1.  Col- 
lin,  G.  Wilson,  Nicholas  Mellon,  D.  H.  Rule,  Fred  Miller,  G.  W.  Aurgin, 
Edward  Connor,  T.  J.  Atchison,  H.  Jacobs,  D.  F.  McNeil,  E.  Belcher,  John 
Blackburn,  Geo.  Stead,  Thomas  Stead,  Arthur  E.  McHugh,  John  Braclim, 
S.  P.  Lord,  John  Vignot,  Stephen  Wood,  John  Black,  D.  E.  Rice,  J.  W. 
Rice,  I.  W.  Rice,  I.  Green,  L.  Green,  Ed  R.  Bucklin,  T.  P.  Mallone,  Nelson 
Brobrant,  Michael  Daley,  Michael  Cloona,  G.  S.  Fisher,  G.  H.  Ingersoll,  G. 
Kenny,  E.  Payne,  F.  Eaton.  John  Becker,  M.  B.  Thompson,  D.  S.  Blanding, 
Cook,  G.  A.  Whitney,  J.  Spitzer,  James  Corey,  William  Vaughn.  The  list 
is  not  complete,  owing  to  the  wear  to  which  the  book  of  record  has  been 
subjected,  having  rendered  some  names  undecipherable. 

26  In  October  Walsh  and  Woodworth  shipped  12,000  pounds  of  ore,  and 
the  Central  Mining  Company  3, 000 pounds.     About  150  persons  arrived  from 
Downieville  during  the  last  week  of  the  month.  S.  F.  Alta,  Oct.  31,  1859. 

27  In  the  contract  it  is  said  that  the  three  owners  of  the  mine  were  only 
entitled  to  use  the  water  so  long  as  they  continue   to   own   in  the   mine. 
Wright's  Big  Bonanza,  73. 

28  Whether  this  claim  of  Comstock's  to  1GO  acres  of  land  on  which  Vir 
ginia  City  was  erected,  with   the  water  supply,  was  bona  fide  is  open  to 
doubt.     In  a  communication  written  for  the  public  press  a  short  time  before 
his  death,  and  when  his  mind  wandered,  he  asserted  that  he  used  to  raise  all 
his  potatoes  and  vegetables  on  it,  hiring  Indians  to  do  the  work.     In  the  same 
letter  to  the  public  he  states  that  Riley  and  McLaughlin  were  working  for 


TRANSFERS  OF  CLAIMS.  107 

mine  for  $3,500  ;  Osbtirn  sold  for  $7,000  ;  O'Kiley, 
who  was  the  last  to  sell,  received  $40,000— all  being 
well  satisfied  with  the  prices  obtained.  California 
miners  knew  nothing  about  silver-mining,  expected 
their  claims  to  be  worked  out  in  a  few  months,  and 
were  pleased  to  part  with  them  for  a  few  thousand 
dollars.  In  November  Penrod  sold  his  share  in  the 
100  feet  segregated  to  Gabriel  Maldonado,  a  Mexi 
can,  for  $3,000.29  He  had  already  sold  his  interest  in 
the  company  mine  for  $5,500  to  prevent  being,  in 
mining  phrase,  "  frozen  out,"  by  the  threatened  erec 
tion  of  a  costly  mill,  and  the  consequent  assessments. 
The  clai.m  in  which  Maldonado  had  purchased  a 
half-interest  was  called  the  Mexican.  John  H.  Atch- 
ison  also  obtained  a  share  equal  to  one-eighth  3a  in 

him  when  Ophir  was  discovered,  and  that  he  gave  the  other  members  of  the 
company  their  claims;  also,  that  he  located  the  Savage  and  Gould  and  Curry, 
and  owned  the  Hale  and  Norcross  and  the  principal  part  of  Gold  Hill,  giving 
claims  to  Sandy  Bowers,  William  Knight,  and  Joe  Plato.  He  entertained 
the  idea  of  bringing  suit  to  recover  all  these  properties,  of  which  he  imagined 
himself  deprived.  That  he  did  set  up  a  claim  to  the  ground  on  which  Vir- 

ginia  is  located  at  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  O'Riley  and  McLaughlin, 
asing  his  right  upon  the  fact  of  having  paid  a  Mexican  something  for  the 
spring  claim,  seems  to  be  corroborated  by  other  circumstances,  and  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  disputed;  but  all  his  right  to  the  land  was  conveyed  to 
Walsh.  There  is  no  record  in  existence  showing  Comstock's  claim,  and  at 
the  best  he  could  have  had  only  a  squatter's  title. 

29  It  is  interesting  to  follow  the  subsequent  histories  of  these  sports  of  for 
tune.     Comstock  engaged  in  merchandising  in  Carson  City.     He  had  married 
fie  wife  of  a  Mormon  in  regular  orthodox  fashion  before  a  gentile  preacher  in 
Washoe  valley.     But  she  ran  away  from  him,  as  she  had  from  her  first  hus 
band;  and  after  many  ineffectual  attempts  to  bind  her  to  him  indissolubly,  he 
allowed  her  to  go  her  way.     He  soon  failed  in  his  mercantile  venture,  and 
finally  ended  his  life,    as   I  have   said,    in    Montana    by    suicide.     O'Riley 
received  a  considerable  fortune  foi1  his  interest,  and  erected  a  stone  hotel  in 
Virginia  City  with  a  portion  of  it.     He  then  indulged  in  stock-gambling,  and 
soon  was  forced  to  resort  to  pick  and  pan  for  a  living.     Like  most  illiterate 
persons  who  have  lost  money,  he  became  extremely  superstitious,  and  finally 
insane,  dying  in  a  private  asylum  at  Woodbridge,  Cal.,  about  1874.     Mc 
Laughlin  soon  spent  the  little  he  received,  and  in  1875  was  engaged  as  cook 
at  the  Green  mine  in  San  Bernardino  co.,  Cal.     Penrod  also  soon  became  a 
poor  man,  living  at  Elko,  Xev.     Osburn  went  east;  and  Winters  to  Cal., 
where  he  was  no  better  off  than  the  others. 

30  Penrod  says  that  while  the  original  company  still  held  the  Ophir,  a 
threat  was  made  to  change  the  mining  regulations,  and  reduce  the  width  of 
a  claim  to  200  feet.     Under  this  apprehension  the  company  each  selected  a 
man  to  whom  was  deeded  fifty  feet  off  the  north  end  of  Ophir,  thus  voluntarily 
limiting  their  ground  to  1,200  feet.     This  300  feet  was  afterward  called  the 
Atchison.     Some  of  the  ground  was  recovered  subsequently.     The  mining 
law  was  changed  in  the  Virginia  district  September  14,  1859,  the  first  article 
reading,  'All  quartz  claims  hereafter  located  shall  be  200  feet  on  the  lead, 


108  THE  COMSTOCK  LODE. 

this  mine.31  Buying  and  selling  were  of  daily  occur 
rence.  Before  the  "end  of  the  year  there  were  four 
thousand  people  in  Carson  and  the  adjacent  small 
villages,  where  in  June  there  were  hardly  so  many 
hundreds.  A  town  sprang  up  about  the  Ophir  mine, 
which,  as  I  have  just  shown,  was  first  called  after  the 
mine.  It  was  afterward  named  Silver  City  by  Corn- 
stock,  but  by  a  drunken  whim  of  Fennimore's  became, 
in  October,  Virginia  Town,  after  himself.32  A  month 
later,  at  which  time  it  had  eight  stone  houses,  it  was 
proposed  to  call  the  place  Winnemucca,  after  the 
Piute  chieftain  of  that  name ;  but  the  idea  being  un 
popular,  Virginia  City  was  finally  adopted. 

The  importance  of  the  new  town  was  at  once  per 
ceived,33  and  it  was  spoken  of  with  respect  as  "the 
most  important  town  in  the  newly  discovered  dig 
gings,"  even  at  this  time.  It  was  described  as  situ 
ated  in  a  ''kind  of  mountain  amphitheatre  leading 
down  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  into 
Carson  valley,"  distant  fifteen  miles  from  Carson 
City,  six  from  Steamboat  springs,  and  162  from  Sac 
ramento.  A  hundred  miners  were  at  work,  and 
quartz  was  being  broken  in  fifteen  arrastras.  There 
was  no  hotel,  and  only  one  restaurant,  where  half  a 
dozen  persons  at  a  time  could  be  supplied  with  poor 
meals  at  seventy-five  cents.  Travellers  found  lodg 
ings  by  spreading  their  blankets  on  the  east  flank  of 

including  all  its  dips  and  angles. '  But  this  regulation  did  not  affect  titles 
already  acquired  to  300  feet.  HitteW",  Hand-Boole  of  Mining,  199. 

31  It  was  from  this  part  of  the  original  ground   that  the  first  ore  was 
taken.    Virginia  Union  in  Mer.  Gazette  and  Price  Current,  Nov.  17,  1865. 

32  Wright,  in  his  Big  Bonanza,   28.  59,  84,  quotes   Comstock's   account: 
'  Old  Virginia  and  the  other  boys  got  on  a  drunk  one  night  there,  and  Old 
Virginia  fell  down  and  broke  his  bottle,  and  when  he  got  up  he  said  he  bap 
tized  that  ground— hence  Virginia  City.'     Fennimore,  who  is  much  paraded 
by  all  the  historians  of  Nevada,  without  any  discoverable  reason,  unless  a 
fondness  for  whiskey  may  be  accounted  a  distinguished  as  well  as  distinguish 
ing  trait,  was  killed  at  Dayton  in  July  1861,  being  thrown  from  his  horse 
while  intoxicated,  and  suffering  a  fracture  of  the  skull. 

33  0.  H.  Pierson  laid  off  the  town  in  lots  some  time  in  July.  Comstock 
offering  him  the  land  on  which  at  that  time  John  L.  Blackburn  and  one  other 
man  had  spread  their  tents;  but  Ormsby  of  Carson  City,  for  whom  Pierson 
had  been  a  clerk  in  1849  at  Sacramento,  offered  him  a  corner  lot  in  his  town, 
and  thither  he  went.  Carson  Tribune,  Aug.  1870, 


GOLD  AND  SILVER.  109 

Sun  peak,  or  Pleasant  hill,  as  it  was  not  infrequently 
called.  The  country  being  treeless  in  the  immediate 
vicinity,  and  the  one  or  two  saw-mills  at  a  considera 
ble  distance,  lumber  was  worth  $50  per  1,000  feet, 
and  wa"s  scarce  at  any  price,  being  more  valuable  for 
mining  purposes  than  for  houses.  These  facts  did  not 
deter  people  from  hurrying  to  the  new  diggings,  and 
during  the  severe  winter  which  followed  many  lived 
in  excavations  in  the  earth. 

At  Gold  Hill,  which  was  nature's  dump  of  tailings 
from  the  Comstock  lode,  was  less  excitement,  but 
equal  industry,  and  eight  or  ten  arrastras  were  grind 
ing  up  quartz  for  the  gold  it  contained,  without  refer 
ence  to  the  silver.  In  truth,  the  Californians  wished 
to  conceal  the  actual  value  of  the  ores  until  they  could 
buy  at  a  low  price.3*  A  few  mule-loads  were  sent  to 

34 1  find  in  the  Virginia  City  Union  of  Oct.  14,  1863,  the  following  account 
of  the  Gold  Hill  mines  and  their  first  owners:  '  Late  in  the  fall  of  1858  [it 
was  really  in  January  1859]  four  men,  named  James  Finney,  alias  Virginia, 
John  Bishop,  alias  Big  French  John,  Aleck  Henderson,  and  Jack  Yount,  were 
prospecting  in  the  vicinity  of  the  place  where  Gold  Hill  is  now  situated.  .  . 
As  they  were  passing  along  the  ridge  immediately  east  of  the  canon  in  which 
the  town  of  Gold  Hill  is  now  located,  Virginia  pointed  to  the  large  mound, 
now  known  as  Gold  Hill,  and  remarked  to  his  comrades,  '  Boys,  I  believe 
there  are  some  good  diggings  over  there.  In  a  few  days  we  will  go  over  and 
try  it. '  They  returned,  .  .  .  and  in  a  few  days  went  to  the  mound  pointed 
out  by  Virginia,  as  agreed  upon.  .  .  .  Virginia  in  hunting  around  over  the 
mound,  discovered  a  hole  which  had  been  made  by  a  gopher.  From  this 
they  tock  out  a  considerable  quantity  of  gold  and  carried  it  down  to  Crown 
Point  ravine.  .  .  .  All  there  immediately  thought  that  they  had  at  last 
found  the  long  looked  for  El  Dorado,  .  .  .  and  the  bleak  mountains  which 
surrounded  them  echoed  and  reechoed  their  wild  shouts  of  delight.  They 
immediately  staked  out  4  claims  of  50  feet  each  ind  divided  them  among 
each  other,  giving  Virginia,  as  the  discover,  the  first  choice.  A  few  days 
afterward  5  other  men,  named  James  Rogers,  Joseph  Plato,  Sandy  Bowers, 
Henry  Comstock,  and  William  Knight,  who  had  been  prospecting  in  and 
about  Spanish  ravine,  came  down  to  the  newly  discovered  diggings  and 
staked  out  another  claim  of  50  feet,  being  10  feet  to  each. 

'Of  these  4  discoverers,  not  one  owns  a  foot  of  ground  on  Gold  Hill,  and 
of  the  second  locators,  only  one  and  the  heirs  of  another  now  own  an  interest. 
Virginia  first  gave  John  Vignot,  alias  Little  French  John,  9  feet  in  consider 
ation  of  his  having  attended  him  during  a  spell  of  sickness.  This  9  feet  is 
now  incorporated  in  the  Logan  and  Holmes  claim.  He  then  sold  21  feet  to 
Dugan  &  Co.  for  $50  per  foot.  Of  this,  10J  feet  now  compose  the  Coover  and 
Stevenson  claim,  and  10|  feet  the  Lindauer  and  Hirschman  claim.  The  re 
maining  20  feet  he  sold  to  L.  E.  and  J.  W.  Rice.  Of  this,  6|  feet  is  now  in 
corporated  in  the  Logan  and  Holmes  claim.  The  remaining  13§  feet  is  still 
known  as  the  Rice  claim.  John  Bishop  sold  his  claim  to  Logan  and  Holmes 
for  SoO  per  foot.  Jack  Yount  sold  30  feet  to  J.  D.  Winters,  and  20  feet  to 
Henderson  and  Butler.  Aleck  Henderson  retained  an  interest  until  last 
year,  in  partnership  with  his  brother  W.  Henderson,  when  he  sold  out  and 
returned  to  the  states. 


110  THE  COMSTOCK  LODE. 

California  to  be  tested,  in  the  autumn  of  1859,  and 
the  owners  suspecting  something  unfair  in  the  returns, 
the  following  spring  put  up  a  quantity  of  ore  in  sacks, 
reserving  every  alternate  sack  for  assay  by  experienced 
Mexican  miners,  and  found  that  the  ore  tested  in 
California  yielded  but  about  half  as  much  as  that 
assayed  by  the  Mexicans.35  A  San  Francisco  firm36 

'  Of  the  5  later  locators,  Rogers  sold  his  10  feet  to  Mrs  Cowan  (now  Mrs 
Sandy  Bowers)  for  $100  per  foot.  This,  with  the  10  feet  which  Sandy  Bowers 
owned,  and  still  retains,  form  what  is  now  known  as  the  Bowers  claim.  Coin- 
stock  sold  to  one  Frink.  This  10  feet  is  now  known  as  the  Harold  &  Co. 
claim.  Knight's  interest  was  sold,  and  also  passed  to  Harold  &  Co.  These 
2  interest  are  now  incorporated  in  the  claim  of  the  Empire  Mill  and  Mining 
company.  Plato  died,  but  his  wife  inherited  and  still  owns  the  10  feet  which 
he  located.  Finney,  alias  Virginia,  Plato,  and  Rogers  are  now  dead,  the 
latter  having  committed  suicide  a  few  months  since.  Bishop  still  lives  about 
Virginia  .  .  .  Comstock,  immortalized  by  the  famous  lead  in  this  district 
which  bears  his  name,  is  now  in  the  northern  mines.  Sandy  Bowers  and  wife 
reside  in  Washoe  county.' 

3j  The  process  of  testing  consisted  in  beating  the  rock  to  a  powder  in  a 
mortar,  or  grinding  it  fine  on  a  large  flat  stone  with  a  lesser  stone.  The 
pulverized  ore  was  placed  in  a  small  canoe-shaped  vessel,  made  of  a  split  ox- 
horn,  and  carefully  washed  out,  much  in  the  same  manner  in  which  auriferous 
gravel  was  worked  in  a  pan.  The  gold  would  be  found  lying  in  a  yellow 
streak  at  the  bottom  of  the  horn.  This  was  a  very  simple  process,  and  any 
miner  could  prospect  his  discovery  of  gold  rock  to  decide  whether  it  would 
pay  to  work  it  in  a  mill.  In  testing  for  silver,  acids  were  used.  The  quartz 
was  pulverized  as  in  the  first  instance,  and  the  lighter  matter  washed  out  in 
the  horn.  The  residuum  was  then  washed  from  the  horn  into  a  mattrass  (a 
flash  of  annealed  glass  with  a  narrow  neck  and  broad  bottom).  Nitric  acid 
was  then  poured  in  until  the  matter  to  be  tested  was  covered,  when  the  flask 
was  suspended  over  a  lamp  and  evaporated  by  boiling  until  the  fumes  es 
caping  changed  from  red  to  white.  After  cooling,  the  liquid  contents  of  the 
flask  were  poured  off  into  a  vial  of  clear,  thin  glass,  called  a  test-tube.  A 
few  drops  of  a  strong  solution  of  common  salt  were  then  poured  into  the 
vial.  If  the  ore  contained  silver,  the.  liquid  in  the  tube  would  take  on  a 
milky  hue  where  the  salt  first  came  in  contact  with  it,  changing  gradually 
toward  the  bottom.  If  much  silver  was  present,  the  milky  matter  formed 
little  ropes,  which  sank  to  the  bottom  of  the  vial.  Muriatic  acid  was  some 
times  used  in  place  of  salt,  to  produce  the  formation  of  chloride  of  silver. 
To  dispel  all  doubts,  the  prospector  held  the  test-tube  in  the  strong  light  of 
the  sun  for  a  short  time,  when  the  chloride  would  assume  a  rich  purple  hue. 
To  reduce  the  chloride  to  a  metallic  state,  it  was  dried  and  placed  in  a  small 
excavation  scooped  out  in  a  piece  of  charcoal,  and  the  flame  of  a  candle 
blown  upon  it  until  it  was  melted,  when  a  button  of  pure  silver  would  be 
formed. 

Chloride  ores  of  silver  could  not  be  tested  by  this  process,  being  already  a 
chloride,  but  had  to  be  smelted  in  a  crucible.  Lead  ore  treated  with  nitric 
acid,  as  in  testing  silver,  produced  a  chloride  somewhat  resembling  silver, 
but  more  granular  in  appearance.  It  did  not  turn  purple  in  the  sunlight, 
and  it  dissolved  in  20  times  its  bulk  in  water,  whereas  the  chloride  of  silver 
did  not  dissolve  in  any  amount  of  water.  If  copper  was  present,  a  piece  of 
bright  iron  wire  or  the  blade  of  a  penknife  dipped  in  the  solution  would  show 
a  coating  of  it. 

36  Donald  Davison  &  Co,   Territorial  Enterprise  (Genoa),  Oct.  1,  1859. 


MILLS   AND  REDUCTION.  Ill 

purchased  200  tons  of  ore,  at  $200  a  ton,  to  be  sent 
to  England  for  practical  testing.  The  first  arrastra 
put  in  operation  was  at  the  Ophir  mine.  Others 
quickly  followed  at  the  Mexican  and  other  claims, 
which  were  operated  by  horse-power.  Woodworth 
and  Hastings  erected  two  arrastras  at  Dayton,  to  be 
run  by  water-power  from  the  Carson  river.  The 
next  advance  in  milling  in  1859  was  a  horse-power, 
four-stamp  battery,  erected  at  Dayton  by  Logan  and 
Holmes.  This  was  followed  in  August  1860  by  two 
steam  quartz  mills,  erected  by  E.  B.  Harris  and  Al- 
marin  B.  Paul,  both  of  which  started  running  on  the 
llth  in  close  competition,  Harris'  mill  blowing  the 
first  whistle.37  The  introduction  of  mills,  by  saving 
the  cost  of  freight  to  California,  where  the  ores  were 
being  sent  to  be  crushed,  was  an  important  step  in 
advance.  At  first  the  process  called  dry  crushing  was 
practised,  which  was  found  unprofitable,  one  Howland 
battery  of  nine  stamps  crushing  only  a  ton  in  twenty- 
four  hours.  In  October  the  Pioneer  mill  adopted  the 
wet  process,  and  was  soon  followed  by  the  others.  By 
this  method  ten  times  the  work  was  done,  and  a  larger 
amount  of  gold  saved.  The  cost  of  crushing  and 
working  the  ore  was  about  $6  a  ton,  while  the  mills 
charged  $100,  falling  to  $75,  and  afterward  to  $50 
per  ton.  The  retorted  bullion  was  worth  from  $10  to 

37 S.  F.  Alia,  Aug.  7,  1863.  There  was  but  a  few  minutes  difference  in 
the  time  of  starting  up.  C.  W.  Coover  was  associated  with  Harris.  Their 
raill  was  built  on  the  east  side  of  the  road,  nearly  opposite  the  present  Levi 
athan  hoisting  works,  the  site  being  one  formerly  located  by  Overman  for 
arrastras.  The  mill  consisted  of  one  of  Rowland's  9-stamp  portable  rotary 
batteries,  the  engine  and  boilers  being  from  Gross  &  Lambert's,  Sacramento, 
and  hauled  over  the  mountains  by  ox -teams,  at  4  and  5  cents  a  pound,  taking 
18  days  to  the  passage.  On  the  13th  of  August  this  mill  began  on  custom- 
work,  running  continually  on  ore  from  the  Bowers  and  Gould  and  Curry 
claims  until  October,  when  it  was  stopped  to  make  the  change  from  the  dry 
to  the  wet  process.  Paul's  first  mill  was  erected  at  Devil's  Gate,  5  miles 
from  Virginia  City,  and  if  we  are  to  believe  the  S.  F.  Bulletin  of  Aug.  loth, 
was  in  operation  before  Harris'.  He  built  another,  the  3d  in  the  territory, 
consisting  of  8  Howland  batteries  (72  stamps),  below  lower  Gold  Hill.  The 
4th  mill  was  by  the  Ophir  company;  and  the  5th  by  Staples  at  Gold  Hill;  the 
6th  by  \V.  S.  Hobart  at  Gold  Hill;  the  7th  by  the  Nevada  company,  in  Six- 
mile  canon.  Wood  being  required  to  run  steam-mills,  what  there  was  in  the 
vicinity  brought  a  continually  increasing  price  from  $4.50  to  §15  pe*-  cord. 


112  THE  COMSTOCK  LODE. 

$14  an  ounce,  and  even  at  this  low  rate  theComstock 
mines  yielded  $1,800  and  $2,000  per  ton  in  gold. 

As  soon  as  it  was  settled  in  the  public  mind  that 
the  mines  in  Virginia  and  Gold  Hill  districts  were 
upon  the  same  lead,  it  became  of  importance  to  know 
the  extent  and  dip  of  the  great  vein.  There  was,  as 
might  have  been  expected,  a  conflict  of  opinion.  Some 
placed  their  faith  upon  the  Flowery  district,  east  of 
Virginia  City  about  five  miles.  In  this  district  were 
the  Rodgers,  Morning  Star,  Mammoth,  Desert,  Nary 
Red,  Lady  Bryan,  Marco  Polo,  and  Cedar  companies. 
It  was  asserted  with  much  confidence  that  this  dis 
trict  excelled  the  Virginia  district.  The  mines  of  the 
Devil's  Gate  district,  south  of  Gold  Hill,  were  said  to 
be  the  next  best  in  the  territory. 

All  the  work  done  which  could  serve  as  an  indica 
tion  of  the  actual  value  of  the  mines  was  being  done 
in  two  or  three  mines  of  the  Virginia  district,  namely, 
the  Ophir,  Mexican,  and  Californian.  The  Mexican 
was  being  worked  after  the  method  pursued  in  the 
mines  of  Mexico.  A  shaft  was  sunk,  about  fourteen 
by  eight  feet  in  size,  which  came  to  the  vein  ten  or 
fifteen  feet  from  the  surface.  From  this  point  the 
inclination  of  the  vein  was  sufficient  to  allow  of  rude 
steps  being  cut  on  the  lower  side  of  the  shaft,  up 
which  clambered  the  Mexican  miners,  carrying  on 
their  backs,  suspended  by  straps  round  their  foreheads, 
ox-hide  baskets  filled  with  ore.  In  this  primitive 
way,  with  little  expense,  they  brought  up  from  the 
bottom  of  the  shaft  a  richly  paying  quantity  of  ore. 
Forty  or  fifty  feet  below  the  surface  drifts  were  run, 
and  from  the  drifts  other  shafts  were  lowered.  This 
system  left  standing  pillars  of  ore,  which  supported 
the  mine,  and  obviated  the  necessity  for  expensiva 
timbering.  A  tunnel  was,  however,  run  in  at  a  depth 
of  eighty  feet,  and  when  the  miners  had  reached  that 
depth,  and  a  greater  depth,  the  tunnel  was  utilized 
for  a  roadway  to  bring  out  the  ore  in  loaded  cars,  an 
approach  to  American  methods  of  mining. 


MILLS  AND  MACHINERY.  113 

The  Ophir  company  employed  steam  hoisting  and 
pumping  machinery  in  1860,  driven  by  a  fifteen  horse 
power  donkey-engine.  It  was  worked  by  an  inclined 
shaft  following  the  dip  of  the  vein,  up  which  the  ore- 
car  was  hoisted.  In  December  1860  the  Ophir  com 
pany  had  reached  a  depth  of  180  feet,  using  the  post 
and  cap  supports  common  in  California  mines,  and 
found  the  ore  body  to  be  of  the  unexampled  breadth 
of  forty-five  feet.  They  had  not  followed  the  Mexi 
can  plan  of  leaving  pillars  of  the  rock  to  support  the 
weight  of  the  superincumbent  earth.  Timbers  of  suf 
ficient  length  and  strength  to  prevent  the  sinking  in 
of  the  roof  of  the  mine  over  so  wide  a  space  could  not 
be  obtained,  even  if  they  would  have  had  the  required 
imperishability  to  make  them  safe.38  This  difficulty, 
encountered  in  the  heart  of  the  bonanza,  became  of 
the  most  serious  import,  and  the  company  sought  the 
aid  of  the  engineering  genius  of  Philip  Deidesheimer, 
a  German  miner  of  scientific  attainments 

Deidesheimer  was  equal  to  the  occasion,  inventing 
in  three  weeks  of  study  and  observation  a  system  of 
timbering  without  which  the  Comstock  mines  would 
have  remained  sealed  below  a  certain  depth.  The 
plan  was  simply  that  of  timbers  framed  together  in 
square  sets,  forming  cribs  of  from  four  by  six  feet  in 
size,  which  could  be  piled  one  upon  the  other  to  any 
required  height,  and  which  could  be  made  to  conform 
to  any  circumstances  of  lateral  as  well  as  downward 
pressure.  These  cribs,  filled  with  waste  rock,  could 
be  made  enduring  pillars  reaching  to  the  roof  of  the 
deepest  mine.  Here  at  once,  in  the  beginning  of  its 

38  On  the  morning  of  the  15th  of  July,  1863,  half  of  the  Mexican  mine, 
from  the  surface  to  a  depth  of  225  feet,  caved  in.  It  carried  the  ponderous 
mass  of  rock,  earth,  and  timbers  over  into  the  Ophir,  demolishing  50  feet  of 
the  4th  gallery,  and  portions  of  the  2d  and  3d  galleries.  The  main  shaft 
of  the  Mexican  was  closed  up,  and  a  part  of  the  mill  undermined.  Not 
a  life  was  lost,  all  the  men  in  the  mine  barely  escaping.  Lord's  Comstock  Min 
ing  and  Miners  in  Kinf/'s  Survey,  217.  On  the  5th  of  March,  1865,  a  great 
cave  rent  open  Gold  Hill,  filling  the  upper  levels  of  the  Empire,  Imperial, 
and  Eclipse  mines.  Many  accidents  of  this  nature  happened,  and  made  re 
course  to  cribbing  imperative.  Gold  Hill  News,  May  31,  1869,  Jan.  3,  4,  June 
29,  31,  1870. 

HIST.  NEV.    8 


114 


THE  COMSTOCK  LODE. 


mining  history,  the  Comstock  lode  received  exactly 
the  service  needed  for  its  complete  development.  Nor 
was  it  the  fertile  American  brain  which  achieved  the 
triumph  over  an  obstacle  that  threatened  to  be  insur 
mountable,  but  the  sturdier  German  intellect.39  Other 
suggestions  of  Deidesheimer's  were  afterward  adopted, 
with  great  profit,  regarding  the  kind  of  machinery  to 
be  used. 


PLAN  OF  CRIBBING. 

39  Deidesheimer's  device  was  particularly  adapted  to  the  extraction  of  the 
ore  bodies  of  the  Comstock,  and  would  have  obviated  the  difficulty  encoun 
tered  in  the  early  development  had  it  been  applied.  Wright  describes  the 
former  method  as  follows:  '  The  only  supports  used  in  the  mines  were  round 
logs  cut  on  the  surrounding  hills.  These  logs  were  from  16  to  35  feet  in 
length;  when  of  the  latter  length,  they  were  manufactured,  that  is,  were 
made  of  two  logs  spliced  and  held  together  by  means  of  iron  bolts  and  bands. 
Owing  to  the  stunted  character  of  the  pines  and  cedars  found  in  the  neighbor 
hood,  it  was  almost  impossible  to  procure  a  log  more  than  20  feet  in  length. 
After  setting  up  two  of  these  logs,  a  log  18  feet  long  was  placed  upon  them  as 
a  cap.  These  posts  and  caps  were  placed  as  close  together  as  they  could  be 
made  to  stand,  but  they  would  not  hold  up  the  ground  when  it  began  to 
slack  and  swell  from  exposure  to  the  air.  Besides  this  difficulty,  there  was 
no  safe  way  of  working  either  above  or  below  these  sets  in  the  vein.  To  take 
out  ore,  either  under  or  over  the  timbers,  loosened  them  and  caiised  a  disas- 


TIMBERING.  115 

The  discovery  of  the  new  method  was  made  none 
too  soon,  for  at  the  level  next  below  the  one  hundred 
and  eighty- foot,  or  third  gallery,  the  ore  body  had 
widened  out  to  sixty-six  feet.  Locators  not  in  the 
bonanza  mines  were  watching  with  much  anxiety  the 
dip  of  the  Com  stock,  hoping  to  secure  claims  on 
the  lode  where  it  should  make  its  appearance  beyond 
the  limits  of  known  locations.  For  a  time  it  seemed 
to  dip  toward  the  west,  and  to  run  beneath  Mount 
Davidson,  on  the  eastern  slope  of  which  the  croppings 
plainly  appeared.  Locations  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Virginia  range  were  then  eagerly  sought  after;  but 
when  the  depth  of  300  feet  had  been  reached  in  the 
Ophir  mine,  the  lead  was  found  to  have  been  bent 
and  deflected  from  its  true  course  by  the  pressure 
from  above,  and  that  its  true  dip  was  toward  the  east, 
and  away  from  Mount  Davidson.  This  discovery 
gave  a  new  interest  to  the  Flowery  district. 

Mills  for  crushing  ore  rapidly  having  been  intro 
duced,  the  question  of  entering  upon  silver-mining 

trous  cave.  Many  accidents  happened,  and  many  men  lost  their  lives  while 
this  method  of  timbering  was  practised,  but  no  lives  have  ever  been  lost  in 
timbering  by  the  square-set,  or  Deidesheimer  plan.  In  the  mines  at  Gold 
Hill  was  where  the  timbers  35  feet  in  length  were  used,  and  there  was  where 
the  greatest  number  of  accidents  happened;  but  in  the  Ophir  mine  timbers 
16  feet  long  had  been  used.... In  1861  the  new  style  of  timbering  was 
adopted  along  the  whole  line  of  the  Comstock,  and  has  been  in  use  ever  since. 
The  Ophir  was  probably  the  first  mine  in  any  part  of  the  world  where  such  a 
system  of  timbering  became  a  necessity,  as  no  ore  body  of  snch  great  width 
had  ever  before  been  found.'  Bit/  Bonanza,  135.  See  also  Lord's  Con  stock 
Alining  and  Miners,  one  of  an  interesting  group  of  monographs  belonging  to 
thr  report  of  the  U.  S.  geog.  sur.,  of  which  Clarence  King  was  director,  the 
expenses  being  paid  and  the  books  published  by  government. 

Philip  Deidesheimer  was  born  in  Germany  in  1832,  and  came  to  California 
via  Cape  Horn  in  1851,  where  he  remained  until  1860.  In  Nov.  of  that 
year  Mr  W.  F.  Babcock,  agent  of  the  P.  M.  S.  S.  Co.  and  leading  director 
of  the  Ophir  mining  company  of  Nevada,  sent  for  Mr  Deidesheimer,  who  was 
then  mining  in  El  Dorado  county,  to  ask  him  to  propose  a  plan  for  working 
the  Comstock  mines,  for  unless  some  way  of  supporting  the  ground  was  dis 
covered  they  could  not  be  worked,  on  account  of  the  width  of  the  vein,  60 
feet,  and  the  softness  of  the  earth.  In  his  earnestness  to  assist  Mr  Babcock, 
Mr  Deidesheimer  took  no  thought  of  himself,  or  he  would  have  patented  hu 
invention.  This  he  did  not  do,  and  all  the  mines  seized  upon  it  as  quickly 
as  it  became  known.  It  would  seem  that  some  reward  should  voluntarily 
have  followed,  though  none  did.  He  was  made  superintendent  of  the  Opliir, 
and  earned  his  salary  as  mining  engineer  the  same  as  another,  and  the  mine 
owners  became  rich  through  his  invention. 


116  THE  COMSTOCK  LODE. 

proper  was  the  next  consideration.  Ophir,  Mexican, 
and  other  Virginia  ores  of  sufficient  value,  after  assort- 
ino",  to  be  sent  to  England  for  reduction  had  been 
sent,  and  the  remainder,  as  second  and  third  class  ores, 
were  allowed  to  accumulate.  At  Gold  Hill  they  had 
not  yet  worked  through  the  gold  to  the  silver  ore, 
when  experimenting  with  the  latter  began  at  Vir 
ginia.  It  was  a  difficult  problem  for  the  unlearned 
and  inexperienced  American  miner  and  mill  superin 
tendent.  The  man  of  science  might  have  found  many 
baffling  peculiarities  about  the  silver  ores  of  western 
Utah ;  therefore  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  merely 
practical  man,  without  experience,  encountered  many 
discouragements.  The  surprise  is  that  they  so  readily 
conquered  them/8  During  the  experimental  period 
millions  of  dollars  went  to  waste  in  the  "tailings,"  or 
pulverized  ore,  which  ran  away  from  the  mills  after 
passing  through  the  pans  and  other  apparatus  used  in 
amalgamating  silver  by  the  wet  process.  They  were 
swept  into  the  Carson  river  through  the  canons  in 
which  the  mills  were  situated,  and  deposited  finally 
in  the  sink  of  the  Carson,  where  they  lie  embedded. 
Only  the  Mexicans  knew  the  value  of  these  tailings, 

40  Says  Wright,  in  his  Bonanza,  139,  '  The  amalgamating  pans  in  the  mills 
surpassed  the  caldron  of  Macbeth  a  witches  in  the  variety  and  villainousness 
of  their  contents. . .  .They  poured  into  their  pans  all  manner  of  acids;  dumped 
in  potash,  borax,  saltpetre,  alum,  and  all  else  that  could  be  found  in  the  drug 
stores,  then  went  to  the  hills  and  started  in  on  the  vegetable  kingdom. 
They  peeled  bark  off  the  cedar-trees,  boiled  it  down  until  they  had  obtained 
a  strong  tea,  and  then  poured  it  into  the  pans  where  it  would  have  an  oppor 
tunity  of  attacking  the  silver  stubbornly  remaining  in  the  rocky  parts  of  the 
ore ....  A  genius  in  charge  of  a  mill  conceived  the  idea  of  making  a  tea  of  this, 
(sage-brush  or  artemesia)  and  putting  it  into  his  pans.  Soon  the  wonders  of 
the  saje-brush  process,  as  it  was  called,  were  being  heralded  through  the  land. 
The  superintendent  of  every  mill  had  his  secret  process  of  working  the  silver 
ore .  . .  Process  peddlers,  with  little  vials  of  chemicals  in  their  vest  pockets, 
went  from  mill  to  mill  to  show  what  they  could  do,  provided  they  received 
from  $5,000  to  $20,000  for  their  secret. '  HitteWs  Hand-Book  of  Miniwj,  pub 
lished  in  !!$(>],  mentions  without  describing  the  Bagley  and  Veatch  processes, 
and  says  that  the  Ophir  company  used  the  former,  and  the  Central  company 
the  latter.  The  Ophir  company  finally  paid  $10,000  and  a  royalty  for  the 
Veatch  process.  The  '  sulphuret  puzzle '  is  discussed  in  the  S.  F.  Herald, 
March  22,  1869;  8.  F.  Times,  June  23,  1867.  Reduction  methods  continued 
to  be  discussed  and  changed  for  several  years.  The  chlorinizing  process 
received  much  attention  about  1871.  Gold  Hill  News,  Sept.  3  and  Oct.  28, 
1871;  Carson  Appeal,  June  18,  1869. 


PROCESSES.  117 

of1  attempted  to  save  them,  a  few  of  them  securing 
several  thousand  dollars  each  by  the  patio  process/1 
at  a  small  expense.  But  afterward  pieces  of  amalgam 
were  frequently  found  in  crevices  of  the  rocks  over 
which  the  tailings  had  flowed,  large  enough  when 
melted  to  make  rings  or  buttons.  It  was  only  after  a 
long  time  that  any  systematic  methods  were  adopted 
by  mill-owners  to  save  the  gold  and  silver  in  tailings.4' 

The  California  company,  which  was  located  next 
south  of  the  Ophir,  was  the  first  to  run  a  tunnel  in 
upon  the  ore  deposit,  which  it  did  in  1859-60,  having 
to  timber  it,  on  account  of  the  slacking  of  the  earth. 

All  the  other  mines  at  first  opened  downward  from 
the  top  simply  by  a  well  or  shaft,  which  collected  the 
water  in  the  earth,  and  required  pumping  machinery 
long  before  its  depth  should  have  rendered  pumping 
necessary.  This  machinery  as  well  as  the  earlier 
mills  soon  had  to  give  way  to  that  which,  if  more  ex 
pensive,  was  also  much  more  effective.  Engines  of 
fifteen  horse-power  were  replaced  by  those  of  eighty 

41  The  patio  process,  as  practised  in  this  small  way,  consisted  in  placing 
the  tailings  on  an  inclined  table,  and  carefully  pouring  water  over  them  with 
a  small  dipper,  beginning  at  the  top  and  working  down.  At  the  bottom 
would  be  found,  washed  down,  some  pounds  of  sulphuret  of  silver,  and  parti 
cles  of  amalgam  and  quicksilver.  This  they  placed  in  a  patio,  or  amalga 
mating  yard  closely  paved  with  granite,  or  sometimes  having  a  well  packed, 
hard  clay  bed,  and  when  several  hundred  pounds  had  been  saved,  sulphate 
of  copper,  salt,  and  quicksilver,  in  the  proper  proportions,  were  added  to  the 
mass,  and  the  whole  mixed  together  into  a  kind  of  mortar,  and  left  in  aheap 
to  sweat  and  digest.  This  operation,  several  times  repeated,  the  mass  being 
mixed  by  the  trampling  of  horses  or  mules,  completed  the  amalgamation, 
when  the  silver  could  be  washed  out  with  a  rocker.  See  Farayre  Ejcplor. 
Mineral,  15-18.  There  is  an  account  of  the  discovery  of  a  natural  amalgam 
of  gold,  silver,  and  quicksilver,  in  S.  F.  Call  of  May  4,  181)5,  quoted  from 
Vin/inia  Union,  said  to  be  worth  $10,000  per  ton;  also  in  Sac.  Union,  May  4, 
1865. 

4*The  wonderful  divisibility  of  the  precious  metals  and  of  quicksilver 
has  been  shown  by  placing  a  copper  bowl,  coated  with  quicksilver,  where  the 
water  from  the  flume  of  a  quartz  mill  should  fall  into  it,  and  also  some  copper 
riffles,  coated  in  the  same  way,  in  the  flume  itself.  Although  the  water  had 
a  perfectly  clear  appearance,  at  the  end  of  3  months,  from  the  bowl  and  the 
rifles,  $100  in  amalgam  was  obtained.  The  water  came  from  the  Carson  river, 
and  was  conducted  for  a  considerable  distance  through  a  wooden  flume,  in 
which,  on  repairing  it,  was  found  amalgam  adhering  to  the  nail-heads,  which 
must  in  the  first  place  have  received  a  coating  of  quicksilver,  and  all  came 
from  the  tailings  swept  into  the  river.  An  interesting  question  has  been 
raised  of  where  goes  the  734,400  pounds  of  quicksilver  once  annually  used  in 
the  Comstock  mills.  It  disappears,  and  the  millmen  say  that  'wherever 
quicksilver  is  lost,  silver  is  lost.'  See  Gold  Hill  News,  Aug.  9,  1871. 


118  THE   COMSTOCK   LODE. 

horse-power,  and  finally  by  those  of  five  hundred. 
The  question  of  water,  both  in  the  mines  and  out, 
was  one  that  has  led  to  some  mighty  engineering 
feats.  Silver-mining,  as  at  present  carried  on,  is  an 
achievement  of  scientific  and  engineering  skill  which 
was  not  dreamed  of  in  the  period  antedating  the  ad 
mission  of  Nevada  as  a  state.  What  it  has  to  do 
with  the  history  of  the  state  will  appear  hereafter.45 

43  As  a  contrast  to  the  small  beginnings  described  in  a  previous  note,  an 
account  of  the  Consolidated  Virginia  mill  is  inserted  in  this  place.  This 
mill  was  planned  by  James  G.  Fair  the  bonanza  manager.  It  stood  200 
feet  north-east  of  the  company's  main  shaft  and  hoisting-works.  The 
ground  inclined  toward  the  east,  allowing  of  a  convenient  descent,  and  was 
terraced  to  accommodate  the  several  departments.  First  came  the  battery 
room  with  ore  bin,  being  100  by  58  feet  in  size.  Adjoining  it  on  the 
east,  and  on  a  terrace  a  few  feet  lower,  was  the  amalgamatiiig-room,  120 
by  92  feet.  A  little  lower,  on  another  terrace,  was  the  room  containing 
the  settlers,  92  by  20  feet.  North  of  the  amalgamating  room  was  the 
engine  room,  92  by  58  feet.  The  whole  of  the  machinery  was  driven  by 
a  compound  coiidensiiig-eiigine  of  600  horse-power.  The  main  shaft  from 
this  engine  was  14  inches  in  diameter,  and  weighed  15,000  pounds.  A 
fly-wheel  on  this  shaft,  which  was  also  a  band-wheel  and  carried  a  large  belt 
by  which  the  batteries  were  driven,  was  18  feet  in  diameter,  and  weighed  16^ 
tons.  On  the  extreme  end  of  the  main  driving-shaft  was  coupled  a  shaft  11 
inches  in  diameter,  which  extended  into  the  amalgamating-room  and  drove 
the  pans  and  settlers,  and  all  the  machinery  not  connected  with  the  batteries. 
The  whole  weight  of  the  engine  was  fifty  tons,  and  it  stood  on  450  cubic  yards 
of  masonry  laid  in  cement,  weighing  600  tons.  There  were  4  pairs  of  boilers, 
each  of  which  was  54  inches  in  diameter,  and  which  could  be  used  separately 
or  in  connection  with  the  others.  A  portion  of  the  walls  were  of  stone,  and 
22  feet  high.  To  the  ridge-pole  of  the  roof  was  50  feet;  to  the  top  of  the  4 
smoke-stacks  90  feet.  In  the  engine  room  were  two  largo  steam  pumps  to  be 
used  in  feeding  boilers  or  in  extinguishing  fire.  The  mill  consumed  42  cords 
of  wood  per  day,  which  was  brought  to  the  mill  from  a  side  track  of  the  Vir 
ginia  and  Truckee  railroad,  on  trucks  holding  two  cords  each.  The  truck  was 
emptied  into  a  chute  which  carried  the  wood  into  the  boiler-room.  On  the 
the  west,  or  highest  side  of  the  mill,  higher  than  the  roof,  was  a  covered 
track,  278  feet  in  length,  leading  directly  to  the  main  shaft  of  the  hoisting- 
works.  When  the  loaded  cars  were  brought  up  on  the  cages  they  were  drawn 
in  trains  of  10  cars  along  the  track  to  the  chutes  which  led  down  from  the 
roof  of  the  mill  to  the  ore  bin  below.  The  track,  with  the  building  which 
inclosed  it,  rested  on  strong  trestle-work,  44  feet  above  the  ground  at  the 
highest  point.  A  car  load  of  ore  was  fed  to  the  batteries  every  5  minutes. 
It  fell  first  upon  an  iron  screen  through  which  the  fine  ore  passed;  that  which 
had  to  be  broken  was  dumped  near  the  crusher,  which  resembled  a  huge 
lemon-squeezer,  and  was  invented  by  Blake,  and  after  being  broken 
was  distributed  by  chutes  to  the  batteries  or  near  them.  There  were  8  of 
these,  with  10  stamps  each — 80  stamps  weighing  800  pounds  each — and  either 
could  be  worked,  started,  and  stopped  independently  of  the  rest.  From  the 
ore-bin,  machines  called  self-feeders,  invented  by  James  Tulloch  of  Cal.,  and 
operated  by  the  motion  of  the  stamps,  dropped  the  ore  into  the  batteries 
without  the  intervention  of  human  muscle. 

Here  began  the  process  of  extracting  the  silver.  The  pulp  which  ran 
from  the  batteries  was  conducted  to  the  settling-tanks  in  the  amalgamating- 
rooin  by  sluices.  When  it  was  settled  to  the  consistency  of  thick  mortar,  it 


HOW  IT  WAS  DONE.  119 

was  shovelled  out  upon  a  platform  extending  along  the  rows  of  amalgamating- 
pans,  2  rows,  16  pans  in  each,  each  pan  5^  feet  in  diameter,  and  holding  3,000 
pounds  of  pulp.  In  the  bottom  of  the  pans  were  cast-iron  plates,  called  dies, 
and  revolving  upon  these  other  iron  plates,  called  shoes.  These  pans  were 
the  invention  of  Henry  Brevoort  of  Sonora,  CaL,  who  improved  upon  the 
original  amalgamating  pan  designed  by  Israel  W.  Knox  of  S.  F.  The  pulp, 
to  which  some  water  was  added,  was  again  pulverized  between  these  plates 
by  revolving  the  upper  upon  the  lower,  steam  being  admitted  to  the  mass, 
which  was  tightly  covered,  during  the  grinding.  The  steam  was  substituted 
for  the  sweating  process,  which  requires  days,  where  the  steam  effected  the 
same  work  in  hours.  The  idea  was  originated  by  Seiim  E.  Woodworth  of  S. 
F.  After  2^  hours  of  heating  and  grinding,  300  pounds  of  quicksilver  were 
added  to  the  contents  of  each  pan,  there  being  added  besides  a  certain  amount 
of  salt  and  sulphate  of  copper,  and  sometimes  soda  and  other  chemicals, 
when  the  grinding  was  continued  for  2^  hours  longer.  It  will  be  perceived 
that  this  process  did  not  differ  from  the  patio  process,  except  in  the  superior 
ity  of  the  mechanical  arrangements,  which  were  equal  to  the  best  in  the 
world.  At  the  end  of  this  time  the  amalgamated  pulp  was  drawn  off  into  the 
settling-tanks,  from  which  it  passed  through  strainers  of  heavy  canvas  bags, 
when  the  earthly  matter  separated  from  the  metallic,  and  only  the  silver  and 
quicksilver  were  collected  in  the  bags,  where  the  mass  remained  until  the 
superfluous  quicksilver  drained  off.  When  no  more  passed  through  the  can 
vas  strainers,  the  amalgam  was  removed  to  another,  called  the  hydraulic 
strainer,  a  heavy  cast-iron  vessel,  shaped  like  a  mortar-gun.  Over  the  mouth 
of  this  vessel  was  fastened  a  strong  iron  cover,  through  which  passed  a  pipe, 
also  of  iron.  A  water  pipe  was  then  connected,  and  water  under  pressure 
amounting  to  150  pounds  to  the  square  inch  was  turned  on.  By  this  method 
much  more  quicksilver  was  removed  than  by  any  other,  but  there  was  still 
much  left.  An  iron  car,  which  ran  on  a  track  in  front  of  the  strainers,  now 
received  the  amalgam  and  carried  it  to  the  retort  house,  removed  from  the 
mill  a  short  distance.  This  was  a  brick  building  24  by  60  feet,  containing  6 
cast-iron  cylinder  retorts,  with  a  capacity  of  5  tons  of  amalgam  per  day, 
though  retorting  usually  only  half  that  amount.  The  amalgam  when  placed 
in  the  retorts,  had  a  dull,  gray,  muddy  appearance,  showing  neither  silver 
nor  quicksilver.  By  the  gradual  application  of  intense  heat  the  latter,  which 
really  constituted  f  of  the  whole,  was  finally  separated  from  the  silver.  The 
next  process  was  that  of  assaying.  The  assay  office  of  the  Consolidated  Vir 
ginia,  a  large,  fine  building  near  the  main  hoisting- works,  had  in  the  melting- 
room  6  furnaces,  with  melting-pots  made  of  graphite,  having  a  capacity  of 
300  pounds  of  silver  each,  but  seldom  containg  much  over  200  pounds.  Here 
the  silver  wa,rj  melted,  the  dross  being  skimmed  off  after  stirring.  When 
sufficiently  cleared  of  impurities,  it  was  poured  into  iron  moulds,  which  formed 
bars  weighing  something  over  100  pounds.  A  small  ladleful  of  the  molten 
metal,  taken  from  the  top  and  bottom  of  the  melting-pot,  was  thrown  into 
water,  where  it  assumed  various  shapes,  some  beautiful  in  form,  as  flowers  and 
leaves.  An  assay  was  made  of  these  first  and  last  granulations,  which  had 
to  agree,  or  the  melting  be  done  over.  The  assay  was  performed  by  wrap 
ping  a  gramme  of  the  silver  in  a  thin  sheet  of  pure  lead,  placing  the  package 
in  a  cupel  made  of  bone  ashes,  and  subjecting  it  to  the  heat  of  a  furnace. 
When  liquefied,  the  lead  and  all  other  base  metals  were  absorbed  by  the  cupel, 
leaving  a  button  of  fine  metal.  This  bit  of  bullion  was  then  hammered  into 
a  thin  sheet,  placed  in  a  flask  of  annealed  glass,  and  strong  nitric  acid  poured 
upon  it.  The  flask  was  placed  in  hot  sand  bath — an  inch  or  more  of  sand  on 
the  bottom  of  a  very  hot  oven — and  the  sheet  of  bullion  was  boiled  until  the 
silver  was  all  dissolved,  and  the  gold  in  the  form  of  a  powder  settled  to  the 
bottom  of  the  flask.  This  precipitation  was  placed  in  a  crucible  of  unglazed 
porcelain,  dried,  and  melted  in  a  furnace,  when  the  particles  united,  after 
which  it  was  carefully  weighed.  The  loss  of  weight  sustained  by  the  origi 
nal  button  represented  the  silver  which  it  had  contained.  The  bars  of  bul 
lion  being  weighed,  and  their  relative  proportion  of  gold  and  silver  ascer- 


120  THE  COMSTOCK  LODE. 

tained  from  the  assay  of  one  gramme,  their  value  was  marked  on  them  in 
degrees  of  fineness.  The  calculations  were  assisted  by  tables  of  values. 
When  silver,  for  instance,  is  900  fine,  it  is  worth  $1.16T3Q6o  per  ounce;  when 
gold  is  900  fine,  it  is  worth  $18. 60^.  Assay  of  ore  was  similar;  200  grains, 
finely  powdered,  were  melted  in  a  crucible 'with  proper  flux,  and  the  metal 
deposited  was  subjected  to  the  process  just  described,  from  which  the  value 
per  ton  was  calculated.  Many  ingenious  contrivances  for  saving  quicksilver 
were  in  operation  at  this  mine,  which,  although  interesting,  were  not  a  part 
of  silver  production,  which  is  here  briefly  described,  as  practised  after  fifteen 
years  of  progress.  The  cost  of  the  reduction  works  at  the  Consolidated 
Virginia  mine  was  $350,000.  Other  mines  may  have  had  less  expensive 
works,  but  the  methods  pursued  were  the  same  in  all.  An  interesting  chap 
ter  might  be  written  on  the  improvements  in  hoisting,  pumping,  and  other 
machinery,  full  descriptions  of  which,  with  diagrams,  are  contained  in  Clar 
ence  King's  report  on  Mininy  Industry,  an  elegant  quarto,  filled  with  instruc 
tive  and  entertaining  matter  concerning  the  Comstock  mines,  from  their 
discovery  down  to  1870, 


CHAPTER  VI. 

FURTHER  DEVELOPMENTS  ON  THE  COMSTOCK. 

1860-1888. 

SPECULATION  AND  LITIGATION — FIGHT  BETWEEN  THE  OPHIR  AND  BURNING 
Moscow — VIOLENT  FLUCTUATIONS  OF  SUPPOSED  VALUES — MINING  LAWS 
• — STATE  OF  SOCIETY — WILD  EXTRAVAGANCE — SAN  FRANCISCO  STOCK- 
BOARD — FORTUNES  MADE  AND  LOST — MINER'S  LIFE — ASSOCIATION  AND 
OBLIGATIONS — YIELDS  AND  DIVIDENDS — THE  BONANZA  FIRM,  MACKAY, 
FAIR,  FLOOD,  AND  O'BRIEN — MANIPULATIONS — THE  SUTRO  TUNNEL — 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  COMSTOCK  LODE. 

THE  first  result  of  the  opening  of  the  Comstock 
mines  was  wild  speculation,  and  the  second  almost 
endless  litigation.  Men  from  San  Francisco,  Sacra 
mento,  and  other  California  towns  hastened  to  get 
possession  of  all  the  ground  possible,  which  they  held 
at  extraordinary  prices.  Out  of  their  operations  grew 
a  mining  vocabulary  new  and  peculiar.  Bonanza, 
signifying  good  fortune,  became  not  inaptly  the 
sobriquet  of  the  discovery  mines  on  the  Comstock 
lode.  It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  almost  all  the  great 
discoveries  were  made  at  the  heart  of  the  region  dis 
covered,  and  not  on  the  outskirts ; 1  thus  Ophir  and 
Mexican,  and  the  mines  into  which  they  were  subdi 
vided,  being  more  productive  than  the  groups  farther 
south  which  participated  in  their  fame,  were  bonanza 
to  everything  on  the  lode.  Unproductive  mines  were 
in  borrasca,  or  a  squall,  signifying  bad  fortune.  As- 

1 1  find  after  making  this  observation  that  Wright,  in  his  Big  Bonanza, 
490,  remarks  that  the  Consolidated  Virginia,  to  which  he  applies  the  title  of 
Big  Bonanza,  was  found  '  near  where  the  first  silver  ore  was  turned  up  to 
the  light  of  day.' 

(121) 


122          FURTHER  DEVELOPMENTS  ON  THE  COMSTOCK. 

sessing  the  small  shareholders  of  a  mine  until  they 
were  forced  to  part  with  their  interests  was  a  "freez 
ing-out  "  process.  '  *  Kiting  "  a  mine  was  giving  it  a  fic 
titious  value  in  the  market.  These  latter  two  practices 
were  very  frequent,  even  as  early  as  April  1860,  and 
getting  rich  by  swapping  jackets  was  carried  on  with 
zeal  on  the  Virginia  bourse.  The  "bulls"  of  the 
mining  towns,  or  of  San  Francisco,  who  performed 
the  kiting,  sometimes  saw  their  favorite  mine  pulled 
down  by  the  "  bears,"  as  became  the  custom  after  the 
formation  of  a  stock  board.  During  the  winter  of 
1859  Ophir  was  selling  for  $1,000  and  $1,200  a  foot. 
In  April  following  it  was  offered  on  the  street  for 
$600  or  $700.  The  cause  of  the  decline  was  pros 
pective  litigation.  A  company  calling  themselves  the 
Lucky  company  of  the  Burning  Moscow  ledge,  but 
afterward  the  Burning  Moscow  company,  located  on 
ground  first  claimed  by  the  Ophir.2 

It  was  asserted  by  them  that  the  ledge  they  were 
on  was  entirely  distinct  from  the  Ophir,  was  twenty- 
three  feet  wide,  and  as  rich  as  the  Comstock.  The 
shares  were  eagerly  bought  up  at  from  $40  to  $275, 
according  to  the  market.  The  Madison  company  first 
sued  them  for  infringing  on  their  rights;  and  the 
Ophir  also  brought  suit  to  recover  possession  of  the 
ground  in  dispute.  To  establish  their  case,  cross  cuts 
were  made  by  the  Ophir  company  opening  into  the 
works  of  the  Burning  Moscow,  and  on  application  to 
Judge  Gordon  N.  Mott,  an  order  was  obtained  re 
straining  that  company  from  further  work  until  the 
arguments  in  the  application  for  a  permanent  injunc 
tion  had  been  decided  upon. 

The  question  involved  in  these  suits,  and  which 
divided  the  mining  community,  was  whether  there 
was  one  great  lode  or  many  smaller  ones.  Mott  was 
a  believer  in  the  one-lode  theory,  and  while  he  held 
the  office  of  judge  the  Ophir  was  triumphant,  and 
Burning  Moscow  shares  were  at  a  minimum.  There 

2  Virginia  Mining  District  Records,  Book  E,  101, 


LITIGATION.  123 

came  a  reversal  when  Mott  was  succeeded  in  office 
by  James  A.  North,  who  believed  in  divers  lodes,  and 
the  Burning  Moscow  shares  went  up  again,  while  the 
Ophir's  dropped. 

To  check  the  rise  of  their  enemy,  the  Ophir  made 
an  assault  on  the  Moscow's  works  October  23,  1863, 
and  skirmishing  underground  was  carried  on  for  sev 
eral  days;  until  Philip  Deidesheimer,  superintendent 
of  the  latter  mine,  procured  the  arrest  of  the  super 
intendent  of  the  Ophir,  with  eighteen  of  his  men,  for 
riotous  conduct.  The  prisoners  were  released  on 
bail,  but  their  wrath  was  not  in  the  least  cooled  by 
the  experience,  nor  by  a  temporary  injunction  restrain 
ing  them  from  wrorking  within  the  limits  fixed  by  the 
rival  company,  followed  by  the  dismissal  of  their  suit 
against  it,  which  brought  their  stock  down  from 
$1,750  to  $1,150. 

A  new  suit  was  begun  in  another  district,  and  soon 
after  a  discovery  of  exceedingly  rich  ore  in  the  north 
ern  end  of  the  Ophir  carried  the  stock  up  $500  a  foot. 
In  an  effort  to  possess  themselves  of  a  controlling  in 
terest  on  the  Comstock,  the  rivals  had  further  com 
plicated  their  affairs.  The  Ophir,  in  September,  1860, 
purchased  of  James  Fennimore  and  John  H.  Berry 
205  feet  of  their  location  on  the  Virginia  ledge  dis 
covered  by  Fennimore  in  1858,  this  being  named  in 
the  deed  as  their  "  entire  remaining  interest  in  the 
ledge."  It  was,  however,  over  a  hundred  feet  more 
than  they  possessed,  for  they  had  already  sold  all  but 
95  feet  9  inches  of  their  original  600  feet. 

By  the  Moscow  company  and  many  persons  it  was 
contended  that  the  Virginia  led^e  was  the  main  or 

O  O 

mother  lode,  of  which  the  Comstock  was  a  spur.  The 
Ophir,  instead  of  following  up  their  plan  of  buying 
out  possible  rivals  in  toto,  found  themselves  fore 
stalled  by  William  H.  Garrison,  who  secretly  bought 
up  all  the  other  interests  in  the  Virginia  ledge,  and 
notified  them,  in  October  1862,  that  he  was  prepared 

3  Storey  County  Records,  Book  D,  626. 


124  FURTHER  DEVELOPMENTS  OX  THE  COMSTOCK. 

to  contest  their  title  to  the  Coinstock.  This  threat 
occasioned  another  rapid  fall  in  the  Ophir  stock  from 
$3,000  to  $1,800  per  foot,  and  forced  the  company  to 
compromise  by  paying  $60,000  or  $100,000  for  Gar 
rison's  title,  which  was  obtained,  together  with  an 
other  claim,  described  as  located  by  Jacob  Whitbeck 
on  the  "  Virginia  lead  of  the  Virginia  company,"  in 
February  1862.4  Another,  or  middle  lead,  had  al 
ready  been  purchased  from  McCall  and  others  by  the 
Ophir  company,  which  now  had  possession  of  no  less 
than  four  so-called  ledges  within  a  distance  of  1,400 
feet. 

Four  others  were  alleged  to  exist  within  less  than 
half  that  distance,5  and  one  of  these  was  the  Moscow, 
which  was  being  harried  by  the  Madison  and  adjacent 
companies  in  much  the  same  manner  as  that  by  which 
the  owners  of  the  Middle  and  Virginia  ledges  had 
been  worried  into  compromise  purchases.  On  the  19th 
of  November,  1863,  the  Burning  Moscow  rid  itself  of 
its  minor  enemies  by  consolidating  with  them,  and 
uniting  the  strength  of  the  whole  against  the  Ophir. 
Its  capita]  stock  was  increased  from  less  than  half  a 
million  to  three  millions. 

As  I  have  said,  the  Ophir  company  began  a  new 
suit  in  October,  soon  after  which  they  struck  a  body 
of  rich  ore  in  their  mine.  The  consolidation  of  the 
Moscow  companies  immediately  followed,  and  a  suit 
for  the  ejectment  of  the  Ophir  was  begun.  The  legal 
conflict  was  continued,  the  best  talent  of  California 
and  Nevada  being  employed  on  this  and  other  mining 
suits  of  equal  importance  for  several  years,  during 
which  questions  of  law,  of  geology,  and  of  veracity 
were  about  equally  contested.  The  question  of  geol- 

4  Some  name  one  amount  and  some  another;  but  it  does  not  signify  in  this 
plane  whether  it  was  $60,000  or  $100,000.     The  Garrison  claim  was  merely 
speculative  from  the  outset.     Claims  were  purchased  that  never  existed,  sim 
ply  to  avoid  litigation,  which,  after  all,  could  not  be  avoided.     The  wealth 
of  the  Ophir  was  wasted  in  suits  at  law  as  well  as  in  other  ways. 

5  Ledge  of  La  Crosse  company,  located  December  9,   1859;  Geller  led^e 
(Harrison  company),  located  June  17,  1860,  ledge  of  Madison  Gold  and  Silver 
Mining  company,  located  July  3,  1862;  and  ledge  of  the  Burning  Moscow 
company. 


LITIGATION.  125 

ogy  was  of  all  the  most  perplexing,  because  it  could 
be  settled  by  nothing  but  actual  exploration  of  the 
ledges  in  dispute,  which  proceeded  slowly  as  the  dif 
ferent  companies  developed  in  a  partial  degree  their 
several  claims  ;  and  even  the  testimony  of  scientific 
experts  was  not  permitted  to  have  much  influence  on 
one  side  or  the  other. 

By  February  1864  it  be^an  to  appear  that  the 
Burning  Moscow  was  intrinsically  valueless  as  com 
pared  with  its  rival,  and  while  it  still  held  on  to  its 
pretensions,  the  stock  went  down  to  $12  a  foot,  to 
rise  again,  by  the  kiting  process,  to  $82  before  the 
end  of  October.  When  the  "new  vein"  which  had 
brought  it  up  was  assayed  it  receded  to  $20  ;  but  in 
November  skilful  management  gave  it  another  toss, 
wrhen  every  share  in  the  company  changed  hands 
three  times  during  the  month.  This  was  the  last 
"  deal "  of  the  Moscow  company,  and  was  made  pre 
paratory  to  the  trial  of  their  suit  for  ejectment,  which 
was  set  for  the  21st  of  June,  1865.  When  the  trial 
came  on,  which  lasted  for  two  weeks,  the  jury  disa 
greed,  and  a  new  trial  was  ordered  in  July,  which  re 
sulted  in  an  equal  division  of  the  jury  and  no  verdict. 

The  people  and  the  press  were  about  this  time 
weary  of  litigation,  which  retarded  the  prosperity  of 
the  mining  industry,6  while  the  companies  themselves 
were  compelled  to  stare  ruin  in  the  face.  The  stock 
of  the  Moscow  had  fallen  to  five  dollars  per  foot,  with 
few  buyers.  At  this  juncture  the  Ophir  cautiously 
bought  up  the  stock  of  its  enemy  until  it  secured 
nearly  3,000  shares,  which  gave  it  a  controlling  inter 
est.  But  they  found  themselves  confronted  with  an 
assessment  of  $15  a  foot,  which  they  hesitated  to  pay, 
when  the  board  of  directors  advertised  the  stock  for 
sale  upon  the  18th  of  October.  On  the  afternoon 
preceding  the  day  of  sale  the  stockholders  made  an 
application  to  have  the  shares  on  the  books  of  the 
Moscow  company,  which  had  its  office  in  San  Fran- 

6  Virginia  City  Territorial  Enterprise,  July  14,  1865, 


126  FURTHER  DEVELOPMENTS  ON  THE  COMSTOCK. 


cisco,  transferred  to  a  single  person,  but  the  secretary 
refused  to  permit  the  transfer  before  the  assessment 
was  paid.  The  holders  then  wished  to  restrain  the 
company  from  selling  their  stock,  and  applied  to  Judge 
Sawver  for  an  injunction  ;  but  no  injunction  could  be 
granted,  because,  by  ths  California  law,  this  was  a  day 
for  the  election  of  the  judiciary,  and  no  sheriff  could 
serve  the  writ.  The  sale  consequently  went  on,  and 
the  Moscow  company  bought  in  the  stock  at  a  low 
price,  there  being  few  bidders.  On  the  succeeding 
day  an  injunction  was  obtained  restraining  the  trans 
fer  of  the  stock  to  other  purchasers  until  the  courts 
should  determine  the  legality  of  the  assessment  sale 
under  the  circumstances. 

The  long  and  disheartening  contest  ended  a  few 
days  later  by  the  Ophir  surrendering  the  stock  of  the 
Moscow,  and  giving  besides  $7,500  in  money  for  the 
possession  of  that  part  of  the  Moscow  claim  which 
had  been  in  dispute,  and  which  was  of  no  value  except 
to  establish  a  boundary.  There  had  been  expended 
in  this  contest  $1,070,000,  and  it  was  only  one  of 
many  similar  ones  selected  as  an  example  because  it 
was  the  first  important  mining  suit,  and  involved  the 
first  discovered  silver  mine.7 

7  The  following  table  shows  the  drift  of  litigation  in  regard  to  the  leading 
mines: 


NAME  OF  MINE. 

Suits  tn  which 
Company  was 
Plaintiff. 

Suits  in  which 
Company  was 
Defendant. 

Total. 

Ophir  

28 

9 

37 

Yellow  Jacket  

24 

8 

32 

Savage           

22 

7 

29 

Gould  &  Curry             

20 

7 

27 

Overman  ....            

18 

5 

23 

Chollar  

7 

10 

17 

Potosi  

7 

8 

15 

Crown  Point 

12 

3 

15 

Bullion  

11 

4 

15 

Belcher     

9 

4 

13 

Sierra  Nevada  

8 

5 

13 

Hale  &  Norcross  

2 

7 

9 

168 

77 

245 

One  of  the  most  protracted  and  expensive  contests  was  that  between  the 


INEFFICIENCY  OF  MINING  LAWS.  127 

The  troubles  which  beset  quartz  mining  companies 
on  the  Comstock  came  from  the  looseness  and  ineffi 
ciency  of  the  mining  laws  prevailing  when  quartz  was 
discovered.  The  first  locations  were  taken  as  placer 
claiais  under  the  regulations  of  mining  districts  as 
they  had  been  in  California  in  early  mining  times,  and 
very  inadequately  described.  When  it  was  known 
that  the  richest  claims- were  on  top  of  a  ledge  they 
were  again  located  and  recorded  as  quartz,  the  locators 
claiming  all  the  "  dips,  spurs,  angles,  and  variations" 
of  their  discovery.  It  was  this  going  after  dips  and 
spurs  which  made  the  war  between  the  contestants. 
The  first  Nevada  legislature  passed  an  act  providing 
that  action  for  the  recovery  of  mining  claims  should 
not  be  maintained  unless  it  was  shown  that  the  plain 
tiff  or  his  assigns  had  been  in  possession  of  the  ground 
for  two  years  before  the  suit  was  brought,8  or  since 
1859,  when  the  Comstock  claims  were  taken,  the  in 
tention  of  the  act  being  to  confirm  those  titles.  But 
it  was  easy  to  evade  this  law  by  bringing  suit  in  Cali 
fornia,  where  most  of  the  corporations  had  been  or- 

'Chollar  and  Potosf  companies,  in  which  the  former  brought  suit  to  recover 

n  session  of  a  surface  claim  of  400  by  1,400  feet,  including  theComstock 
ge,  with  all  its  dips,  angles,  spurs,  etc.  Proceedings  were  begun  in  1861 
and  continued  til  1865.  After  §1,300,000  had  been  expended  the  suits  were 
setttled  by  a  compromise  uniting  the  2  companies  in  the  Chollar-Potosi. 
Another  famous  suit  was  that  brought  by  the  Grosch  Consolidated  against 
the  Gould  and  Curry  and  Ophir,  in  the  12th  dist.  court  of  Cal.  This  suit 
was  brought  by  persons  in  El  Dorado  county,  in  1863,  who  had  been  mem 
bers  of  the  companies  formed  hy  the  Grosch  brothers,  whose  unhappy  fate 
changed  so  materially  the  prospective  fortunes  of  these  companies.  These 
men  had  furnished  means  to  the  Grosches  during  their  explorations.  In  the 
spring  of  1860  they  formed  the  Washoe  Gold  and  Silver  Mining  company 
and  employed  an  agent  to  go  to  the  states  to  contract  with  the  father  of  the 
young  men  for  his  claim  as  heir,  and  the  claims  of  the  Western  Utah  Enter 
prise  company,  which  they  secured,  after  which  they  began  suit  as  above. 
&rtc.  Union,  Ang.  17,  1863.  The  actions  were  dismissed  at  the  cost  of  the 
plaintiff,  March  9,  1865.  8.  F.  Bulletin,  March  9,  1865.  This  suit  cost  the 
Gould  and  Curry  company  §12,993.30.  Mining  property  valued  at  £50,000,- 
000  was  in  litigation  in  1863.  It  was  estimated  by  S.  H.  Marlette,  sur.-gen. 
of  Nevada,  that  there  was  expended  in  lawsuits  during  1860-5,  $9,00,000,000, 
which  was  one  fifth  of  the  product  of  the  Comstock  lode.  Browne'*  Mm  Jtes, 
ed.  1867,  32.  William  M  Stewart,  who  received  annually  as  much  as  $200,- 
000  in  fees  as  the  principal  attorney  of  several  Comstock  companies,  esti 
mated  the  entire  cost  of  litigation  up  to  January  1866,  at  Si  0,000, 000.  Liti 
gation  did  not  cease  with  the  settlement  of  these  great  suits. 

*Nev,  Laws,  1861,  27.  This  law  was  amended  in  1869  by  changing  2  to  5 
years, 


128  FURTHER  DEVELOPMENTS  ON  THE  COMSTOCK. 

ganized,  and   where  most  of  the  mining   cases   were 
decided  or  compromised. 

Another  act  in  1862  required  transfers  of  mining 
property  to  be  conducted  with  all  the  formalities  of  a 
transfer  of  city  lots,9  and  made  it  impossible  to  trump 
up  a  story  of  a  sale  which  had  been  made  for  an  old 
blind  horse,  and  yet  involving  millions  in  gold  and 
silver.  Had  these  laws  existed  before  the  discovery 
of  the  Ccmstock  lode  the  history  of  silver  mining  in 
Nevada  would  have  been  different,  but  as  it  was,  the 
legislature  had  no  power  to  interfere  with  the  title  to 
mineral  lands,10  and  no  mining  laws  affecting  these 
titles  was  passed  by  congress  before  1866.  In  July 
of  that  year  congress  confirmed  the  titles  already  ac 
quired  under  district  laws,  and  permitted  the  owners 
to  take  out  patents  ;11  but  it  still  left  the  disposition 
of  the  mineral  lands  as  they  were  before,  subject  to 
the  rules  and  regulations  of  mining  districts,  it  being 
assumed  that  the  miners  knew  best  what  was  for 
their  own  good,  and  that  if  they  were  agreed  in  re 
gard  to  following  dips  and  spurs,  and  sustaining  law 
suits,  there  was  no  occasion  to  interfere.  A  subsequent 
act  made  some  amendments  to  the  first,  and  enabled 
the  legislature  to  regulate  the  recording  of  claims, 
together  with  other  minor  matters,  but  left  the  great 
cause  of  legal  warfare  where  it  had  been  from  the 
first.12 


The  first  period  of  quartz  mining  was  distinguished 
by  every  species  of  extravagance.  It  began  while 
yet  California  retained  in  a  great  measure  the  reck 
less  habits  of  its  first  decade.  Most  of  the  operators 
were  Californians.  Everything  cost  a  great  deal  in 
that  state,  and  to  its  first  cost  there  was  added  the 
expense  of  transporting  it  over  the  Sierra  Nevada  at 
a  heavy  expense.  The  richness  of  the  mines  encour- 

9  Nev.  Lmos,  J862,  12-13. 

**  Stewart*  Speech  on  Courts  in  Nevada,  1865,  10. 

11  U.  S.  Slat.,  iv.  221,  S;  F.  Alta,  April  14,  1865. 

12  U.  S.  Stat.,  xvii.  91, 


r  ^ 

V  K  Jj  ' 

STOCK  BOARD.  129 

Aged  prodigality.  While  money  was  being  so  freely 
spent  wages  were  high,  and  the  working  miner 
shared  in  the  general  prosperity.  But  in  1864  the 
tide  began  to  turn.  The  rich  deposits  near  the  top 
of  the  Comstock  mines  were  evidently  exhausted, 
while  the  cost  of  mining  increased  with  the  depth 
below  the  surface.  Millions  had  been  expended  in 
costly  works  and  costlier  litigation,  and  the  older 
companies  were  being  brought  face  to  face  with  the 
disagreeable  fact  that  they  had  seen  the  end  of  their 
bonanza.  While  endeavoring  to  dispose  of  their 
shares,  the  public  became  alarmed,  and  stocks  dropped 
until  "  feet  "  fell  from  thousands  to  hundreds,  from 
dollars  to  cents. 

On  the  1st  of  September,  1862,  was  organized  the 
San  Francisco  Stock  and  Exchange  Board,1*  the  first 
of  the  boards  of  this  kind  on  the  Pacific  coast.  It 
was  formed  by  thirty-seven  brokers,  who  sold  mining 
shares  on  commission,  and  issued  printed  certificates 
of  the  same,  which  were  transferable  without  the 
trouble  and  expense  of  a  deed.  Through  this  board 
mining  shares  were  bought  and  sold  over  and  over, 
the  shares  of  a  mine  equivalent  to  its  whole  stock 
sometimes  changing  hands  twice  a  week.  When 
stock  went  up  there  was  a  lively  time  in  the  board. 
Morning  and  afternoon  sessions  were  held,  and  the 
reports  of  sales  telegraphed  to  Virginia  City,  Gold 
Hill,  and  other  mining  centres,  as  fast  as  they  were 
made,  the  prices  ruling  being  marked  on  a  bulletin- 
board,  and  placed  in  the  windows  of  the  Nevada 
brokers  for  all  to  see.  In  times  of  excitement  dense 
crowds  were  always  to  be  seen  around  these  bulletin- 
boards  ;  and  in  San  Francisco  it  was  difficult  to  get 
within  a  block  of  the  exchange.  But  whether  the 
broker  bought  or  sold  for  his  customers  he  made  a 
fee  by  the  transaction ;  and  could  he  have  refrained 

l3Cal.  Annual  Mining  Rev.,  6-18.  The  California  Stock  Board  was  organ 
ized  in  January  1872.  The  Pacific  Stock-exchange  was  organized  in  April 
1875. 

HIST.  NEV.,    9 


130          FURTHER  DEVELOPMENTS  ON  THE  COMSTOCK. 

from  speculating  for  himself,  or  carrying  the  stock  of 
others  "  on  a  margin,"  might  have  reaped  a  harvest 
from  the  misfortunes  of  his  clients.  The  stock  ex 
change  in  1864  was  a  scene  of  melancholy  interest  to 
the  simple  observer,  and  of  painful  anxiety  to  the 
owner  of  mining  shares. 

The  working  miners  were  not  infrequently  owners 
of  some  stock ;  therefore,  when  it  fell  rapidly  in  the 
market  they  had  lost  as  much  of  their  wages  as  the 
shares  represented.  And  when  in  addition  to  this 
the  mine-owners  or  superintendents  set  about  re 
trenchment  by  cutting  down  their  pay,  they  became 
stubbornly  rebellious.  Deep  mining  is  severe  and 
dangerous  work  ;  and  four  dollars  a  day  had  not  been 
considered  too  much  for  the  labor.  Even  before  they 
were  asked  to  take  less  they  had  decided  not  to  do  it, 
by  organizing,  in  May  1863,  a  Miners'  Protective 
Association,  consisting  of  between  three  and  four 
hundred  members. 

A  sturdy  and  peculiar  class,  delving  in  the  dark 
and  sweltering14  bowels  of  the  earth,  as  naked  nearly 

14  The  temperatures  of  the  Comstock  mines,  as  tested  from  September  1878 
to  August  1881,  at  the  Forman  Combination  shaft  of  the  Overman,  Caledonia, 
Belcher,  Crown  Point,  and  Segregated  Belcher  companies,  were  as  follows: 


Depth. 

Temperature. 

Depth. 

Temperature. 

Feet. 

Degrees 

Feet. 

Degrees. 

100 

504 

1,200 

89i 

200 

55 

1,300 

91* 

300 

62 

1,400 

964 

400 

60 

1,500 

101 

500 

68 

1,600 

103 

600 

71* 

1,700 

1044 

700 

74| 

1,800 

1054 

800 

764 

1,900 

106 

900 

78 

2,000 

111 

1,000 

81i 

2,100 

1194 

1,100 

84 

In  some  mines,  and  some  parts  of  mines,  owing  to  defective  ventilation, 
and  sometimes  to  unascertained  causes,  the  heat  was  actually  insupportable, 
taken  in  conjunction  with  the  bad  air  in  the  mines  even  the  best  ventilated, 
and  men  not  infrequently  fell  dead  in  consequence.  In  the  900-feet  level  of 
the  Belcher  in  1866  the  men  could  work  but  a  few  minutes  at  a  time,  and 
sweat  tilled  their  loose  shoes  'until  it  ran  over  the  tops,'  while  in  the 


IN  .THE  DEPTHS.  131 

as  when  they  came  from  their  mother's  womb,  real 
izing  that  a  terrible  fate  might  at  any  unlooked-for 
moment  overtake  them,  yet  with  wives  and  children 
above  ground  depending  upon  them  for  support,  their 
circumstances  seemed  to  warrant  their  establishing  a 
minimum  price  for  their  labor.  In  March  1864  a  re 
duction  to  $3.50  a  day  was  made  by  the  superintend 
ent  of  the  Uncle  Sam.  But  the  miners  made  an 
example  of  him.10  Other  owners  began  to  cast  about 
for  cheaper  labor,  seeing  which,  on  the  last  day  of 
July  the  Miners'  Protective  Association  began  to  act. 
They  paraded  the  streets  of  Virginia  City  and  Gold 
Hill  shouting,  "  Four  dollars  a  day!"  in  intervals  of 
music  by  the  band  at  their  head.  Halting  in  front  of 
the  International  hotel,  they  called  upon  Frank  Til- 
ford  to  address  them,  which  he  did  in  a  flowery  and 
sympathetic  speech.  All  was  done  in  an  orderly 
manner,  and  the  crowd  dispersed  to  meet  again  the 
next  day  and  demand  of  the  several  mining  superin 
tendents  uniform  wages  at  $4  a  day.  The  mill-men 
not  being  prepared  to  resist  the  demand  made  the 
concession  without  an  exception,  and  a  week  later  was 

Julia  mine  the  water  was  scalding  hot.  Although  the  revolving  fans  which 
were  put  in  use  in  1868  modified  this  suffering  to  some  extent,  it  continued 
to  be  great.  Some  of  it  was  due  to  the  presence  of  the  hot  water  springs, 
which  were  in  time  pumped  dry,  when  the  temperature  was  lowered.  The 
thermometer  registered  130  °  and  140°  in  a  drift  in  the  Imperial  shaft  at  a 
depth  of  1,700  feet,  but  fell  to  100°  when  air-currents  were  established.  In 
spite  of  the  best  devices  for  cooling  the  mines — and  it  was  computed  by  John 
A.  Ciiurch  that  there  was  yearly  abstracted  from  the  rocks  as  much  heat  as 
would  be  produced  by  55,472  ton*  of  anthracite  coal — the  miners  could  only 
work  by  consuming  tons  of  ice  daily.  In  1877  a  hot  spring  was  uncovered  in 
the  Savage  mine,  and  the  vapor  from  water  at  a  temperature  of  157°  was  let 
into  the  incline.  Picks  could  only  be  handled  with  gloves,  and  cloths  wet  in 
ice-water  were  wrapped  around  drills.  Men  were  attacked  with  cramps  and 
lost  their  consciousness.  Thomas  Brown,  a  miner  in  the  Gould  and  Curry 
in  1878,  after  breathing  an  atmosphere  heated  to  128°  for  some  time,  fainted 
and  was  carried  to  the  surface,  but  did  not  recover  his  recollection  when 
aroused,  and  behaved  like  an  infant.  He  was  gradually  restored.  Water 
and  heat  troubled  the  miners  as  early  as  1871.  S.  F.  Examiner,  Jan.  26,  1871. 
Peculiar  diseases  caused  by  the  inhalation  of  poisonous  gases  also  troubled 
the  miners  at  an  early  period,  a  remedy  for  which  was  coal  tar  used  as  a 
disinfectant.  S.  F.  Herald,  Jan.  19,  1869. 

10  His  name  was  John  Trembath,  a  Cornishman.  He  was  taken,  bound, 
and  lashed  to  the  main  hoisting  cable,  with  a  label  fastened  to  him,  '  Dump 
this  pile  of  waste-dirt  from  Cornwall.'  He  was  hoisted  and  lowered  and 
hoisted  again,  and  finally  '  dumped,'  glad  to  be  freed  from  the  coils  in  which 
he  was  wound  up.  Virginia  City  Territorial  Enterprise,  May  31,  1863. 


132          FURTHER  DEVELOPMENTS  ON  THE  COMSTOCK. 

organized  the  Miners'  League  of  Storey  county,  by 
the  laws  of  which  each  member  was  required  to  pledge 
himself  not  to  work  in  Storey  county  for  less  than  $4 
a  day  in  coin.  Upon  information  that  any  member 
had  broken  his  pledge,  the  president  of  the  leage  was 
required  to  call  a  special  meeting  to  remonstrate  with 
the  offending  member ;  should  the  remonstrance  be 
disregarded,  then  the  president  must  "  call  out  the 
entire  forre  of  the  league." 

This  threat  did  not  deter  miners  who  were  not 
members  of  the  league  from  covertly  accepting  lower 
wages,  and  gradually  crowding  out  the  four-dollar 
men,  who  finally  withdrew  from  some  of  their  least 
tenable  positions,  and  the  league  was  finally  dissolved. 
But  the  mine-owners  had  never  been  able  to  estab 
lish  a  uniform  price  lower  than  $4,  while  the  miners 
formed  "unions"  to  maintain  that  rate,  in  which 
effort  they  were  never  defeated.16 

4 

During  the  first  four  years  of  working,  the  Ophir 
bonanza  yielded  fifteen  millions  in  gold  and  silver,  less 
than  a  million  and  half  being  paid  out  in  dividends.- 
During  the  same  time  other  mines  on  the  lode  to  the 
south  had  been  taking  out  their  millions,17  and  ex- 

16  There  were   3  miners'  unions,  one  at  Virginia  City,  one  at  Gold   Hill 
and  one  at  Silver  City,  the  object  of  which  was  the  keeping  up  of  wages  to 
the  standard  of  four  dollars  per  day  of  8  hours. 

17  Gould  and  Curry,  organized  in  I860,  owned  921  feet,  about  half  of  which 
was  productive.     The  rich  ore  in  this  mine  lay  within  400  feet  in  length,  500 
feet  in  height,  and  a  width  of  about  100  feet.     Total  amount  of  assessments 
to  Nov.    1875,  $1,640,000;  total, amount  of  dividends,   $3,826,800,    divided 
among  108,000  shares.     Savage,  the  next  mine  south  of  Gould  and  Curry, 
with  112,000  shares  in  800  feet,  assessed  $2,186,000,  and  paid  out  in  divi 
dends  $4,460,000,  in  the  same  time.     Hale  and  Norcross,  with  a  claim  cover 
ing  400  feet,  divided  into  16,000  shares,  began  operations  in  1861  or  1862. 
It  was  down  about  2,200  feet  in  1875.     The  assessments  levied  amounted  to 
$1,770,009,  and  the  dividends  to  $1,598,000.     Chollar-Potosf,  covering  1,400 
feet  on  the  Comstock,  was  divided  into  28,000  shares.     Its  assessments  pre 
vious  to  1876  were  $1,022,000,  and  its  dividends  $3,080,000.     Yellow  Jacket, 
with  957  feet  divided  into  24,000  shares,  assessed  the  holders  $2, 358, 000,  and 
paid  in  dividends,  $2,184,000,  in  the  same  period.     Crown  Point,  having  540 
feet  on  the  Comstock,  was  divided  into  100,000  shares.     It  assessed  $673,370, 
and  paid  $11,588,000  in  dividends.     This  mine  had  an  unusual  bonanza.     In 
1870  it  was  apparently  exhausted,  when  the  largest  ore-body  ever  found,  up 
to  that  time  on  "the  Comstock  lode  was   discovered.     In  2  years  it  yielded 
$9,944,783.57,  and  continued  to  yield  largely  for  several  years,     Belcher,  in- 


ANNUAL  PRODUCTION.  133 

pending  them  in  much  the  same  manner.  The  aggre 
gate  production  of  the  mines  on  the  Cornstock  during 
the  first  twelve  years  has  been  estimated  at  $145,100- 
000,  which  would  be  at  the  average  rate  of  about 
$12,100,000  annually,  though  the  production  varied 
after  1861  from  two  to  seventeen  millions.  In  1873 
the  production  suddenly  rose  to  more  than  double  the 
amount  ever  obtained  in  one  year,  or  to  $35,254,507, 
which  productiveness  was  increased  for  several  suc 
cessive  years.  The  immediate  cause  of  this  advance 
was  the  discovery  of  the  "great  bonanza,"  whose 
brief  and  brilliant  history  was  the  wonder  of  the 
world. 

There  was  a  group  of  mines  ]ying  south  of  the 
Ophir,  known  as  the  Central,  California,  Central  No. 
2,  Kinney,  White  and  Murphy,  and  the  Sides,  which 
covered  together  over  thirteen  hundred  feet.18  In  the 


eluding  Segregated  Belcher,  covered  1,040  feet  of  the  lode,  divided  into  104,000 
shares.  It  was  one  of  the  deep  mines,  being  dowu  1,900  feet.  Total  assess 
ment  in  1875,  8660,400;  dividends  815,085,200.  Overman,  adjoining  the 
Segregated  Belcher,  was  located  in  the  autumn  of  1859  by  John  Overman,  an 
immigrant  from  Indiana.  He  ran  a  tunnel  in  the  side  of  the  hill  for  a  pros 
pect,  and  sold  his  claim  for  85,000.  The  mine,  like  so  many  others,  was  in 
litigation,  and  cost  its  owner  a  much  larger  sum.  It  was  1,200  feet  in  ex 
tent,  and  had  paid  no  dividends  in  1876,  though  it  had  assessed  to  the  amount 
of  $1,876,680.  Imperial-Empire  had  a  depth  of  2,000  feet,  assessed  its  share 
holders  $1,670,000,  and  paid  in  dividends  81,067,500.  Sierra  Nevada,  owning 
3,300  feet  at  the  north  end  of  the  Comstock,  was  down  2  000  feet  in  1875, 
and  had  made  42  assessments  previous  to  1876.  It  has  since  reached  650 
feet  lower  without  reaching  a  bonanza.  Bullion,  over  1,400  feet  down,  Cale 
donia  1,076  feet  down,  Andes,  Arizona,  and  Utah,  Alpha,  American  Flat, 
Baltimore  Consolidated,  Bacon,  Best  and  Belcher,  Confidence,  Gold  Hill 
Quartz,  Challenge,  Crown  Point  Ravine,  Dardanelles,  Eclipse,  Empire  Mill, 
Exchequer,  Globe,  Julia,  Justice,  Kentuck,  Knickerbocker,  Kossuth,  Lady 
Washington,  Leo,  Mexican,  New  York  Consolidated,  Rock  Island,  Silver 
Hill,  Succor,  French,  Union  Consolidated,  Utah,  Whitman,  and  Woodville 
had  all  their  place  on  the  lists  of  the  stock  exchanges  in  1875,  and  had  ex 
pended  more  or  less  large  sums  in  development.  Powetts  Land  of  Silver, 
101-20. 

18  The  history  of  these  claims  is  given  in  Wells'  Book  of  Deeds,  MS.,  3-4, 
thus:  *  All  the  ground,  from  the  south  line  of  the  Ophir  down  to  the  south 
line  of  the  White  claim,  was  taken  up  and  located  by  various  claimants,  with 
the  exception  of  110  feet  of  ground  lying  between  the  south  line  of  Bishop  & 
Camp's  ground  and  the  north  line  of  Wlaite  &  Co.'s  100-feet  location.  This 
piece  of  vacant  ground  was  taken  up  by  John  Murphy  and  Lee  James,  who 
filed  a  notice  of  location  calling  for  600-feet;  .  .  .  but  when  they  came  to  take 
possession  they  found  that  Bishop  «fe  Camp  were  in  possession  of  150  feet  ad 
joining  James  Cory's  line  on  the  south.  .  .  .  The  White  location  was  an  older 
location  .  .  .  1 10  feet  south  of  Bishop  &  Camp.'  In  July  1859  a  settlement  of 


134  FURTHER  DEVELOPMENTS  ON  THE  COMSTOCK. 

days  of  the  Ophir  excitement,  the  owners  held  the 
ground  at  prices  higher  than  would-be  purchasers 
offered,  and  the  companies  undertook  the  develop 
ment,  which  proceeded  slowly,  and  without  any  en 
couraging  discoveries.  A  shaft  had  been  sunk  on  the 
Central  to  a  depth  of  over  600  feet,  and  several  tun 
nels  driven  in,  intersecting  the  shaft  at  depths  of 
from  300  to  600  feet,  two  of  which  were  costly  and 
extensive,  but  which  failed  of  their  purpose,  nothing 
being  found  exeept  some  small  bunches  of  rich  ore  in 
the  California.  So  persistent  was  this  barrenness  of 
the  lode  over  so  great  a  space  that  the  fact  at  length 
attracted  the  attention  of  those  who  were  versed  in 
the  geological  features  of  the  district. 

In  June  1867  four  of  the  six  companies — Central 
No,  2,  Kinney,  White  and  Murphy,  and  Sides —  com 
bined  under  the  incorporated  title  of  the  Virginia 
Consolidated  Mining  company,  but  without  attempt 
ing  any  signal  exploitation  for  two  years  longer.  In 
1869  they  expended  $161,349.41  without  discovering 
an  ore  deposit  of  any  value,  their  power  to  assess  was 
exhausted,  and  the  whole  mine  worth,  at  the  price 
their  stock  was  bringing  in  the  board,  but  $18,850. 
The  most  discouraging  feature  of  their  enterprise,  in 
the  minds  of  the  owners  of  the  Virginia  Consolidated, 
was  that  the  Ophir  bonanza  had  failed  at  about  the 
depth  of  their  latest  explorations,  and  that  the  Gould 
and  Curry  had  also  given  out  1,000  feet  below  the 
surface — coincidences  which  seemed  to  fix  the  depth 
to  which  they  might  go  for  rich  ore  bodies.  At  this 
juncture  the  mining  firm  of  James  G.  Fair,  John  W. 
Mackay,  James  C.  Flood,  and  William  S.  O'Brien 
made  an  offer  of  $80,000  for  the  property  of  the  Con 
solidated  Virginia,  which  was  transferred  to  them, 

boundaries  was  agreed  upon.  Joseph  Webb  was  allowed  50  feet  on  the 
north  part  of  Bishop  &  Camp's  ground;  White,  Hammack,  &  Kirby  100  feet 
lying  to  the  south,  James  &  Murphy  110  feet  between  the  White  and  Webb 
ground,  and  John  D.  Winters  and  Sides  &  Co.,  got  something  over  300  feet 
on  the  south.  This  settlement  was  never  disturbed,  and  was  the  basis  of 
the  title  purchased  by  the  bonanza  firm. 


THE  BONANZA  FIRM.  135 

and  soon  after  also  a  controlling  interest  in  the  Cali 
fornia  mine.19 

The  mining  experience  of  Fair  and  Mackay,  with 
their  knowledge  of  the  leading  features  of  the  Corn- 
stock,  justified  the  venture  which  they  had  under 
taken  as  much  as  any  unknown  undertaking  is  ever 

19  The  history  of  John  W.  Mackay  is  that  of  a  favorite  of  fortune.  He  was 
born  in  Dublin,  Ireland,  Nov.  29,  1831,  and  there  received  his  education.  In 
1850  he  migrated  to  the  United  States  with  aspirations  after  a  wider  h'eld  of 
action  than  was  afforded  him  in  his  ancestral  island.  For  a  year  or  two  he 
was  employed  by  a  commercial  house,  but  hearing  much  of  the  land  of  prom 
ise  on  the  shore  of  the  Pacific,  bade  farewell  to  steady-going  Boston,  and 
joined  the  army  of  gold-seekers,  landing  at  San  Francisco,  and  going  to  work 
in  the  mines  near  Downieville.  in  Sierra  county,  Cal.  As  a  placer-miner  he 
made  small  advance  towards  the  coveted  fortune,  but  being  young,  and  hav 
ing  some  claims  to  manly  beauty,  he  employed  a  part  of  his  time  paying  court 
to  a  daughter  of  Daniel  E.  Hungerford,  to  whom  he  was  afterward  married, 
and  who  has  become  known  to  all  the  world  as  a  woman  of  rare  social  quali 
ties,  and  benevolence  of  character.  When  the  Comstock  lode  was  discovered 
Mackay,  along  with  the  rest  of  the  mining  world,  hastened  to  Washoe,  where 
he  worked  at  first  as  a  common  miner,  but  saving  his  money  and  watching 
his  chance  for  an  investment.  He  purchased  an  interest  in  the  Kentuck 
mine  at  Gold  Hill,  and  patiently  worked  a  few  years  more,  during  which  he 
acquired  a  valuable  knowledge  of  the  great  lode.  In  1809  he  joined  James 
G.  Fair  in  a  contract  to  develop  the  Hale  &  Norcross  mine,  which  from  pay 
ing  dividends  had  fallen  off  to  requiring  heavy  assessments.  Mackay  and 
Fair  believed  the  mine  could  be  made  to  pay  largely  again,  and  formed  with 
Flood  and  O'Brien  of  San  Francisco  the  company  which  finally  secured  con 
trol  of  a  bonanza.  From  this  period  Mackay  has  enjoyed  unparalleled 
financial  prosperity.  His  family  has  resided  in  Paris,  where  Americans  of 
distinction  have  been  royally  entertained  by  them,  and  his  daughter  has  been 
married  to  a  prince  of  the  Italian  house  of  Colonna.  Many  are  the  deserv 
ing  persons  and  charitable  enterprises  which  have  received  aid  from  the  in 
telligent  application  of  the  wealth  acquired  by  this  member  of  the  bonanza 
firm. 

James  G.  Fair  was  a  native  of  Clougher,  County  Tyrone,  Ireland,  born 
Dec.  3,  1831.  He  came  to  the  United  States  with  his  parents  at  the  age  of 
12  years,  residing  for  6  years  in  111.,  and  joining  the  Argonauts  in  California 
in  1849.  His  first  mining  was  done  on  Feather  river,  but  having  a  tendency 
toward  quartz,  he  was  led  to  study  this  branch  of  mining,  his  intelligence  in 
his  regard  coupled  with  this  extensive  knowledge  of  mechanics,  placed  him 
in  the  position  of  superintendent  and  manager  of  extensive  mines  in  Califor 
nia,  and  finally  of  the  Ophir  and  Hale  &  Norcross.  While  at  the  latter  mine 
he  proposed  to  Mackay,  Flood  &  O'Brien  to  form  a  partnership  for  the  con 
trol  of  mining  property.  The  Hale  &  Norcross  gave  the  firm  its  first  start  on 
the  road  to  wealth.  Fair  was  a  man  of  a  striking  personal  appearance,  and 
a  bright,  active  mind,  and  probably  originated  some  of  the  most  successful 
moves  of  the  bonanza  firm.  His  further  history  belongs  to  politics. 

James  C.  Flood  and  William  S.  O'Brien  were  engaged  in  retailing  liquors 
in  a  saloon  patronized  by  mine  operators,  and  having  gained  some  useful  in 
formation,  made  capital  in  stock  operations.  To  these  men  Mackay  and 
Fair,  with  a  full  knowledge  of  their  capabilities,  applied  for  aid  in  taking 
the  contract  for  the  development  of  Hale  &  Norcross.  O'Brien  was  another 
Irishman,  and  Flood  was  a  native  of  New  York.  Neither  of  these  men  pos 
sessed  any  other  talent  than  money.  J.  M.  Walker  was  a  member  of  the 
firm  at  the  beginning,  but  soon,  sold  out  to  Mackay. 


136          FURTHER  TEVELOPMENTS  ON  THE  COMSTOCK. 

justifiable.  A  drift  from  the  1,200-foot  level  of  the 
Gould  and  Curry  was  continued  through  Best  arid 
Belcher  into  Consolidated  Virginia  in  1872.  At  the 
same  time  the  shaft  already  begun  was  deepened,  and 
a  drift  run  from  a  depth  of  500  feet,  east  and  west, 
improvements  made  in  the  hoisting-works,  and  the 
shaft  deepened.  During  all  these  operations  the 
search  for  an  ore  deposit  different  from  the  low-grade 
ore  found  in  drifting  and  more  continuous  than  the 

O ' 

bunches  sometimes  encountered,  was  being  prosecuted 
by  the  untiring  manager  Fair,  who  was  following  up 
in  the  lower  drift  a  thin  seam  of  ore,  from  day  to  day, 
of  which  he  never  lost  sight,  although  it  sometimes 
narrowed  to  a  mere  film.  There  had  been  expended 
thus  far  $200,000,  and  the  miners  began  to  think  it 
was  borrasca  in  the  Consolidated  Virginia  for  the  new 

O 

proprietors  as  well  as  the  old. 

In  March  1873  a  fifteen-foot  stratum  of  ore,  milling 
$34  to  the  ton,  was  reached  in  the  drift,  about  eighty 
feet  north  of  the  south  line  of  the  Best  and  Belcher. 
The  size  and  richness  of  the  ore  increased  throughout 
the  year,  the  deposit  spreading  out  like  a  wedge  with 
its  apex  at  the  top,  until  it  showed  a  width  of  between 
300  and  400  feet.  The  shaft  was  carried  down  to 
establish  its  extent  in  a  vertical  direction.  A  number 
of  mills  were  employed  on  the  ore,  and  the  monthly 
shipments  of  bullion  from  the  Consolidated  Virginia 
reached  in  a  short  time  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  dol 
lars.  The  shares  of  the  company  went  up  from  $40 
to  $400  before  the  close  of  the  year;  the  capital 
stock  having  been  increased  from  $7,080,000  divided 
into  23,600  shares,  to  $10,800,000  represented  by 
108,000  shares. 

In  December  the  California  company  wras  organ 
ized  by  consent  of  the  management  of  the  Consoli 
dated  Virginia,  which  conveyed  to  them  the  ground, 
and  took  a  controlling  interest  in  their  stock.  The 
new  arrangement  gave  the  latter  company  710  linear 
feet,  covering  the  Sides  and  White  and  Murphy 


STOCK  VALUES.  137 

ground,  while  the  California  company  received  the 
Central,  California,  Central  No.  2,  and  Kinney  claims, 
comprising  600  feet  between  the  Consolidated  Vir 
ginia  and  the  Ophir — between  two  bonanzas — the 
amount  of  capital  stock  and  value  of  the  shares  being 
made  to  correspond  to  those  of  the  Consolidated  Vir 
ginia. 

Notwithstanding  that  a  rich  ore-body,  constantly 
growing  richer,  had  been  found  extending  downward 
from  a  depth  of  1,167  feet,  where  it  was  first  en 
countered,  to  1,300  feet,  yet  with  working  expenses, 
costly  buildings,  and  stock  manipulating,  the  shares 
were  bringing  in  the  market  in  January  1874  but 
$85.  They  increased  to  $110  in  October,  and  in  mid 
winter,  when  still  richer  ore  had  been  found  on  the 
1,500-foot  level,  to  $580,  the  Consolidated  Virginia 
carrying  the  California  along  with  it  in  the  market. 

This  enormous  advance,  though  largely  speculative, 
had  a  known  wealth  to  justify  it  greater  than  the  his 
tory  of  mining  since  the  beginning  of  time  could 
equal,  and  a  suppostitious  wealth  dazzling  to  the  im 
agination,  which  led  stock-buyers  to  believe  their 
shares  might  yet  be  worth  $1,000.  In  January  1875 
they  did  indeed  reach  $700.  California  shares,  which 
were  considered  as  essentially  the  same,  went  to  $780, 
making  the  market  value  of  these  two  mines  together 
$159,840,000.  A  careful  inspection  of  the  ore  in 
sight  by  the  director  of  the  mint  caused  him  to  declare 
that  it  should  produce  $300,000,000.  Practical 
miners  saw  in  the  two  mines  $1,500,000,000."  The 
actual  product  of  the  Consolidated  Virginia  and  Cal 
ifornia  mines  for  five  years  was  8104,460,713.69. 
From  1878  to  1882  they  produced  together  only 
$7,971,202.05,  and  were  assessing  instead  of  paying 
dividends  in  1881.  The  Consolidated  Virginia  con 
tinued  to  pay  dividends  down  to  1880,  paying  $540,- 

20  U.  S.  Mint  Director,  Rept,  1875,  81-3.  This  estimate  was  based  on  the 
theory  that  the  ore-body  was  oval  or  lenticular  in  shape  and  that  its  greatest 
zone  of  expansion  had  not  been  reached.  Powell's  Land  of  Silver,  94, 


138          FURTHER  DEVELOPMENTS  ON  THE  COMSTOCK. 


000  in  that  year.     California  paid  the  last  dividend 
in  the  year  1879.21 

It  is  plain  that  rich  as  was  the  great  bonanza  it 
had  reached  a  ruinous  point  of  inflation  in  1875,  for 
even  if  the  actual  value  of  the  shares  had  been  equal 
to  the  price  put  upon  them  in  the  stock-market  they 
did  not  represent  available  capital  to  that  amount. 
The  bonanza  mines  had  carried  up  the  other  mines  on 
the  Comstock,  and  few  in  the  whirl  of  excitement 
cared  to  inquire  whether  or  not  their  stock  was  of  any 
intrinsic  worth.  To-day  they  bought  for  a  rise  to 
sell  to-morrow,  and  everybody  turned  stock  speculator. 
But  this  could  not  last  long.  Rumor  began  to  whis 
per  that  the  bonanza  mines  were  not  what  some  said 
they  were;  the  fever  of  hope  was  succeeded  by  the 
rigors  of  fear,  and  panic  ensued.  People  were  as  anx 
ious  to  sell  as  they  had  been  impatient  to  buy.  The 
decline  was  rapid.  Consolidated  Virginia  fell  $200  a 
share  within  a  week.  California  fell  off  more  than 
two-thirds  of  its  late  market  price.  Other  stocks 

21  The  following  tables  show  the  amount  of  ore  and  bullion  taken  from 
the  Consolidated  Virginia  and  California  mines  during  their  boiianza 
period: 

CONSOLIDATED   VIRGINIA. 


Year. 

Am'nt  Extracted 
Tons. 

Bullion  Product. 

1873  

$      645  582  17 

1874 

91  168 

4  981  484  05 

1875  .'  

169  307 

16  717  394  76 

1876     

142  679 

16  657  649  47 

1877  

144  400 

13  734  019  07 

1878 

122  831 

7  996  753  11 

Total  

60,732,882  63 

CALIFORNIA. 


Year. 

Am'nt  Extracted 
Tons. 

Bullion  Product. 

1875  

5  124 

$      453  060  46 

1876  

128  801 

13  400  841  40 

1877  

217  432 

18  924  850  27 

1878  

134  888 

10  949  078  93 

Total.    ..    . 

$43  7°7  831  06 

SPECULATION  AND  DISASTER.  139 

fell  from  50  to  250  per  cent;  and  while  a  few  per 
sons  had  profited  by  the  excitement,  many  had  been 
ruined,  even  some  of  those  whose  judgment  in  mining 
matters  should  have  been  trustworthy." 

"  Who  is  to  blame  ? "  the  victims  cried.  The  bo 
nanza-owners  were  accused  of  speculating  in  their 
own  shares,  of  causing  declines  in  order  to  buy  in, 
and  creating  a  "boom"  in  which  to  sell.  Vox  populi 
is  not  always  vox  Dei.  The  voice  of  the  people  is 
sometimes  the  voice  of  the  devil.  The  bonanza  firm 
became  immensely  wealthy,  and  were  regarded  with 
more  or  less  envy  and  suspicion  by  their  less  fortu 
nate  fellows.  But  the  fact  remains  that  they  paid 
out  $73,170,000  in  dividends  to  shareholders,  and 
that  their  works  at  the  mines  were  of  the  most  ex 
pensive  kind,  while  the  force  employed  was  large  and 
well  paid. 

The  haste  with  which  the  great  bonanza  was  ex 
tracted  was  not  due  altogether  to  the  desire  for  sud 
den  riches.  The  Comstock  lode  was  not  one  regular 
vein  of  hard  quartz,  with  walls  nearly  equi-distant 
throughout  its  whole  extent,  but  was  swollen  with 
ore-bodies  of  great  richness  at  irregular  intervals,  and 
strung  with  smaller  branches  more  uniformly,  yet 
having  some  barren  rock  in  places.  Wherever  the 
ore  occurred  there  were  masses  of  a  percolating  clay 
and  crumbling  feldspar,  which,  by  swelling,  flowing, 
shifting,  and  breaking  down,  constantly  endangered 
the  mine.  It  was  to  support  the  roof  and  walls  of 
drifts,  and  prevent  accidents  and  losses,  that  the 
Deidesheimer  method  of  timbering  was  resorted  to; 
but  timbers  of  any  form  decay  rapidly  in  the  heat 
and  moisture  of  the  mines.  The  larger  the  body  of 
ore,  the  greater  the  difficulty  and  expense  of  keeping 
it  in  place.  The  sooner,  therefore,  that  the  ore  was 
removed,  the  greater  the  security  from  danger  by 
caving,  or  from  fire,  which  might  attack  so  large  a 

22  Philip  Deideshesmer,  and  a  thousand  others  as  intelligent,  were  brought 
to  bankruptcy. 


140  FURTHER  DEVELOPMENTS  ON  THE  COMSTOCK. 

body  of  timber  with  disastrous  effect.23  For  these 
reasons,  had  there  been  no  other,  it  was  deemed  the 
most  economical  mode  of  working  a  bonanza  to  ex 
haust  it  quickly. 

The  aggregate  yield  of  all  the  mines  on  the  Corn- 
stock  down  to  the  1st  of  January,  1881,  was  $306,000,- 
000  worth  of  bullion  extracted  from  7,000,000  tons  of 
ore.  There  had  gone  into  the  mines,  besides  the  un 
productive  labor,  and  small  means  of  prospectors  and 
pioneers  in  mining,  and  the  timber24  of  the  country, 
$62,000,000  in  assessments.  There  had  been  paid 
back  to  shareholders  $116,000,000,  and  the  small, 
incorporated  companies  had  derived  profits  amounting 
to  about  $2,000,000  more— $118,000,000.  The  differ 
ence  between  the  outcome  and  the  costs  to  the  share- 

23  Comparatively  few  accidents  happened  on  the  Comstock,  but  these  were 
serious.     On  the  7th  of  April  1869  a  tire  broke  out  in  the  Yellow  Jacket,  in 
which  45  men  lost  their  lives.  S.  F.  Bulletin,  April  8,  9,  10,  13,  1869;  8.  F. 
Gall,  April  8,  9,  and  May  1,  5,  1869;  Carson  Appeal,  April  8,  13,  1869.     The 
fire  communicated  to  Crown  Point  and  Kentuck,  the  rocks  in  the  800-foot 
levels  being  found  to  be  greatly  heated  3  years  afterward.     In  Sept.  1873 
a  second  tire  and  series  of  explosions  took  place,  by  which  6  men  lost  their 
lives,  and  others  were  injured.     On  the  24th  of  May  1874  the  hoisting-work* 
of  the  Succor  were  destroyed  by  fire,  and  2  men  killed.     On  the  30th  of  Oct. 
the  Belcher  air  shaft  caught  fire,  and  was  burned  for  a  distance  of  1,000  feet. 
It  was  not  completed,  but  had  cost  between  $30,000  and  $40,000.     It  being 
necessary  for  men  to  descend  into  the  mine  to  close  the  drifts  leading  from 
the  burning  shaft,  18  volunteered  to  go.     While  engaged  in  blocking  up  the 
mouth  of  a  drift  a  cave  occurred,  and  a  strong  draft  of  air  sucked  back  into 
the  drift,  bearing  flames  upon  the  naked  men,  scorching  nine  of  them  to 
death,  and  burning  others.     Volunteers  took  their  places  until  the  work  of 
completing  the  bulkheads  was  accomplished.     In  May  1875,  when  a  new  shaft 
was   being    constructed,    the  workmen  encountered  great  masses  of    rocks 
still  almost  at  a  white  heat,  or  hot  enough  to  set  on  fire  the  new  timbers. 
Fires  broke  out  in  the  abandoned  levels  of  the  Consolidated  Virginia  and 
California,  which   could  only  be  extinguished   by  bulkheading  all  commu 
nicating  drifts,  and   allowing  the  timbers  to  smoulder,  until  from  lack  of 
oxygen  the  fire  was  smothered.    Wright's  Big  Bonanza,  176-196;    Virginia  City 
Territorial  Enterprise,  May  4,  5,  6,  1881;  Helena  Montana  Post,  April30,  1869; 
Gold  Hill  News,  Nov.  1,  1871;  Id.,  May  12  and  Aug.  17, 1874;  Id.,  March  11, 
1876;  Batch's  Mines  and  Miners,  799-801;  Gobi  Hill  News,  Oct.  26,  1875. 

24  It  is  estimated  that   the  annual  consumption  of  firewood  on  the  Com 
stock  was,  at  the  least,  120,000  cords.     Browne,  Mining  Res,  ed.  1867,  makes 
the  amount  207,320  cords,  which  is  probably  too  high.     The  lumber  used 
in  building    and   mining   timbers  was  estimated  at  25,000,000  feet  (board 
measure)  yearly,  including  that  used  for  domestic  purposes.     The  cost  of 
this  wood  in  its  several  shapes  was  figured  by  Browne  at  $800,000  annually. 
See  also,  Land  Off.    Rept,   1867,   315;  Sac.    Union,  July  24,  1865.     See  also 
Simorun,  in  RWUQ  Deux  Howies,  Nov.  1875,  305-312. 


COST  OF  METAL.  141 

holders  was  $56,000,000,  spread  over  twenty  years, 
certainly  not  a  great  profit  on  the  investment.  But 
the  other  $88,000,000,  besides  enriching  a  few,  had 
been  expended  in  the  payment  of  labor,  and  in  various 
enterprises.  Too  mnch,  it  is  true,  had  gone  into  liti 
gation,  costly  machinery,  in  many  instances  almost 
without  value — into  miles  of  mills  and  hoisting-works 
whose  usefulness  in  a  few  years  had  ceased  —the  sight 
of  which  suggests  the  query  whether  the  government, 
which  owns  the  mines,  could  not  have  devised  some 
means  of  economical  working  which  would  have  pre 
served  to  the  people  for  a  greater  length  of  time  their 
benefits.25 

Coequal  in  interest  with  the  bonanza  features  of  the 
Comstock  lode  was  the  conception  and  completion  of 
an  extensive  piece  of  engineering,  known  as  the 
Sutro  tunnel.  The  mode  of  working  the  mines 
by  shafts,  which  soon  collected  bodies  of  water 
requiring  expensive  pumping  machinery  at  an  early 
date,  has  been  referred  to.  Floods,  from  tapping 
water-pockets  in  Ophir,  Belcher,  Crown  Point,  Over 
man,  Yellow  Jacket,  and  other  mines,  had  frequently 
caused  the  suspension  of  mining,  and  threatened  the 
lives  of  the  men  employed  underground.  To  furnish 
drainage  for  the  mines,  a  less  expensive  means  of 
taking  out  ores  from  the  lower  levels  of  the  deep 
mines  than  by  hoisting,  and  better  ventilation  also, 
the  Sutro  tunnel  was  planned.26 

25  It  is  the  argument  of  Alexander  Del  Mar,  in  his  History  of  the  Predous 
Metals,  265-266,  that  a  dollar's  worth  of  bullion  from  the  Comstock  cost  five 
dollars.  Del  Mar  had  been  director  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  the  United 
States,  and  was  member  of  the  Monetary  Commission  of  1876,  his  book  being 
the  result  of  his  researches  in  this  direction.  It  he  reckoned  in  all  the  money 
that  had  been  wasted — if  money  ever  is  wasted — in  stock  speculations,  he 
might  have  made  out  a  case  against  mining.  There  is,  indeed,  a  saying, 
even  among  Californians,  that  'it  takes  a  mine  to  work  a  mine.'  Undoubt 
edly  there  are  greater  risks  encountered  in  this  business  than  in  almost  any 
other,  but  perhaps  the  failures  are  no  more  frequent,  where  much  capital  is 
invested,  than  in  other  lines  of  heavy  investment.  See  Review  of  Com.  and 
Finance,  1876,  11-12,  containing  tables  showing  bullion  yield  from  1859  to 
1876  inclusive;  also  Bahh's  Mines  and  Miners,  959-61,  985-990. 

26 It  should  be  said  that  several  tunnels  had  been  cut  on  a  level  with  the 
heads  of  the  canons,  which  became  useless  when  the  shaft  had  'pierced  to  a 


142          FURTHER  DEVELOPMENTS  ON  THE  COMSTOCF. 

The  author  of  the  scheme  was  Adolph  Sutro,  who 
had  a  quartz-mill  on  the  Carson  river,  but  was  not 
known  as  a  mining  engineer.  The  Nevada  legisla 
ture,  by  an  act  passed  February  4,  1865,  incorporated 
the  Sutro  Tunnel  company,  with  the  exclusive  privi 
lege,  for  fifty  years,  to  excavate  and  construct  an  adit 
intersecting  the  Comstock  lode  at  a  depth  of  1,600 
feet,  8  inches  below  the  mouth  of  the  Savage  shaft, 
sufficiently  wide  for  a  double  line  of  railway,  and  ex 
tending  from  a  point  between  Webber  and  Corral 
canons,  a  distance  of  over  three  miles.  Besides  effect 
ing  the  drainage  of  all  the  mines  to  that  level,  it 
would  cross-cut  several  veins  in  its  course,  and  afford 
means  of  transporting  the  ores  to  Carson  river,  where 
water-power  and  wood  were  more  cheaply  procured 
than  at  the  mines.  The  four  intervening  canons 
would  afford  facilities  for  sinking  shafts  to  the  level 
of  the  tunnel,  and  from  these  the  work  could  be  ex 
tended  in  both  directions  as  well  as  from  Carson  val 
ley.  This  was  the  plan.  The  incorporators  of  the 
tunnel  company  were  Adolph  Sutro,  William  M. 
Stewart,  D.  E.  Avery,  Louis  Janin,  and  H.  K. 
Mitchell,  Stewart  being  president. 

In  the  spring  of  1866  Sutro  secured  contracts  from 
twenty-three  of  the  principal  mining  companies  repre 
senting  most  of  the  capital  on  the  Comstock,27  binding 
them  to  pay  to  the  tunnel  company  two  dollars  a 
ton  for  ore  extracted  above  the  tunnel  level  after 
the  extension  of  the  tunnel  and  its  lateral  drifts 
to  points  within  their  boundaries.  The  privilege 
was  granted  to  the  mining  companies  of  transport 
ing  ore,  tools,  timbers,  waste  rock,  and  workmen 

depth  below  them.  In  1863  the  Gold  Hill  and  Virginia  Tunnel  and  Mining 
company  began  to  pierce  the  Comstock  lode  at  a  depth  of  800  feet,  with  a 
tunnel  6£  by  7  feet,  and  it  had  been  extended  840  feet  in  May  1804,  when  the 
panic  consequent  on  the  exhaustion  of  the  Ophir  bonanza  paralyed,  for  a 
time,  the  mining  industry.  Before  the  return  of  confidence  Sutro's  enter 
prise  had  been  set  on  foot,  and  tended  to  revive  the  mining  interest.  Mining 
Review  and  Stock  Ledger,  1878,  107,  118;  S.  F.  Stock  Exchange,  March  22, 
1877;  S.  F.  Alta,  March  12,  1865;  Bakh's  Mines  and  Miners,  948-53. 

27  Sank  of  California  against  Sutro  Tunnel,  Argument  and  Statement  oj 
Facts,  17,  • 


THE  SUTRO  TUNNEL.  143 

through  the  tunnel  on  the  payment  of  stipulated  tolls. 
To  insure  the  completion  of  their  work  within  a  rea 
sonable  time,  the  tunnel  company  engaged  to  secure 
subscriptions  to  the  amount  of  $3,000,000  before  the 
1st  of  August  1867. 

The  question  was  then  mooted  whether  the  legisla 
ture  of  Nevada  had  the  power  to  cede  to  the  tunnel 
company  privileges  so  valuable  as  those  contained  in 
their  charter,  and  affecting  the  title  to  ground  belong- 
ing,  as  mineral  land,  to  the  United  States;  and  the 
company  next  undertook  to  obtain  confirmation  of 
their  franchise  by  act  of  congress,  in  which  they  were 
successful.28  A  geological  and  an  engineering  survey 
had  been  made.29  Nothing  remained  but  to  secure 
the  requisite  §3,000,000,  and  Sutro  made  his  first 
effort  in  this  direction  in  the  city  of  New  York. 
There  certain  capitalists  agreed  to  make  up  the  $3,000,- 
000  after  he  should  have  obtained  subscriptions  to  the 
amount  of  a  few  hundred  thousands  on  the  Pacific 
coast.  Before  the  end  of  May  1867,  $600,000  had 
been  subscribed  by  mine-owners,  and  an  extension  of 
a  year's  time  obtained  in  which  to  secure  the  remain 
der.  The  Nevada  legislature  of  1867  also  consented 
to  memorialize  congress  to  grant  financial  aid  to  the 
construction  of  the  tunnel,  whose  completion,  it  was 
assured,  would  increase  the  nation's  revenue.3'  The 
legislature  of  the  state  never  did  anything  else  but 
encourage  the  enterprise.  Sutro  himself  worked  un 
tiringly,  securing  a  favorable  report  from  the  lower 
house  of  congress  in  recommendation  of  giving  mate 
rial  aid  to  the  tunnel.31 

At  the  moment  when  perfect  achievement  seemed 
ready  to  be  grasped,  the  mine-owners  on  the  Comstock 

28  H.  Ex.  Doc.,  47,  pt  2,  1087-8,  46th  cong.  3d  sess.;  8.  F.  Alta,  July  16, 
I860;  S.  F.  Bulletin,  July  13,  1866. 

a*  Richthofens  Comstock  Lode  :  Report  to  the  Sutro  Tunnel  Company  on 
the  geology  and  structure  of  the  lode.  Powell's  Land  of  Silver,  122.  R.  G. 
Carlyle  made  an  accurate  survey  of  the  work  to  be  done. 

38  Nev.  Jour.  S?n.,  1867,  app.  no.  7. 

31  H.  Com.  Rept,  50,  40th  cong.  2d  sess.;  S.  F.  Call,  July  4,  1868;  Mho 
Irvlependent,  Nov.  17,  1869. 


144          FURTHER  DEVELOPMENTS  ON  THE  COMSTOCK. 

withdrew  their  subscriptions,  an  act  which  rendered 
it  impossible  for  Sutro  to  call  upon  eastern  capitalists 
for  the  promised  aid,  and  the  failure  of  the  enterprise 
seemed  imminent,  and  would  have  been  brought 
about  had  the  projector  possessed  less  pluck  and 
energy.  He  appealed  to  the  people  to  take  shares; 
he  wrote  letters  and  books,  addressed  meetings,  legis 
latures,  and  congressional  committees.  On  the  19th 
of  October  1869  ground  was  broken  for  the  Sutro 
tunnel,33  at  a  point  on  the  Carson  river  north  of  Day 
ton,  and  Sutro  continued  his  indefatigable  labors  at 
Washington  and  elsewhere.  As  a  result  of  his  per 
sistency,  congress  passed  an  act  on  the  4th  of  April, 
1871,  authorizing  the  president  of  the  United  States 
to  appoint  a  commission,  consisting  of  one  civil  and 
two  military  engineers,33  to  report  upon  the  "import 
ance,  feasibility,  cost,  and  time  required  to  construct " 
the  Sutro  tunnel.  A  favorable  report  was  rendered 
concerning  the  first  two  points,34  so  far  as  its  value  as 
an  exploring  work  was  considered,  but  its  cost,  esti 
mated  at  $4, 4 18, 329. 50,  was  pronounced  disproportion- 
ably  great  for  the  benefit  to  be  derived  from  drainage 
and  ventilation  in  the  mines. 

No  committee  could  make  a  report  upon  these 
matters  without  consulting  the  mine-owners  on  the 

32  Virginia  City  Territorial  Enterprise,  Oct.  20,  1869;  8.  F.  Call,  Oct.  23, 
1869.     Levi  Lamb,  master  carpenter  of  the  Sutro  tunnel,  says  the  work  of 
constructing  the  tunnel  'was  actually  commenced  in  September  1869.'  Lamb 
was  born  in  N.  Y.  state  in  June  1829.     He  came  to  Cal.  via  the  Isthmus  in 
1850;  mined  on  the  American  river,  and  afterward  on  the  Feather  river  and 
Downieville.     He  went  to  several  other  mining  camps,  and  was  in  the  lumber 
business  at  Marysville.     He  built  the  first  12  houses  at  Howland  Flat  in 
Nevada  co.,  Cal.,  in  1855-6,  and  assisted  in  sinking  the  first  shaft  on  a  mine 
at  that  place.     In  1859  he  went  to  farming  in  Tulare  co.,  and  there  remained 
till  1862,  when  he  removed  to  Dayton,  Nevada,  where  he  worked  in  a  quartz- 
mill.  Lamb's  Early  Mining,  MS.,  1-5,  a  brief  account  of  his  own  experience 
in  Cal.  and  Nevada. 

33  The  commissioners  appointed  were  H.  G.  Wright  and  J.  G.  Foster,  in 
conjunction  with  Prof.  Newcomb. 

84  H.  Ex.  Doc.,  47,  pt  2,  1088,  46th  cong.  3d  sess.;  Sen.  Ex.  Doc.,  15,  42d 
cong.  2d  sess.;  Sec.  War  Rept,  102,  1126-72,  42d  cong.  3d  sess.;  House  Com. 
Rept,  94,  42d  cong.  2d  sess.;  Sen.  Com.  Rept,  405,  42d  cong.  3d  sess.;  Courier 
deS.  F.,  7th  July,  1871,  llth  Jan.  1872,  and  20th  April  1872;  S.  F.  Stock 
Report,  Oct.  11,  1872;  Virginia  City  Territorial  Enterprise,  Feb.  25,  1872;  S. 
F.  AUa,  Feb.  28,  1872. 


THE  SUTRO  TUNNEL.  145 

Comstock,  and  as  they  had  set  their  faces  against  the 
tunnel,  on  the  ground  that  the  mines  would  have  been 
drained  by  pumping  before  the  tunnel  reached  them, 
and  that  the  royalty  agreed  to  in  the  contract  with 
Sutro  was  too  large,  it  could  not  be  expected  that 
their  representations  would  be  in  favor  of  the  tunnel 
from  this  point  of  view.  In  this  manner  the  opponents 
of  the  tunnel,  or  as  Sutro  understood  it,  of  himself 
personally,35  were  enabled  to  paralyze  to  some  extent 
his  efforts  in  Washington.  But  so  earnest  was  his 
advocacy  that  the  house  congressional  committee,  re 
ceiving  the  report  of  the  examining  committee,  recom 
mended  a  loan  from  the  government  of  $2,000,000, 
Sargent  of  California  presenting  a  minority  report 
against  it.  But  the  bill  failed  to  pass.  In  the  mean 
time  Sutro  obtained  subscriptions  in  the  United  States 
and  Europe  to  the  amount  of  $2,100,000,'6  and  the 
work  was  urged  forward.  Progress  was  slow  and 
difficult  during  the  first  three  or  four  years,  all 
drilling  being  done  by  hand.  In  October  1873  con 
nection  was  made  between  the  drift  advancing  from 
the  east  and  that  from  the  west  starting  from  the 
first  shaft.  In  the  spring  of  1874  experiments  with 
a  Burleigh  drill  having  demonstrated  the  advantages 
to  be  derived  from  its  use,  a  carriage  supporting  six 
of  those  drills  while  at  work  was  constructed,  and 
four  of  them  put  in  operation  on  the  22d  of  June. 
The  progress  now  became  as  rapid  as  it  hitherto  had 
been  slow,  and  two  more  drills  were  added  in  August. 
The  average  progress  per  month  down  to  April  1877, 
when  the  Comstock  mineral  belt  was  entered,  was 
300  feet  per  month.  Here  the  heat  becoming  intense, 

35  Sutro  believed  and  asserted  that  it  was  the  influence  of  the  Bank  of 
California,  which  controlled  several  millions  worth  of  property  on  the  Com 
stock,  which  was  opposed  to  him — not  because  his  scheme  was  not  a  good 
one,  or  feasible,  but  because  when  that  corporation  saw  its  merits  they 
determined  to  drive  him  out  of  it  and  seize  upon  it  for  themselves.  The 
most  formidable  opposition  certainly  appeared  to  come  from  them,  whatever 
their  motives,  and  against  them  he  directed  his  continuous  assaults, 

86 Sutro  Tunnel  Com.  Kept,  956-965;  S.  F.  News  Letter,  Feb.  21,  1874;  Sac. 
Record,  in  S.  F.  Atia,,  May  15,  1874;  Pioche  Record,  March  12,  1873;  Gold 
Hiil  News,  Oct.  28,  1873. 
HIST.  NEV.    10 


146  FURTHER  DEVELOPMENTS  ON  THE  COMSTOCK. 

only  250  feet  a  month  could  be  made.37  Connection 
was  effected  with  the  nearest  mine  shaft  at  the  Savage 
works  on  the  evening  of  the  8th  of  July.  The  last 
obstruction  was  rent  away  by  a  blast  in  the  Savage 
mine.  Sutro  himself  was  on  the  spot,  and  was  the 
first  to  crawl  through  the  opening,  ''overcome  by  ex 
citement,"38  as  well  as  heat.  He  had  achieved  a 
triumph  of  engineering,  and  put  the  Corns tock  lode 
under  contribution  of  two  dollars  per  ton  of  ore  ex 
tracted  thereafter. 

But  there  remained  yet  to  be  overcome  the  reluct 
ance  of  the  late  hostile  companies  to  pay  this  tax. 
The  Savage  company  offered  no  remonstrance,  but  an 
attempt  was  made  to  drain  the  adjoining  mines  through 
the  Savage  levels.  To  prevent  this  use  of  his  tunnel 
without  compensation,  Sutro  started  a  drain  way,  which 
would  conduct  the  incoming  water  back  into  a  lower 
level  of  the  Savage  mine,  from  which  it  was  pumped, 
only  to  return  again,  on  discovering  which  in  Febru 
ary  1879,  the  workmen  were  arrested,  and  the  progress 
of  the  shaft  stopped  when  nearly  completed.  They 
were  released  immediately,  but  the  cutting  of  the 
drain  was  prohibited  by  order  of  the  court.  Soon 
after  a  rise  of  water  in  the  Hale  and  Norcross  mine 
caused  an  overflow  in  the  combination  shaft  of  the 
Hale  and  Norcross,  Savage,  and  Chollar-Potosi,  to 
hold  which  in  check  the  water  was  pumped  into  the 
Sutro  tunnel,  driving  the  workmen  from  their  posts, 
Sutro  then  threatened  to  erect  a  water-tight  bulk 
head.  Although  still  unwilling  to  carry  out  their 
contract,  the  incident  of  the  overflow  was  not  without 
effect,  and  joined  with  the  threat  to  hermetically  seal 
the  tunnel,  brought  about  a  compromise. 

37  The  temperature  in  the  tunnel  from  1873  to  and  through  1875  was  83°, 
although  2  powerful  Root  blowers  were  constantly  forcing  air  into  it.     At 
the  end  of  1876  it  was  90°,  and  on  the  first  of  Jan.  1878  reached  96°.     The 
atmosphere  was  foul  as  well  as  hot.     During  the  last  months,  in  1878,  the 
miners  were  two  miles  from  the  nearest  ventilating  shaft.     The  force  was 
changed  four  times  a  day,  and  the  men  could  then  only  work  a  small  portion 
of  the  nominal  hours  of  labor.     The  temperature  rose  to  109°  in  April,  and 
then  to  110°  and  114°. 

38  Virginia  City  Territorial  Enterprise,  July  9,  1878. 


CHARACTER   OF  ORES.  147 

By  the  new  contract  the  mining  companies  agreed 
to  furnish  money  to  extend  the  lateral  branches  still 
uncompleted,  those  benefited  to  pay  one  dollar  per  ton 
upon  all  ore  raised  from  the  mines  which  assayed 
forty  dollars  or  less,  and  two  dollars  upon  all  ore  assay 
ing  more  than  forty  dollars  per  ton,  payment  to  com 
mence  as  soon  as  one  of  the  lateral  branches  should 
be  completed  for  half  its  distance.  This  contract 
terminated  the  long  struggle  of  one  tenacious  spirit 
against  that  enemy  hardest  to  be  beaten — a  "  soulless 
corporation." 

The  main  tunnel  measured  20,480  feet  in  length. 
The  height  was  nine  feet  five  inches,  and  the  width 
thirteen  feet  outside  of  timbers.  The  north  branch 
in  October  1880  had  extended  4,403  feet,  and  the 
south  branch  in  March  1881  was  4,114  feet  in  length, 
making  together  more  than  a  mile  and  six-tenths  of 
tunnelling  eight  by  seven  feet  in  the  clear.  From 
these  were  discharged  daily,  in  1880,  3,500,000  gallons 
of  water,  increased  on  some  days  to  3,942,720  gal 
lons,  or  1,277,500,000  gallons  annually,  the  weight  of 
which  was  4,752,605  tons.  After  being  made  to  pro 
pel  a  small  amount  of  machinery  in  the  shops  of  the 
company  at  Dayton,  the  only  use  of  the  water  has 
been  for  irrigating  purposes.  The  total  cost  of  the 
tunnel,  not  including  the  expenses  incurred  by  the 
management  in  the  prosecution  of  the  design,  was 
$2,096,556.41,  or  less  than  half  of  the  amount  esti 
mated  by  the  committee  appointed  by  congress  to  de 
termine  its  feasibility.  Its  benefit  to  the  Comstock 
mines  was  great.39 

Unlike  the  South  American  and  Mexican  silver 
veins,  the  indications  are  that  it  will  not  be  found 

39 Nev.  Jour.  Sen.,  1879,  app.  no.  16,  81-5;  Argument  on  Sutro  Tunnel, 
70-71;  Sutro  Tunnel  Com.  Rept,  1872,  931;  Sutro  Tunnel  Company  Supt  Rept, 
1872;  Sutro  Tunnel  and  Railway  to  the  Comstock  Lode,  1873,  with  maps;  Bank 
of  California  vs  Sutro  Tunnel,  Argument  and  Statement  of  Facts.  All  these 
books  and  pamphlets  are  devoted  to  showing  the  character  of  the  work  and 
the  opposition  encountered,  and  afford  an  instructive  record  of  political  as 
well  as  financial  conditions  in  Nevada,  with  illustrations  of  the  power  of 
money  to  defeat  the  right. 


148  FURTHER  DEVELOPMENTS  ON  THE  COMSTOCK. 

profitable  to  work  the  mines  of  the  Comstock  at  a 
very  great  depth.40  Unlike  silver  in  other  parts  of 
the  world,  its  only  gangue  is  quartz,  which  is  rarely 
solid,  but  is  much  fractured,  and  often  partially  soft 
ened  by  chemical  action.  The  principal  ores  are 
stephanite,  vitreous  silver,  native  silver,  ruby  silver, 
horn  silver,  and  polybasite,  with  occasional  small 
quantities  of  argentiferous  galena.  Native  gold,  iron 
and  copper  pyrites,  blende,  and  carbonate  and  phos 
phate  of  lead  in  minute  quantities  are  found  in  con 
nection  with  the  silver  ores. 

The  phenomena  observed  as  connected  with  the 
occurrence  of  silver  ore  in  the  Comstock  have  been  thus 
summarized :  In  the  northern  part  it  is  in  chimneys 
dipping  to  the  south,  in  the  southern  part  it  forms 
continuous  sheets  of  great  length,  but  comparatively 
narrow.  The  ore  deposits  are  enclosed  in  the  eastern, 
and  sometimes  in  the  middle  portion  of  the  vein, 
while  the  western  branches  are  poor  or  barren.  The 
largest  and  richest  deposits  have  been  found  where 
the  outcrops  were  most  prominent.  At  the  north  end 
the  vein  is  invariably  poor  where  it  passes  a  ravine, 
but  not  so  in  the  south  end.  The  richest  portions  are 
south  of  each  ravine  crossed  by  it.  All  the  chimneys 
in  the  northern  part  occur  where  the  walls  after  close 

40  With  regard  to  the  depth  of  the  different  mines,  Knoz's  Underground 
World,  a  collection  of  matter  loosely  thrown  together  concerning  mines,  caves, 
tunnels  and  other  subterranean  places  and  affairs,  contains  the  following  inter 
esting  facts:  Ophir  and  Mexican  discovered  at  the  surface,  failed  in  ore  at  the 
depth  of  500  feet;  Gould  and  Curry  also  extended  500  feet  from  the  surface; 
Savage,  which  was  a  continuation  of  the  Gould  and  Curry  bonanza,  extended 
2,300  feet  below  the  croppings;  Hale  and  Norcross  bonanza  was  first  found 
450  feet  below  the  surface,  and  extended  down  to  1,200;  Chollar-Potosi  was 
found  at  a  depth  of  500  feet,  and  extended  to  the  1,700-foot  level;  Gold  Hill, 
discovered  on  the  surface,  extended  500  feet  downward  and  300  feet  on  the 
vein;  Yellow  Jacket,  discovered  on  the  surface,  went  to  a  depth  of  700  feet; 
Kentuck  to  a  depth  of  400  feet,  300  feet  on  the  lode;  Crown  Point  and 
Belcher  bonanza,  discovered  on  the  1,400-foot  level,  extended  600  feet  below; 
Consolidated  Virginia  and  California  bonanza  was  discovered  at  the  1,500- 
foot  level,  and  extended  above  it,  and  below  for  a  distance  of  400  feet,  being 
600  feet  in  height  and  700  on  the  vein.  Since  the  publication  of  Kiiox's 
book,  1878,  several  of  these  mines  have  been  sunk  a  considerable  distance. 
California  was  down  2,700  feet  in  1882,  Consolidated  Virginia  2,533  feet, 
Hale  and  Norcross  3,000  feet,  Sierra  Nevada  2,700  feet,  and  a  number  of  the 
older  mines  were  down  nearly  3,000  feet  in  1888, 


GEOLOGY.  149 

contact  suddenly  diverge.41  When  I  have  added  that 
the  mountain  in  which  the  Comstock  lode42  is  found  is 
a  mass  of  volcanic  rocks,  through  which  older  rocks 
are  found  obtruding,  syenite,  propylite,  granite,  with 
trachyte,  andesite,  and  metamorphic  rocks,  and  that 
geologists  recognize  the  vein  as  a  fissure  caused  by 
rending,  which  subsequently  became  filled  with  quartz 
and  ore,  I  have  said  all  that  is  of  interest  concerning 
Nevada's  great  silver  lode.43 

41  These  observations  occur  in  Baron  Ferdinand  Richthofen's  work,  entitled 
The  Comstock  Lode,  its  Character,  and  the  Probable  Mode  of  its  Continuance  in 
Depth.     The  subsequent  history  of  the  lode  has  borne  out  this  statement  of 
its  characteristics.     They  are  quoted  with  other  remarks  on  the  geology  of 
the  lode,  in  Mining  and  Metallurgy  of  Gold  and  Silver,  by  J.  Arthur  Phillips. 

42  Accompanying  the  Monograph  on  the  Geology  of  the  Comstock  Lode,  by 
George  F.  Becker,  Washington,  1882,  is  a  beautifully  illustrated  Atlas,  giv 
ing  the  location  of  all  the  mines  on  the  Comstock,  and  in  the  Washoe  district, 
arid  also  the  position  of  the  several  rocks  composing  the  Virginia  range,  in 
situ,  and  in  distinctive  coloring.     It  shows  the  earlier  hornblende  andesite, 
later  hornblende,  andesite,  and  angite  andesite,  and  quartz  porphyry,  to  be  the 
prevailing  rock.     Next  in  prevalence  are  diorite,  mica  diorite,  metamorphic 
diorite,  metamorphic  mezozoic,  and  quatenary.     In  smaller  quantities  occur 
feisitic  quartz  porphyry,  granite,  basalt,  and  diabase.     The  quartz-vein  lies 
principally  between  the  earlier  hornblende  andesite  on  the  east,  and  diorite 
on  the  west.     A  vertical  section  of  the  Sutro  tunnel  in  the  same  atlas  shows 
the  andesites  to  prevail  along  the  tunnel. 

Mines  and  Miners,  by  William  Ralston  Balch,  a  quarto  of  1,200  pages, 
Philadelphia,  1882,  contains  good  descriptive  matter  concerning  the  Com 
stock  lode,  with  illustrations.  Balch,  who  is  simply  a  compiler,  adopts  for 
the  country  rock  of  the  Virginia  or  Washoe  district,  the  term  of  probylite 
for  the  east  side,  and  syenite  for  the  west  side,  which  distinction  is  in  com 
mon  use  among  resident  miners. 

King's  Geological  Explor.,  iii.  11-96,  contains  a  full  description  of  the 
Comstock  lode,  with  drawings  and  minute  information  of  a  valuable  character. 

43  John  Percival  Jones,  who  for  years  was  prominently  connected  with 
the  Comstock,  was  a  Welchman  by  birth,  and  came  with  his  parents  to  the 
United  States  in  1830,  while  yet  an  infant.     After  receiving  his  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  New  York  city,  his  first  occupation  was  in  a  marble- 
yard,  and  as  a  worker  in  stone.     In   1850  he  came  to  California,  and  was 
af  terwards  employed  in  various  capacities,  serving  in  the  state  senate  between 
1863  and   1867,  and  in   1868  being  appointed  superintendent  of  the  Crown 
Point  mine.     In  this  company  there  was  afterward  disclosed  a  large  body  of 
rich  ore,  and  its  stock  arose  from  82  or  S3  to  $1,800  a  share,  whereby  he 
became  very  wealthy.     In  1873  he  was  elected  U.  S.  senator  for  Nevada, 
and  reflected  in  187$,  and  again  in  1883,  and  while  a  member  of  that  body 
was  recognized  as  a   clear  and  cogent  speaker,  a  man  of  liberal  views,  of 
great  erudition,  and  unsparing  in  research.     The  senator  was  twice  married, 
his  first  wife  being  the  daughter  of  Judge  Conger,  and  the  second  the  daugh 
ter  of  Eugene  A.  Sullivan,  a  most  accomplished  and  benevolent  woman. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

TERRITORIAL  ORGANIZATION. 
1859-1864. 

THE  NAME  NEVADA — AREA  AND  LIMITS — THE  QUESTION  OF  BOUNDARY — 
COMMISSIONS  AND  SURVEYS — DIFFICULTIES  WITH  CALIFORNIA — TERRI 
TORIAL  OFFICERS — GOVERNORNYE — FIRST  LEGISLATURE — CODE  OF  LAWS 
AND  COURSE  OF  LEGISLATION— COUNTY  ORGANIZATIONS  AND  OFFICERS 
— CAPITAL— JUDICIAL  DISTRICTS  AND  JUDICIARY — STATE  OF  SOCIETY — 
EDUCATIONAL — NEWSPAPER  PRESS — CORRUPTION  OF  LAWYERS  AND 
JUDGES. 

How  the  territory,  which  in  answer  to  so  many 
prayers  was  organized  out  of  western  Utah  on  the  2d 
of  March,  1861,  came  to  be  called  simply  Nevada, 
snowy,  is  not  altogether  clear.  When  Delegate 
Crane  wrote  to  his  constituents  from  Washington  in 
February  1858,  he  assured  them  that  a  territorial 
government  was  about  to  be  established  under  the 
name  of  Sierra  Nevada.  On  the  12th  of  May,  1859, 
a  bill  was  introduced  in  the  house  to  organize  the 
territory  of  Nevada.1  The  assembly  which  met  at 
Genoa  in  December  1859  was  reported  as  the  first 
legislature  of  the  "  territory  of  Nevada."5  At  a  later 
period,  when  Nevada  was  applying  for  admission  as  a 
state,  motions  were  made  in  convention  to  change 
the  name  to  Washoe,  Humboldt,  and  Esmeralda.3 
Sierra  Plata,  silver  mountains,  was  mentioned  in  de 
bate  in  allusion  to  its  mineralogical  features,  but  it 

1H.  Jour.,  789,  35th  cong.  1st  sess.;  Nev.  Laws,  1861,  ix.-xiv.,  1864-5, 
23-31;  U.  S.  Const,  and  Charters,  ii.  1240-5;  House  Ex.  Doc.,  47,  pt3,  1081-2, 
46  cong.  3d  sess. 

2  Sac.  Union,  Dec.  17,  1859;  Hayes'  Nev.  Scraps,  xi.  40. 

3  Nev.   CowttU.   Debates,    1864,    33-35;  S.  F.  Call,  July  7,  1864;  Howard 
Quarterly,  i.  pt  iii.  90. 

(150) 


NAME  AND  AREA.  151 

came  in  competition  with  Oro  Plata,  gold  and  silver, 
and  even  with  Bullion.  Having  escaped  all  these 
perils  of  nomenclature,  it  remains  simply  snowy- white 
Nevada/ 

The  area  of  Nevada,  as  defined  by  its  constitution, 
was  81,539  square  miles,5  but  after  being  allowed 
some  additional  territory  its  area  is  stated  at  112,090 
square  miles,  of  which  surface  1,690  square  miles  is 
water.6 

The  boundaries  established  by  the  constitution 
adopted  in  1859  commenced  at  a  point  on  the  Sierra 
Nevada  where  the  42d  parallel  touches  its  summit, 
following  the  crest  of  the  mountains  south  to  the 
35th  parallel,  thence  east  on  that  line  to  the  Colo 
rado,  thence  up  that  stream  to  the  mouth  of  the  Rio 
Virgen,  thence  ascending  to  its  junction  with  the 
Muddy  river,  and  thence  due  north  to  the  Oregon  line.7 

In  the  organic  act,  however,  it  was  bounded  on  the 
north  by  the  42d  degree  as  above,  east  by  the  39th 
meridian,  south  by  the  northern  boundary  of  New 
Mexico,  and  west  by  the  summits  of  the  Sierra  Ne 
vada  to  the  41st  parallel,  whence  it  ran  due  north  to 
the  Oregon  line.  This  gave  the  territory  a  consider 
able  portion  of  the  counties  of  Mono,  Alpine,  Lassen, 
and  Siskiyou,  subject  to  the  consent  of  the  state  of 
California.8 

The  boundary  between  California  and  Utah  had 
always  been  in  dispute.  The  first  United  States  dis- 

4  Various  persons,  at  various  times,  have  claimed  the  honor  of  having 
proposed  the  present  name,  but  the  facts,  as  I  have  presented,  make  clear 
the  merit  of  such  pretensions.  The  act  of  Dec.  20,  1862,  calling  an  election 
for  delegates  to  the  constitutional  convention,  states  that  it  was  to  frame  a 
constitution  for  the  state  of  Washoe.  Nev.  Laws,  1862,  128-9;  Portland 
West  Shore,  April  1879,  121. 

6 In  Kelly's  Nev.  Directory,  1862,  the  area  is  given  at  65,000  square  miles. 

«Land  Off.  Kept.,  1867,  61;  Mess,  and  Doc.,  1868-9,  ab.  825-9:  Nev.  Jour. 
Sen.,  1877,  ap.  8,  1;  H.  Ex.  Doc.,  47,  pt  4,  419,  46th  cong.  3d  sess.  The 
area  of  Nevada  is  stated  by  a  writer  in  8.  F.  Alta,  June  24,  1866,  at  104,000 
square  miles.  Henry  Gannett,  geographer  of  the  10th  census,  reported  the 
area,  approximately,  at  104,700  square  miles,  of  which  960  were  water,  Cherry 
Creek  White  Pine  News,  Jan.  21,  1882;  Eureka  Sentinel,  Jan.  15,  1882.  I 
have  adopted  the  sur.-gen.  report. 

7  Carson  Valley  Territorial  Enterprise,  July  30,  1859. 

8  Nev,  Stat.,  1864-5,  25;  Sac.  Union,  April  6,  1861. 


152  TERRITORIAL  ORGANIZATION. 

trict  judge  in  Carson  county,  W.  W.  Drummond,  in 
1856  addressed  a  communication  to  United  States 
senator  Weller,  and  congressmen  Denver  and  Her 
bert  of  California,  informing  them  that  the  Mormon 
residents  claimed  Carson  valley  as  a  part  of  Utah, 
and  that  "a  large  and  respectable  portion"  of  the  citi 
zens  of  the  valley  contended  in  good  faith  that  they  were 
residents  of  California ;  that  he  himself  had  held  court 
there,  believing  he  was  in  Utah,  and  now  he  was  con 
vinced  of  his  error ;  that  an  important  case  had  been 
taken  to  the  supreme  court  of  Utah  to  be  argued  the 
following  January,  in  which  it  was  extremely  doubt 
ful  whether  the  parties  to  the  suit  and  the  property  in 
controversy  were  not  in  El  Dorado  county,  California; 
and  that  a  very  bitter  feeling  pervaded  the  minds  of 
the  anti-Mormons  against  paying  a  revenue  to  sup 
port  Utah,  which  was  in  open  rebellion  against  the 
United  States.  Drummond  accordingly  recommended 
that  a  boundary  commission  be  set  on  foot.9 

The  California  legislature,  in  April  1858,  passed  a 
concurrent  resolution  asking  congress  to  appoint  a 
commission  to  act  in  conjunction  with  one  from  that 
state  for  the  survey  of  a  line  conforming  to  the  con 
stitution  of  California.10  In  February  1859  the  Cali 
fornia  legislature  again  instructed  its  delegation  in 
congress  to  urge  upon  the  president  the  appointment 
of  the  boundary  commission.  Nothing  was  done, 
however,  until  the  spring  of  1860,  when  congress 
passed  an  act  authorizing  the  president  to  appoint  the 
required  commissioners.11  The  legislature,  without 
awaiting  congressional  action,  had  already  directed 

9S.  F.  Heraldic.  Hayes1  Min.  Scraps,  xi.  5.  The  grand  jury  of  the  2d 
district  of  Utah,  Cradlebaugh  judge,  in  Oct.  1859,  declared  that  the  unsettled 
condition  of  the  boundary  was  '  a  fruitful  source  of  annoyance  and  disputa 
tion  .  .  .  For  this  reason  criminals  charged  with  grave  offences  have  escaped 
conviction;  crime  has  been  boldly  committed  without  fear  of  accusation,  and 
valuable  property  remained  without  assessment  and  taxation,'  etc.,  and 
urged  that  congress  should  create  a  boundary  commission.  Territorial  Enter 
prise,  in  Id.,  25-6. 

10 Col  Stat.,  1858,  356-7;  House  Jour.,  977-8,  35th  cong.  1st  sess. 

11  Cong.  Globe,  1859-60,  app.,  475.  Scott  of  California  had  previously  in 
troduced  a  bill  to  change  the  eastern  boundary  of  California.  House  Jour., 
571,  1307,  36th  cong.  1st  sess. 


BOUNDARY  COMMISSION.  153 

the  surveyor-general  of  the  state  to  survey  the  line 
between  the  42d  parallel  and  the  Monte  Diablo  base 
line,  about  at  the  38th  parallel.12 

The  discovery  of  silver,  and  the  development  of  the 
Comstock  mines  gave  additional  importance  to  the 
subject.  The  California  governor,  in  his  message  to 
the  legislature  in  January  1861,  mentioned  that  the 
population  of  the  mines  was  desirous  of  being  arnexed 
to  California,  and  recommended  that  congress  be  me 
morialized  to  grant  the  right  to  California  to  extend  her 
boundary  to  the  118th  degree  of  longitude.  In  the 
following  month  the  territory  of  Nevada  was  organized 
with  its  floating  western  boundary  as  above,  and  on 
the  26th  of  March,  the  California  legislature  passed 
an  act  providing  for  the  election,  in  joint  convention, 
of  a  commissioner  to  cooperate  with  the  United  States 
commissioner  in  determining  the  eastern  limit  of  the 
state.13  At  this  time  the  terms  of  the  act  of  congress 

<^ 

organizing  the  territory  were  probably  unknown  to  the 
legislators. 

Governor  Nye  of  Nevada  addressed  a  communica 
tion  to  the  first  legislature  recommending  the  ap- 

E  ointment  of  a  committee  to  memorialize  the  California 
^gislature,  asking  for  the  grant  of  all  that  portion 
of  their  state  lying  east  of  the  summits  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada.14  Two  commissioners,  Isaac  Roop  and  R. 
M.  Ford,  were,  in  accordance  with  this  advice,  elected 
in  joint  convention  November  16,  1861,  to  proceed,  in 
company  with  the  governor,  to  the  California  capital, 
soon  after  the  meeting  of  the  next  assembly,  and  re 
quest  that  body  to  cede  to  Nevada  the  territory  in 
question;  and  on  the  29th  of  the  same  month  an  act 
of  the  Nevada  legislature  was  approved  authorizing 
the  governor  to  order  the  survey  of  that  portion  of 
the  west  boundary  from  Lake  Tahoe  15  to  below  Esme- 


1860,  184-5. 

l3CaL  Jour.  Sen.,  1861,  38;  Cal  Stat.,  1861,  587-8. 

uNcv.  Jour.  Council,  1861,  96-7;  Neo.  Laws,  1861,  513-14. 

15  Lake  Tahoe  is  called  Lake  Bigler  in  the  act,  by  which  name  it  was 
known  to  Californians  for  some  time.  rlhe  name  was  distasteful  to  many,  and 
certainly  not  so  appropriate  as  its  Indian  appellative. 


154  TERRITORIAL  ORGANIZATION. 

ralda,  and  an  appropriation  was  made  therefor,  with  a 
proviso  that  the  survey  was  to  be  contingent  upon 
the  non-action  of  California.16  That  state  making  no 
survey,  John  F.  Kidder  and  Butler  Ives  surveyed  the 
line  from  Lake  Tahoe  south,  and  received  pay  there 
for. 

The  commissioners  proceeded  to  California,  and  in 
March  1862  presented  their  memorial.  Nothing 
came  of  the  visit  beyond  a  conference  on  the  21st  of 
the  month,17  and  in  the  following  December  another 
memorial  was  sent  from  the  legislature  of  Nevada  to 
that  of  California.  Congress,  had,  however,  already 
attempted  to  compensate  for  the  loss  of  territory  on 
the  west  by  adding  a  degree  of  longitude  on  the  east.18 

In  the  mean  time  the  injurious  effect  of  the  unset 
tled  western  boundary  and  undetermined  jurisdiction 
was  becoming  more  and  more  apparent  with  the  in 
crease  in  population.  The  sheriff  of  Plumas  county, 
California,  in  attempting  to  make  an  arrest  at  Susan- 
ville,  in  February  1862,  was  resisted  by  an  armed 
force,  and  one  of  his  posse  wounded.  Governor  Stan 
ford  of  California  then  appointed  Judge  Robert  Rob 
inson  a  commissioner  to  visit  the  then  acting-governor 
of  Nevada,  Orion  Clemens,  with  the  object  of  con 
ferring  upon  the  means  of  peaceably  arriving  at  a 
settlement  of  the  boundary  dispute.  The  California 
commissioner  informed  the  acting-governor  of  Nevada 
that  the  authorities  of  his  state  would  not  consent  to 
the  summit  boundary,  and  it  was  agreed  between 
them  that  a  commissioner  from  California  and  one 
from  Nevada  should  be  appointed  to  establish  a  per 
manent  boundary ;  but  in  order  to  remove  the  danger 
of  any  future  conflicts  as  to  jurisdiction,  a  line  should 
be  temporarily  regarded  as  running  north  through  the 

16  Nev.  Laws,  1861,  269.  The  legislators  were  a  little  in  the  dark  about 
the  geography  of  their  territory,  '  Below  Esmeralda  '  would  have  taken 
the  surveyors  out  of  the  territory. 

11  Cal.  Jour.  Sen.,   1862',  387,  389;  Cat.  Jour  House,  1862.  390 
™Nev.  Laws,  1862,  195;  Acts  and  Res.,  1861-2.  295;  Cong.  Globe,  1861-2, 
408;  H.  Ex.  Doc.,  47,  pt  3,  46th  cong.  3d  sess. 


BOUNDARY  155 

eastern  end  of  Honey  lake,  and  as  running  south  on 
the  survey  of  Kidder  and  Ives.19 

On  the  16th  of  May,  1863,  Clemens  appointed  Ives 
commissioner  on  the  part  of  Nevada,  who  joined  the 
California  commissioner,  Kidder,  in  Lake  valley  on 
the  22d  of  May,  and  they  proceeded  to  establish  the 
boundary  line,  beginning  at  Lake  Tahoe,  and  running 
north  to  the  Oregon  boundary,  and  south  to  within 
one  degree  of  the  north  line  of  New  Mexico,  when 
winter  arrested  further  progress.  The  work  of  the 
commission  was  accepted  by  both  the  California  20  and 
Nevada  legislatures,  and  Ives  was  paid,  for  his  part 
of  it,  $3,000.  This  final  action  put  an  end  to  the  con 
flicts  which  for  many  years  distracted  the  communities 
on  the  border  of  the  two  commonwealths.  California 
yielded  a  jurisdiction,  long  maintained,  over  the  rich 
mining  region  of  Esmeralda,  with  the  town  of  Aurora, 
and  Nevada  relinquished  any  claim  to  a  revenue  from 
Lassen  county. 

Hardly  were  these  conditions  of  peace  entered  upon 
when  the  territory  aspired  to  become  a  state/1  With 
out  altering  its  boundaries  in  the  formation  of  its 

O 

constitution,  except  to  add  one  more  degree  on  the 
east,2'  in  order  to  embrace  the  mining  region  of 
Pahranagat,  it  was  provided  that  whenever  congress 
should  authorize  the  addition  to  the  territory  or  state 
of  Nevada  of  another  degree  on  its  eastern  border,  or 
California  should  relinquish  any  territory  lying  west 
of  her  then  eastern  boundary,  either  of  these  might 
be  embraced  within  and  become  a  part  of  the  state  of 
Nevada,23  thus  giving  evidence  that  Nevada  still  felt 

19  Butler  Ives  was  deputy  surveyor-general  to  John  W.  North,  and  John 
F.  Kidder  was  his  chief  clerk.  The  assistant  clerk  in  the  surveyor-general  s 
office  was  Julius  E.  Garrett.  Nev.  Laws,  1861,  xvii. 

"Col.  Stat.,  1864^,  506-7.  Nev.  Laws,  1864,  139. 

n  Nev.  Compiled  Laws,  i.,  cxxix. ;  Nev.  Constit.  Debates,  847. 

22  The  legislature  by  concurrent  resolution,  in  Dec.  1864,  asked  for  the 
extension  of  its  eastern  boundary  another  degree.  It  was  presented  in  the 
senate  by  Nye  of  Nevada,  and  ordered  to  lie  on  the  table  and  be  printed. 
Sen.  Jour.,  236,  38th  cong.  2d  sess. 

'»Neo.  Stat.,  1864-5,  GO;  133-4;  Cal.  Jour,  Sen.,  1865,  app.  55. 


156  TERRITORIAL  ORGANIZATION". 

herself  unfairly  dealt  with  in  the  matter  of  her  west 
ern  boundary. 

In  May  1866  congress  granted  the  one  degree  on 
the  east  to  which  Nevada  laid  claim,  as  far  south  as 
the  Colorado  river,  and  with  it  all  of  Arizona  lying 
between  that  river  and  the  south  line  of  Nevada, 
making  together  31,850  square  miles,  and  made  ap 
propriations  for  the  survey."  To  this  southern  terri 
tory  some  objections  were  made,  upon  the  ground 
that  it  was  worthless,  but  in  January  1867  the  legis 
lature  formally  accepted  the  gift,  after  passing  a  reso 
lution  in  the  senate  to  have  the  whole  of  Utah 
annexed,  and  in  March  1869  appropriated  $4,000  for 
continuing  the  survey  of  the  east  line.  Not  yet  con 
tent  with  its  area,  and  grasping  after  more  silver 
mines,  the  legislature  in  1871  asked  congress  to  give 
Nevada  all  of  Idaho  lying  south  of  the  Owyhee  river, 
to  which  request  no  favorable  answer  was  returned. 
The  same  legislative  body  memorialized  the  California 
assembly  to  grant  them  the  boundary  named  in  the 
organic  act  of  Nevada  territory,  namely,  the  summit 
of  the  Sierra.25  But  this  attempt  to  revive  the  boun 
dary  agitation  met  with  no  approval  by  that  body.26 
It  was,  however,  agitated  about  this  time  by  the 
commissioner  of  the  general  land  office,  Willis  W. 
Drummond,  who  reported  in  1871  that  the  line  be 
tween  California  and  Nevada,  from  Lake  Tahoe  north 
to  the  Oregon  boundary,  had  never  been  correctly 
surveyed,  and  asked  for  an  appropriation  of  over 
$41,000  to  have  the  survey  rectified.  It  was  alleged 
that  California  was  at  that  time  exercising  jurisdiction 
over  13,000  square  miles  of  Nevada  territory.27  The 

24  First  appropriation  in  1868  was  $10,625,  which  was  increased  to  $17,000 
in  1870,  when  I.  E.  James  began  the  survey.     Mess,  and  Doc.,  1871-2,  pt.  i., 
49-51 ;  Carson  Appeal,  Oct.  2,  1870. 

25  House  Jour.,  137-8,  42d  cong.  1st  sess.;  House  Misc.  Doc.,  32,  42d  cong. 
Istsess.;  Nev.  Laivs,  1871,   185;  Nev.  Jour.  House,   1867,  116,  123-4,   195-7. 
235;  Neo.  Jour.  Sen.,   1871,  160-2;  Carson  State  Register,  Aug.     ,1871.     Dis* 
turners  Dir.,   1881,   10;  Austin  Reese  River  Reveille,  Dec.   15,  1855;  Elliott  & 
Co'*  Hist.  Ariz.,  29;  Tullidges  Hist.  Salt  Lake  City,  247. 

26  U.  S.  Comtit.  and  Charters,  1240. 

27  Virginia  City  Territorial  Enterprise,  in  S.  F.  Chronicle,  April  13,  1872. 


TERRITORIAL  OFFICIALS  157 

survey  of  the  west  and  east  lines  was  finally  com 
pleted  in  1874,28  the  returns  being  made  by  Allexery 
Von  Schmidt,  astronomer  and  surveyor,  who  gave 
the  length  of  line  between  California  and  Nevada  at 
a  little  over  611  miles,29  the  north  line  coincident 
with  the  42d  parallel  being  310  miles,  and  the  east 
line  somewhat  shorter  than  the  west,  the  southern 
boundary  being  a  sharp  angle.  Notwithstanding  the 
frequent  discussions  of  the  boundary  between  Nevada 
and  California,  which  should  have  led  to  a  better 
knowledge  of  the  limits  of  either,  litigation  has  been 
had  as  late  as  1881,  founded  upon  a  dispute  as  to  the 
proper  jurisdiction. 

The  United  States  officers,  appointed  upon  the  or 
ganization  of  the  territory  of  Nevada,30  were  James 
W.  Nye,  governor,31  Orion  Clemens  territorial  secre 
tary,3"  George  Turner  chief  justice,  Horatio  M.  Jones 
and  Gordon  N.  Mott  associate  justices,  with  Benja 
min  B.  Bunker  United  States  attorney,33  Do  Bates 

™Cal.  Jour.  Sen.,  1875;  app.  10,  7-8. 

29 House  Ex.  Doc.,  i.  pt  5.,  13;  Nev.  Jour.  Sen.,  1877,  app.  8,  1;  Id.,  1879 
app  9,  3-4. 

30  The  Cal.  legislature  assisted  in  persuading  congress  to  create  a  new  ter 
ritory,  instructing  its  delegation  in  Washington  to. use  their  best  endeavors. 
Cal.  Stat.,  1860,  409.     Gwin  and  Latham  of  Cal.,  and  Otero  or  New  Mexico, 
presented  bills  in  favor  of  the  project.     Jour.  Sen.,  181,  36th  cong.  1st  sess. ; 
Cong.   Globe-,  1859-60,  374,  317,  2668.     Latham  presented  3  petitions   from 
western  Utah;  Grow  of  Pa  presented  a  bill  in  the  house  for  the  temporary 
government  of  Nevada.     Green  of  Mo.    was  the   author  of   the  bill  which 
finally  passed  the  senate  Feb.  26,  1861,  and  the  house  on  March  2,  1861,  and 
was  approved  the  same  day.     Jour.  Sen.,  228,  317,  372,  36th  cong.  2d  sess.; 
Ex.  Doc. ,  vol.  26,  1084,  46th  cong.  3d  sess. 

31  Commissioned  March  22,  1861.     Nye  was  born  in  Mass,  about  1815,  re 
moved  at  an  early  age  to  N.  Y.,  where  he  was  educated  for  the  bar.     He 
practised  in  Syracuse  4  years,  removing  thence  to  N.  Y.  City  in  1857,  where 
he  was  appointed  com.  of  police.     His  reputation  as  a  political  orator  was 
made  in  1848,  in  supporting  free -soil  principles.     Though  a  democrat,  he  was 
strongly  anti-slavery.     Syracuse  Journal  in  Dayton  L.   C.  Sentinel  Feb.   11, 
1865;  Gold  Hill  New*.  March  8,  1870;    Virginia  City  Chronicle,  Dec.  28,   1876; 
S.  F.  Evening  Post,  Jan.  13,  1877. 

32  Clemens  was  from  Mo.,  and  a  brother  of  Samuel  Clemens  (Mark  Twain), 
who  accompanied  him  to  Nevada.     J.  C.  Gallagher  officiated  as  secretary 
Until  the  arrival  of  Clemens,  about  the  middle  of  August. 

33  J.   McC  Reardon  was  clerk  sup.  ct;  David  M.  Hanson  clerk  1st  dist, 
with  Dighton  Corson  district  attorney;  Alfred  Helm  clerk  of  the  2d  district; 
with  Marcus  D.  Larrows  attorney;  Alfred  James  clerk  of  the  3d  district, 
with  E.  B.  Zabriskie  attorney,  Ntv.  Laws,  1861,  xvii. 


158  TERRITORIAL  ORGANIZATION. 

marshal,  and  John  W.  North  surveyor-general.  Gov 
ernor  Nye  arrived  in  July,  his  proclamation  declaring 
'  the  territory  organized  being  issued  on  the  1 1th,  fol 
lowing  which,  on  the  24th,  was  the  order  to  take  a 
census  of  the  population  preparatory  to  districting 
the  territory  and  ordering  an  election,  Henry  De 
G-root,  in  the  absence  of  the  marshal,  being  appointed 
to  make  the  enumeration.  The  returns  were  made 
on  the  8th  of  August,  and  the  day  of  election  set  for 
the  31st. 

The  total  number  of  votes  cast  at  the  election  was 
5,291,  of  which  only  985  were  democratic,  the  great 
majority  in  Nevada  being  on  the  union  side  of  poli 
tics,  and  very  enthusiastic  in  support  of  the  govern 
ment.  "  Battle-born  " — meaning  organized  amidst 
the  tumult  of  events  on  the  eve  of  the  great  civil 
war — is  the  favorite  soubriquet  for  Nevada  in  use  by 
political  writers.  Born  on  the  eve  of  battle,  she  took 
no  time  for  infancy  or  childhood,  but  poured  out  the 
precious  contents  of  her  subterranean  treasury  with 
a  free  hand  to  the  help  of  the  nation,  from  the  very 
hour  of  her  birth.34 

The  election  resulted  in  the  choice  of  John  Cradle- 
baugh  for  delegate  to  congress,  and  in  the  election  of 
nine  councilmen  and  fifteen  representatives.35 

84  Nye  says,  in  his  report  to  Secretary  Seward,  in  Dec.  1861:  'I  may  here, 
I  think,  with  pardonable  pride,  call  your  special  attention  to  the  gratifying 
fact  that  the  tertitory  of  Nevada,  with  one  exception,  stands  alone  among 
the  states  and  territories  of  the  union  in  having  provided  by  legislation  for 
the  payment  of  her  share  of  the  war  debt.  The  money  will  be  subject  to 
the  draft  of  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  of  the  U.  8.  by  the  mouth  of 
August  next  '  S6n.  Doc.,  36,  vol.  v.,  3,  37th  cong.  2d  sess. 

35  As  there  was  but  one  county  organized  in  the  whole  territory  the  re 
turns  for  councilmen  were  made  from  the  following  districts:  No.  1,  includ 
ing  all  of  Carson  valiey 'south  of  Clear  creek,  J.  W.  Pugh;  No.  2,  including 
all  of  Carson  valley  north  of  Clear  creek,  Ira  M.  Luther;  No.  3,  Empire  city 
and  vicinity,  William  M  Stewart;  No  4,  Silver  City  and  vicinity,  John  W. 
Grier  (resigned  during  the  first  session);  No.  5,  Gold  Hill  and  vicinity, 
Thomas  Hannah;  No  6,  Virginia  City  and  vicinity,  including  the  Flowery 
mining  district,  Augustine  W  Pray  and  J.  L  Van  Bokkelen;  No  7,  includ 
ing  Washoe  valley  and  the  region  between  the  valley  and  Steamboat  creek, 
Solomon  Geller;  No.  8,  Steamboat  creek  and  Truckee  valley,  none  elected; 
No.  9,  including  all  the  territory  north  of  Truckee  valley  and  west  of  Pyra 
mid  lake,  Isaac  Roop  The  representatives  from  district  No-  i  were  Samuel 
Youngs  and  William  E,  Teall:  No.  2,  James  McLean;  No.  3,  W,  P  Har* 


LEGISLATURE.  159 

The  governor  ordered  the  assembling  of  the  legis 
lature  on  the  1st  of  October  at  Carson  City,  but 
houses  being  few,  and  owners  doubtful  of  their  pay, 
some  difficulty  was  experienced  in  procuring  a  hall. 
They  were  relieved  from  their  embarrassment  by  the 
offer,  rent  free,  of  a  large  stone  building  outside  of 
town,  belonging  to  Abraham  Curry,  famous  among 
his  fellows  for  deeds  of  generosity,  who  furnished  the 
impromptu  capitol  in  a  primitive  fashion  with  benches 
and  tables,  and  crowned  his  munificence  by  construct 
ing  a  horse-railroad  from  the  legislative  hall  to  Carson 
City,  on  which  the  legislators  were  privileged  to  ride 
free.36 

The  code  of  laws  passed  was  similar  to  that  of  Cal- 
fornia,  upon  which,  and  the  code  of  New  York,  it 
was  based.  Both  houses  passed  strong  union  resolu 
tions,  and  every  way  behaved  most  loyally.37  By  an 
act  of  November  25th  the  territory  was  divided  into 
nine  counties,  namely  :  Churchill,  Douglas,  Esmer- 
alda,  Humboldt,  Lake — name  changed  to  Hoop  De 
cember  5,  1862 — Lyons,  Ormsby,  Storey,  and  Washoe. 
r 

ington  and  John  D,  Winters;  No,  4,  William  L.  Card  and  R.  M.  Ford;  No. 
5,  John  H.  Mills;  No.  6,  Mark  H.  Bryant,  Ephraim  Durham,  and  Miles  N. 
Mitchell;  No.  7,  Edward  C.  Ing  and  J.  H.  Sturtevant;  No.  8,  William  J. 
Osborn;  No.  9,  John  C.  Wright.  Nev.  Jour.  Council,  1861,  5-6;  Nev.  Jour. 
House,  1861,  4;  Sac.  Union,  Sept.  16,  1861.  J.  L.  Van  Bokkelen  was  presi 
dent  of  the  council;  Henry  O.  Smeathman,  secretary;  William  H.  Barstow, 
asst  sec. ;  Noah  T.  Carpenter,  sergeant-at-arms;  P.  H.  Shannon,  messenger; 
Henry  Lewis,  page.  Miles  N.  Mitchell  was  speaker  of  the  house;  W.  M. 
Gillespie,  clerk;  Samuel  E.  Witherill,  Charles  C.  Conger,  assistant  clerks; 
J.  B.  McCormack,  sergeant-at-arms;  G.  S.  Pierson,  messenger;  Robert  T. 
Haslan,  page.  Nev.  Laws,  1861,  xviii. 

36  This  last  is  on  the  authority  of  Mark  Twain's  Roughing  It,  in  which  is 
given  a  humorous  history  of  the  first  Nevada  legislature.     He  says  the  legis 
lature  '  sat  60  days,  and  passed  private  toll-road  franchises  all  the  time. 
When  they  adjourned  it  was  estimated  that  every  citizen  owned  about  three 
franchises,  and  it  was  believed  that  unless  congress  gave  the  territory  another 
degree  of  longitude  there  would  not  be  room  enough  to  accommodate  the 
toll-roads.     The  ends  of  them  were  hanging  over  the  boundary  line  every 
where  like  a  fringe.'     The  same  might  have  been  said  of  all  the  other  early 
territorial  legislatures.     But  concerning  the  seats  for  the  representatives,  I 
find  that  Mrs  M.  A.  Ormsby  and  Miss  H.  K.  Clapp  of  Carson  city  donated 
on  the   19th  of  October  to  the  members  ' comf ortable  chairs  for  their  use,' 
and  that  they  were  not  only  thanked,  but  invited  to  a  seat  within  the  bar 
of  the  house  for  the  remainder  of  the  session.  Nev.  Jour.  House,  1861,  87 

37  Parkers  Letter-Book,  MS.,  34-6;  Kept,  of  Gov.  Nye,  in  Sen.  Doc.  36, 
V,,  37th  cong,  2d  sess. 


160  TERRITORIAL  ORGANIZATION. 

Churchill,  Esmeralda,  and  Humboldt  included  most 
of  the  territorial  area,  and  the  other  counties  the  pop 
ulation.  In  point  of  fact,  the  only  white  inhabitants 
of  the  central  and  eastern  parts  of  the  territory  were 
a  few  station-keepers  along  the  overland  mail  route, 
hardly  more  than  enough  to  constitute  the  usual 
corps  of  county  officers.  The  legislature,  however, 
nominated,  and  the  governor  confirmed,  three  com 
missioners  for  each  county,  whose  duty  it  was  to 
meet  and  apportion  their  territory  into  voting  pre 
cincts  preparatory  to  a  general  election,  to  be  held  on 
the  14th  of  January,  1862,  for  the  purpose  of  choosing 
county  officers,  who  should  hold  until  the  regular 
election  on  September  3d,  provided  for  in  the  elec 
tion  law  of  the  territory.  This  rapid  change  of  offi 
cers  gave  some  of  the  counties  three  different  sets 
between  the  1st  of  January  and  the  middle  of  Sep 
tember  1862. 

The  organic  act  provided  for  nine  councilmen, 
which  number  might  be  increased  to  thirteen,  whose 
term  of  service  should  be  two  years,  and  thirteen  as 
semblymen,  whose  number  might  be  doubled,  to  serve 
one  year.  The  legislature  made  the  whole  of  this  in 
crease  at  the  first  session.  In  an  act  concerning 
crimes  and  punishments  it  was  provided  that  no  black 
person,  or  mulatto,  or  Indian,  or  Chinese  should  be 
permitted  to  give  evidence  against  or  in  favor  of  any 
white  person ;  and  that  any  person  having  one  eighth 
part  negro  blood  should  be  deemed  a  mulatto,  while 
every  person  having  one  half  Indian  blood  should  be 
deemed  an  Indian.  In  the  civil  practice  act  it  was 
provided  that  all  might  testify,  whether  of  negro  or 
Indian  blood,  who  had  not  one  half  or  more  of  black 
blood  in  their  veins;  thus  placing  the  value  of  prop 
erty  above  that  of  life  or  liberty  to  those  who  were 
three  quarters  white,  an  impropriety  which  the  gov 
ernor  pointed  out,  while  he  approved  the  crimes  act 
on  the  ground  of  necessity,  the  condition  of  society  in 
Nevada  at  this  time  requiring  the  restraints  of  a  penal 


REVENUE  AND  RESTRICTIONS. 


161 


code.  A  tax  of  forty  cents  on  every  $100  of  taxable 
property  was  imposed  for  territorial  purposes,  with  an 
additional  tax  of  sixty  cents  for  county  purposes.38 
A  poll-tax  of  two  dollars  was  also  imposed  on  all 
males  between  the  ages  of  twenty-one  and  fifty  years, 
not  exempted  by  law,  for  county  purposes,  a  neces 
sary  measure  for  raising  revenue  in  a  country  where 
the  land  still  belonged  to  the  United  States,  and  the 
population  was  a  migratory  one.39  The  mines  with 


TERRITORIAL  SEAL. 

their  products  remained  untaxed,  although  the  design 
adopted  for  the  territorial  seal  had  reference  only  to 
mining  as  an  industry/0  A  law  to  secure  the  observ 
ance  of  the  sabbath  was  passed  and  approved,  which 

™Nev.  Laws,  1861,  144.  This  tax  was  raised  in  1862  to  50  cents  on  $100 
for  territorial,  and  80  cents  on  the  same  for  county  expenses.  The  last  terri 
torial  legislature  fixed  the  tax  at  30  cents  on  $100  for  territorial  and  not  to 
exceed  80  cents  on  the  same  for  county  revenues. 

39  The  poll-tax  was  increased  to  $4  a  head  in  1862,  and  might  be  made  to 
constitute  county  hospital  funds.     The  limit  of  age  was  subsequently  ex 
tended  to  sixty  years,  and  assessors  made  ex-ofiicio  poll-tax  collectors. 

40  Mountains,  with  a  stream  of  water  coursing  down  their  side  and  falling 
on  the  overshot  wheel  of  a  quartz  mill  at  their  base.     A  miner  learning  on 
his  pick  and  holding  a  United  States  flag.     Motto:     Volens  et  Potens.     De 
signed  by  Secretary  Clemens.  Nev.  Jour.  Council,  1861,  46;  Neo.  House  Jour., 
43;  Nev.  Laws,  1861,  295,     Certainly  nothing  classic. 

HIST.  NEV.    11 


162  TERRITORIAL  ORGANIZATION". 

inflicted  a  fine  of  not  less  than  $30  nor  more  than 
$250  for  keeping  open  a  play-house,  gambling-den, 
cock-pit,  or  engaging  in  any  species  of  noisy  amuse 
ments  on  the  "first  day  of  the  week,  commonly  called 
Lord's  day;"  and  the  same  law  interdicted  any  judi 
cial  business,  except  in  the  case  of  a  jury  in  unfinished 
deliberation,  which  might  receive  further  instruction 
or  deliver  a  verdict  on  Sunday ;  but  permitted  arrests 
for  crime,  and  an  examination  before  a  justice  on  Sun 
day/1  Cohabitation  with  Indians,  Chinese,  or  negroes 
was  made  punishable  by  fine  of  not  less  than  $100 
nor  more  than  $500,  or  imprisonment  in  the  county 
jail  for  not  less  than  one  month  nor  more  than  six. 
Lotteries  were  also  forbidden.  Altogether  the  work 
of  the  first  legislature,  which  extended  over  sixty 
days,  was  discreet  and  moral,  and  it  would  have  been 
well  could  they  have  kept  society  up  to  their  standard. 

With  the  adjournment  of  the  legislature,  the  offi 
cials  appointed  by  that  body  and  the  governor  came 
into  power/2  and  arranged  the  preliminaries  of  the 
coming  election  of  county  officers.  Some  difficulty 
was  experienced  in  appointing  officers  for  Lake  and 
Esmeralda  counties,  arising  from  the  disputed  boun- 

°-Nev.  Comp.  Laws,  i.  2;  8.  F.  Bulletin,  Oct.  24,  1861. 

42  The  commissioners  appointed  bj7"  Oov.  Nye  for  Douglas  county  were  S. 
A.  Kinsey,  Hiram  Mott,  and  Henry  Vansickle;  county  clerk,  Joel  A.  Harvey; 
surveyor,  Robert  F.  Hart;  sheriff,  Wiiliam  Wallace;  probate  judge, 
Chauncey  N.  Note  ware;  recorder,  B.  Rush  Horton;  treasurer,  John  Ting- 
man.  Com.  of  Humboldt  co.,  M.  S.  Thompson,  A.  U.  Sylvester,  and  A. 
Benway;  sheriff,  A.  W.  Nightingill;  probate  judge,  A.  W.  Olliver.  Com.  of 
Lyon  and  Churchill  counties,  E.  B.  Zabriskie,  Rufus  E.  Trask,  and  S.  S. 
Buckland;  co.  clerk,  Daniel  Kendrick;  sur.,  Francis  Tagliabue;  sheriff,  J. 
Martin  Reese;  dist.  atty.,  Frank  H.  Kennedy;  treas.,  John  Irvine;  rec.,  John 
G.  Shirts.  Com.  of  Ormsby  co.,  H.  F.  Rice,  J.  S.  Albro,  and  F.  A.  Tritle; 
co.  clerk,  Parker  H.  Pierce;  sheriff,  William  L.  Marley;  sur.,  James  S.  Law- 
son;  probate  judge,  E.  C.  Dixon;  dist.  atty,  Dighton  Corson;  treas.,  Philip 
Sjboner.  Com.  of  Story  co.,  H.  G.  Blasdel,  Charles  E.  Olney,  and  Israel 
Knox;  co.  clerk,  Nelson  W.  Winton;  probate  judge,  Leonard  W.  Ferris; 
sheriff,  William  H.  Howard;  rec.,  H.  G.  Blaisdell;  sur.,  Seneca  H.  Marlette. 
Com.  of  Lake  co.,  William  Wetherlo,  William  H.  Naightley,  and  Daniel 
Murray.  They  failed  to  provide  for  the  election  as  intended,  and  the  county 
was  not  organized  until  the  following  year.  Com.  of  Washoe  co.,  F.  H. 
Burroughs,  H.  F.  Pierce,  and  C.  C.  Smith;  sheriff,  Charles  C.  Smith;  co. 
clerk,  B.  E.  Shannon;  rec.,  Isaac  Mears;  supt  schools,  J.  W.  North,  Nev. 
Jour,  Council  and  If  ouse,  1861. 


COUNTY  AFFAIRS.  163 

dary.  In  the  case  of  Esmeralda,  it  was  divided  be 
tween  two  jurisdictions.  In  March  1861  the  California 
legislature  organized  the  county  of  Mono,  with  the 
town  of  Aurora  for  the  county  seat,  assuming  that 
the  bounds  of  that  state  reached  eastward  beyond  this 
then  thriving  place.  The  act  creating  the  county 
provided  for  the  election  in  June  of  a  full  set  of  county 
officials/3  except  a  judge,  who  was  to  be  appointed  by 
the  governor,  and  it  was  attached  to  Tuolumne  for 
representative  purposes. 

Before  the  arrival  of  Governor  Nye  and  the  organi 
zation  of  the  territory  of  Nevada,  the  election  had 
taken  place,  and  Mono  county,  with  a  full  list  of 
officers,  most  of  whom  resided  in  Aurora,  was  exer 
cising  jurisdiction  over  the  Esmeralda  mining  district 
of  western  Utah." 

An  appropriation  of  $10,000  had  been  made  by  the 
California  legislature  for  the  expenses  of  a  boundary 
commission  to  act  in  concert  with  the  United  States 
surveyor  in  locating  the  east  line  of  the  state,  and  the 
Nevada  legislature  appropriated  one  tenth  of  this  sum 
for  a  similar  purpose,  which  circumstances  deterred 
the  territorial  authorities  from  pressing  the  matter  of 
county  jurisdiction;  and  although  an  act  "to  legalize 
the  records  of  Esmeralda  mining  district "  was  intro 
duced  in  the  council,  it  was  not  passed.  The  question 
of  ownership  was  still  unsettled  in  1862,  no  complete 
organization  of  Esmeralda  county  having  taken  place 
before  the  annual  election  in  September;40  but  never 
theless,  at  this  election  representatives  were  chosen 
from  Esmeralda  county  to  the  legislature  of  Nevada, 
while  Aurora  was  doing  duty  as  the  county  seat  of 

43  Commissioners  of  Mono  county  appointed  by  the  Cal.  legislature  were 
P.  J.  Hickey,  W.  M.  Boring,  E.  W.  Casey,  C.  N.  Noteware,  L.  A.  Brown, 
G.  W.  Bailey,  and  T.  A.  Lane.  These  provided  for  the  election  in  June. 

"  The  officers  elected  were,  for  co.  clerk,  R.  M.  Wilson;  sheriff,  N  F. 
Scott;  dist.  atty,  R.  E.  Phelps;  assessor,  J.  H.  Smith;  treas. ;  William 
Feast;  sur.,  L.  Tuttle;  supervisors,  E.  Green,  Charles  R.  Worland,  and  J. 
S.  Schulz.  The  judge  appointed  by  the  governor  of  Cal.  was  J.  A.  Mouitne. 

45  Judge  Moultrie  had  resigned  and  J.  C.  Baldwin  had  been  appointed 
in  his  place.  Sheriff  Scott  had  been  killed  by  Indians  and  G.  W,  Bailey 
appointed  to  the  vacancy, 


164  TERRITORIAL  ORGANIZATION. 

two  counties,  one  in  California  and  one  in  Nevada. 
This  duplex  government  continued,  to  the  great 
annoyance  of  the  inhabitants,  for  all  the  years  during 
which  the  boundary  was  in  dispute.  Lake  county 
was  similarly  situated,  being  partly  claimed  by  Plumas 
county,  California,  with  the  difference  that  in  this 
instance  Nevada  failed  to  substantiate  her  claim  to 
the  Honey  Lake  valley,  which  was  supposed  to  be 
within  the  territorial  limits.  It  had  been  the  home 
of  Isaac  Hoop,  the  governor  elected  by  the  people  of 
western  Utah  in  1859,  and  was  made  the  9th  council 
district  for  the  election  of  members  of  the  first  Nevada 
legislature  by  Governor  Nye.  The  commissioners 
appointed  in  1861  did  not  provide  for  an  election  in 
January,  nor  were  county  officers  chosen  before  Sep 
tember  1862,  the  county  remaining  unorganized  until 
after  the  second  meeting  of  the  legislature.46  The 
representative,  C.  Adams,  did  not  take  his  seat,  and 
Councilman  Hoop,  who  held  over  from  1861,  was  the 
last  member  from  Honey  Lake  valley.  But  the 
legislature  in  1862  fully  organized  the  county,  chang 
ing  the  name  to  Roop,  the  governor  commissioning 
the  officers  elected  in  September,  appointing  a  pro 
bate  judge,  John  S.  Ward,  and  ordering  a  special 
term  of  court  to  be  held  in  January  1863.  This 
assumption  of  the  control  of  municipal  affairs  in  that 
region  brought  on  a  conflict  with  arms,  as  I  have 
mentioned  4T  in  a  former  part  of  this  chapter.  Before 

46 The  officers  chosen  were  W.  H.  Naileigh,  sheriff,  H.  J.  Barette,  clerk; 
Z.  N.  Spaulding,  recorder.  Frank  Drake,  treas. ;  E.  A.  Townsend,  assessor; 
Henry  E.  Arnold,  collector;  E.  R.  Nichols,  sur.;  A.  A.  Holmes,  school  sup. ; 
Franklin  Strong,  S.  J.  Hill,  and  J.  C.  Wimple,  commissioners. 

47TIie  trouble  began  by  the  judge  of  Plumas  county  enjoining  from  hold 
ing  court  a  justice  of  the  peace  of  Hoop  county,  who  failing  to  obey  was  fined 
$100.  The  sheriff  and  probate  judge  of  Hoop  co.  were  next  ordered  to  cease 
the  exercise  of  authority  in  the  disputed  district,  failing  of  which  the  Plumas 
co.  sheriff  arrested  them.  The  citizens  then  arose  and  recaptured  the 
prisoner*.  A  few  days  later  the  Plumas  co.  sheriff,  E.  H.  Pierce,  reappeared 
with  a  posse  of  between  100  and  200,  and  a  piece  of  artillery.  He  arrested 
the  judge  and  sheriff  a  second  time,  and  again  they  were  rescued.  Open  war 
ensued  on  the  15th  of  Feb..  1863.  The  Roop  co.  forces  fortified  in  a  log 
building,  and  the  Plumas  co.  forces  in  a  barn  near  by,  one  of  the  latter  being 
severely  wounded  by  the  Roop  co.  men.  The  battle  then  grew  hot,  resulting 
in  the  wounding  of  two  of  the  latter,  when  an  armistice  was  at  length  agreed 


COUNTY  AFFAIRS.  165 

the  final  survey,  which  left  all  of  Roop  county  which 
was  populated  or  desirable  in  California,  another  elec 
tion  had  been  held  in  that  district,  but  the  persons 
chosen  never  were  permitted  to  hold  office/8  and  Roop 
was  in  1864  attached  to  Washoe  county  for  judicial 
purposes. 

By  the  action  of  the  first  territorial  legislature  the 
whole  of  Carson  county  was  eliminated,  and  the 
records  ordered  to  be  delivered  to  the  secretary  of 
the  territory  for  safe  keeping.  The  expenses  of  the 
session  were  estimated  at  $35,000,  and  congress  had 
appropriated  but  $20,000  in  a  depreciated  currency/' 
The  members  were  paid  three  dollars  a  day,  and  three 
dollars  for  every  twenty  miles'  travel  to  and  from  the 
capital.  The  per  diem  was  obviously  below  the  actual 
expense  of  living  in  Nevada  at  this  period,  but  it 
might  be  assumed  without  fear  of  contradiction  that 
twenty-four  legislators,  with  the  necessary  clerks  and 
officers,  could  have  subsisted  themselves  comfortably 
for  the  forty-nine  days  they  were  in  session  upon 
$12,000,  the  lowest  sum  to  which  the  depreciated 
appropriation  had  fallen.  Compare  the  expenses  of 
the  first  Nevada  legislature  with  those  of  the  first 
Oregon  legislature,  and  we  have  the  difference  between 
the  views  of  a  mining  and  an  agricultural  population. 
The  salaries  of  the  federal  officers  were  entirely  in 
adequate  to  their  expenses/0  and  these  the  legislature 

upon  by  the  leaders  of  the  two  factions,  who  promised  to  withdraw  their  men 
from  the  field,  leaving  it  neutral,  and  to  report  to  their  respective  governors, 
requesting  them  to  find  some  peaceable  way  of  settling  their  difficulties. 
Frank  Drake  was  chairman  of  the  conference,  H.  W.  Jennings  secretary, 
and  the  two  sheriffs,  Pierce  and  Naileigh,  principals  to  the  agreement  which 
was  entered  into  and  a  copy  forwarded  to  the  governors  of  Cal.  and  Nev.  I 
have  already  stated  that  they  immediately  appointed  a  commission  to  survey 
the  boundary,  and  the  results. 

48  The  officers  elected  in  1863  were  William  V.  Kingsbury,  councilman; 
John  C.   Partridge,  representative;  and  H.  L.  Partridge  member  of  the  con 
stitutional  convention. 

49  Nev.    Comp.  Laws,  i.    239;  S.    F.    Bulletin,   Nov.   13,  1861;  Cong.  Globe, 
1861,  app.,  30.     Says  Clemens:   'They  levied  taxes  to  the  amount  of  $30,000 
or  840,000;  and  ordered  expenditures  to  the  extent  of  about  a  million.'   Once 
in  a  fit  of  economy  a  member  proposed  to  abolish  the  chaplain  and  save  $3 
per  day  to  the  country.   Houghing  ft,  191-2. 

50 Report  of  Xye  to  Seward,  in  Sen.  Ex.  Doc.,  36,  v.,  37th  cong.  2d  sess.; 
Parkers  Letter  Book,  MS.,  43-5,  98. 


166  TERRITORIAL  ORGANIZATION. 

might  have  been  justified  in  increasing  had  there  been 
a  population  sufficient  to  pay  the  tax.  But  no  such 
population  existed,  and  the  career  of  extravagance 
entered  upon  in  1861  entailed  upon  the  state  a  debt 
from  which  it  was  not  free  twenty  years  later.51 

With  regard  to  the  seat  of  government,  there  was 
not  in  the  case  of  Nevada  that  strife  concerning  its 
location  which  distracted  several  of  the  Pacific  group 
of  territories.  By  act  of  November  25,  18^1,  Carson 
City  was  declared  the  permanent  seat  of  government, 
and  the  city  plaza  was  dedicated  to  the  use  of  the 
public  buildings.  While  the  bill  was  pending  a  peti 
tion  was  presented  by  citizens  of  Virginia  City  ask 
ing  that  the  capital  might  be  located  there.  Silver 
City  also  asked  for  it,  but  it  properly  remained  away 
from  the  mining  district.52 

Governor  Nye,  by  proclamation  on  the  17th  of  July, 
1861 ,  divided  the  territory  into  three  judicial  districts, 
the  1st  district  to  embrace  all  that  portion  of  Nevada 
lying  west  of  the  118th  meridian;  the  2d  district  all 
between  the  118th  and  117th  meridians;  and  the  3d 
district  all  east  of  the  1 17th.  To  the  first  he  assigned 
Judge  Mott,  to  the  2d  Judge  Turner,  and  to  the  3d 
Judge  Jones.  If  Nye  had  been  content  to  give  Mott 
all  the  populated  territory  west  of  the  119th  meridian 
there  would  still  have  been  left  Ragtown  and  Aurora 
west  of  that  line  for  Turner,  though  there  was  noth 
ing  east  of  them  for  Jones  except  overland  stage 
stations.  Once  a  year,  according  to  the  organic  act, 
the  three  judges,  or  a  majority  of  them,  were  compelled 
to  hold  a  term  of  court  at  the  seat  of  government,  and 
on  this  occasion  at  least  the  two  supernumeraries  had 
the  privilege  of  occupying  the  judicial  bench  with  Mott, 

5lThe~number  of  senators  in  the  first  state  legislature  was  17,  and  assem 
blymen  36.  The  state  constitution  limited  the  number  of  members  to  75. 
Neo.  Laws,  1864-5,  61. 

5'2  In  1864  a  company  laid  out  a  town  on  the  flat  south  from  Gold  Hill  and 
called  it  American  City,  offering  the  territory  $50,000  to  remove  the  capital 
to  that  location 


JUDICIAL  MATTERS.  167 

who  perhaps  was  assigned  to  the  whole  inhabited  part 
of  the  country  because  he  was  first  to  arrive. 

That  his  presence  was  required  is  undoubted,  as 
the  governor  called  for  a  second  term,  on  the  21st  of 
August,  "  to  meet  the  necessities  and  wants  of  the 
people."5 '  A  part  of  these  wants  arose  from  the  great 
number  of  mining  suits  which  were  brought  during 
the  scramble  for  claims  on  the  Comstock,  but  crimi 
nal  cases  were  by  no  means  infrequent.  On  the  18th 
of  November  Deputy  marshal  John  L.  Blackburn,  an 
excellent  officer,  was  assassinated  while  attempting 
the  arrest  of  a  criminal  by  William  Mayfield,  one  of 
the  gang  to  which  the  criminal  belonged.54  A  reward 
of  $3,000  was  offered  by  citizens  of  Carson  for  the 
capture  of  Mayfield.  So  great  was  public  indignation 
that  the  clergyman  who  performed  the  funeral  ser 
vices  called  upon  the  people  to  secure  the  murderer, 
and  volunteered  to  assist  in  the  pursuit.  Mayfield 
was  arrested  on  the  21st,  and  placed  in  irons  in  the 
log  building  which  did  duty  as  a  jail  at  Carson. 
Threats  of  lynching  were  openly  uttered,  and  it  was 
observed  that  a  large  number  of  "  secessionists,  gam 
blers,  and  sympathizers  with  the  murderer"  were 
gathering  in  Carson  from  the  neighboring  towns,  so 
that  the  chances  were  divided  between  rescue  and 
summary  hanging.  The  governor  visited  the  jail  in 
person  several  times  during  the  night,  finding  it  neces 
sary  to  disarm  a  former  deputy  of  the  marshal,  and 
to  send  to  Fort  Churchill  for  a  military  guard,  a  lieu 
tenant  and  fifteen  men  arriving  next  day,  whose  pres 
ence,  it  was  thought,  averted  a  general  jail  delivery. 
The  desperate  social  element  was  not  so  large  as  it 
afterward  was  in  Idaho  and  Montana,  but  it  possessed 
the  advantage  of  being  thoroughly  organized,  as  it 
was  in  those  territories,  and  was  a  dangerous  force  to 

63 Nye's  Report  in  Sen.  Ex.  Doc.,  36,  v.  37th  cong.  2d  sess. 

54  Blackburn  had  killed  one  of  these  men  in  self-defence,  in  Nov.  1859, 
while  acting  as  watchman,  as  well  as  deputy  marshal,  in  Carson.  Doubtless 
he  was  marked.  Blackburn  was  formerly  a  resident  of  Dutch  Flat,  CaL 
Parker's  Letter-Boole,  MS.,  36-8. 


168  TERRITORIAL  ORGANIZATION. 

encounter.  By  its  assistance  Mayfield  escaped  from 
prison  and  fled  to  Montana,  where  he  was  killed  in  a 
drunken  brawl.  The  condition  of  society  was  chaotic. 
The  population  consisted  chiefly  of  men,  who  gath 
ered  in  the  mining  towns,  one  third  of  the  whole  popu 
lation  in  1860  being  at  Virginia  City,55  where  very  few 
women  of  the  respectable  class  were  to  be  found.56 
Gold  Hill,  which  was  a  suburb  of  Virginia  City,  had 
something  over  600  inhabitants,  and  only  fourteen 
women.  Silver  City  was  a  place  of  about  the  same 
importance,  these  three  towns  containing  over  half  of 
all  the  inhabitants  of  the  territory.  Before  the  or 
ganization  of  Nevada,  the  following  year,  the  popu- 

55  The  number  of  white  male  and  female  inhabitants  in  1860  was  6,102  of 
the  former,  and  710  of  the  latter;  total  of  colored,  45;  number  of  dwellings, 
2,037;  hotels  19,  boarding  houses  29,  restaurants  15,  saloons  63,  stores  109, 
barbers  17,  carpenters   118,  teamsters  131,  blacksmiths  54,  boot-makers  22, 
jewelers  4,  printers  6,  physicians  19,  dentists  4,   livery-stables  14,  harness- 
makers  1,  upholsterers  10,  tinners  11,  painters  9,  school  teachers  3,  tailors  4, 
brewers  9,  milliners  2,  gunsmiths  1,  speculators  21,   lawyers  5,  bakers  28. 
The  majority  of  the  population  were  miners;  a  few  were  agriculturists  and 
stock-raisers.     About  one  third  of  the  whole  were  of  foreign  birth,  Irish, 
German,  and  English,  with  a  few  of  all  other  nationalities. 

56  Total  population  of  Virginia  City  in  1860  was  2,390,  only  118  of  whom 
were  women.     It  was  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  Utah,  in  Feb.  1861. 
The  first  board  of  trustees,  elected  in  March,  consisted  of  N.  "VV.  Winton 
pres.,  J.  C.  Bateman  sec.,  George  H.  Shaw,  Joseph  Scates,  and  Louis  Feusier, 
city  treas.,  C.  P.  Robinson;  marshal,  D.  Bailey;  justice  of  the  peace,  Joseph 
F.  Atwill.  Kelly  s  Nev.   Dir.,   1862,    108.     The  editor  of  the  Territorial  En 
terprise  is  the  author  of  the   following  reminiscences    concerning  Virginia 
City:     The  first  child  born  in  that  town  was  Virginia  Tilton,  born  April  1, 
1860,  named  in  honor  of  the  then  new   mining  camp.     The  parents  were 
John  H.  and  Levina  S.  Tilton,  who  immigrated  from  the  east  to  the  mines 
in  1859.    From  Sept.  to  March  they  lived  in  their  wagon,  after  which  they 
occupied  a  house  built  by  the  father,  whose  first  employment  was  carrying 
mortar  for  the  Ophir  office,  while  Mrs  Tilton  earned  money  by  sewing.     The 
first  school  was  taught  by  Miss  Downing,  on  South  C  street,  near  Taylor,  in 
1860.     Miss  Gregory  opened  a  school  subsequently  on  D  street.     The  first 
public  school  was  organized  in  October  1862,  the  school-house  being  on  the 
site  of  the  present  third  ward  school-house.     Mr  Melville  was  principal, 
Miss  Fida  Collins  assistant,  and  John  A.  Collins  supt.     Only  17  children 
were  in  attendance  at  the  first  term.     A  year  afterward  there  were   360. 
The  first  religious  services  were  held  in  1861,  by  an  episcopal  minister  of  the 
diocese  of  Cal.     In  the  spring  of  1862  the  American  Church  Missionary  so 
ciety  sent  Franklin  S.  Rising  of  New  York  to  organize  a  church.     The  first 
death  was  that  of  a  young  daughter  of  Lyman  Jones,  who  was  buried  in  a 
cemetery  near  the  Ophir  works.     The  first  ball  was  held  on  Christmas  eve, 
1860,  at  which  the  following  women  were  present :  Mesdames  Dirks,  Paxton, 
Tilton,   Bryan,  Blair,  Flick,  Hastings,  Dill,   Howard,  Adams,  Ross,  R.  J. 
Smith,   Howard,   C.  Barstow,  and  Leonara  Dirks.     A  sleigh  was  made  by 
Mr  Whipple  expressly  to  carry  these  persons  to  the  ball. 


NEWSPAPER  PRESS.  169 

lation  of  Virginia  had  increased  to  3,284,  and  of  Gold 
Hill  to  1,294. 

Carson  City,  on  account  of  its  more  agreeable  cli 
mate  and  favorable  situation,  was  expected  and  in 
tended  to  be  the  business  centre  of  Carson  valley. 
While  mine  owners  bought  and  sold  and  speculated  in 
mining  ground  at  Virginia  and  Gold  Hill,  speculators 
in  town  lots  bought  and  sold,  and  built,  and  planned 
the  future  metropolis,  which  it  was  soon  found  would 
go  whither  the  gold  was,  in  spite  of  their  efforts.  Yet 
Carson  City  had  made  a  good  beginning  in  1860.  It 
had  an  able  and  flourishing  newspaper,67  the  Territorial 

57  The  first  newspapers  in  western  Utah  were  published  in  manuscript,  as 
early  as  1854.  The  Scorpion,  edited  by  S.  A.  Kinsey,  was  published  at 
Genoa;  the  Gold  Canon  Sivitch,  edited  by  Joseph  Webb,  was  published  at 
Johntown.  They  were  humorous  and  satirical  in  their  character,  and  fur 
nished  amusement,  if  not  any  great  amount  of  superior  journalism.  On  the 
18th  of  Dec.,  1858,  the  Territorial  Enterprise  was  started  at  Genoa,  by  "William 
L.  Jernegan  and  A.  James.  It  was  removed  to  Carson  City  on  the  5th  of 
Nov.  The  Enterprise  contains  a  complete  history  of  Nevada  since  its  organi 
zation,  and  has  been  conducted  from  time  to  time  by  able  writers.  In  1860 
it  was  a  20-column  weekly,  printed  on  a  sheet  21  by  28  inches.  Jonathan 
Williams  and  J.  B.  Wollard  purchased  and  removed  it.  to  Virginia  City  in 
Nov.  Its  place  in  Carson  City  was  immediately  filled  by  the  Silver  Age, 
another  weekly,  published  by  John  C.  Lewis  and  Sewall.  It  was  24  by  36 
inches  in  size,  and  union  in  politics.  In  Sept.  1871  it  was  issued  as  a  daily, 
16  by  20  inches.  The  Silver  Age  was  favored  by  the  legislature  with  the  first 
public  printing,  to  which  I  find  reference  in  Nev.  Jour.  House,  1861,  85. 
This  journal  was  also  sold  to  John  Church,  S.  A.  Glessner,  and  J.  L.  Laird, 
who  removed  it  in  Nov.  1862  to  Virginia  City,  and  changed  its  name  on  the 
4th  to  the  Daily  Union.  In  the  autumn  of  1868  it  was  again  sold  to  W.  J. 
Forbes,  who  called  it  The  Trespass.  Not  long  after,  John  I.  Ginn  and  Robert 
E.  Lowery  took  the  stock  and  published  the  Safeguard  for  a  few  months.  It 
was  then  removed  to  White  Pine  co.  by  J.  J.  Ayres  and  C.  A.  V.  Putnam, 
who  published  the  Inland  Empire.  Finally  Gov.  L.  R.  Bradley  pur 
chased  the  stock  and  sold  it  again  te  Holmes  C.  Patrick,  who  took  it  back  to 
Cal.,  whence  it  came.  It  served  afterward  to  print  the  Stockton  Republican, 
the  Narroiv  Gauge,  and  the  Daily  Courier,  respectively,  subsequently  to  which 
in  1874,  Laura  De  Force  Gordon  purchased  the  remains  of  the  plant,  and  pub 
lished  with  it  the  Daily  Leader  for  two  years,  after  which  the  press  was  taken 
to  Oakland. 

The  3d  paper  published  in  Carson  City  was  the  Daily  Independent,  started 
July  27,  1863.  It  was  a  24-column  sheet,  21  by  27  inches,  published  by  W. 
W.  Ross,  and  strongly  union  in  sentiment.  Israel  Crawford  became  business 
manager  in  August,  when  4  columns  were  added  to  the  size  of  the  paper,  and 
in  Oct.  Crawford  purchased  the  establishment.  A  company  consisting  of  G. 
W.  Calwell,  George  A.  Eades,  Andrew  Maute,  and  Charles  J.  Miller,  pur 
chased  the  Independent,  Feb.  28,  1864,  and  published  it  as  it  first  appeared. 
Within  a  month  Crawford  bought  it  back,  and  it  expired  Oct.  11,  1864. 

On  the  27th  of  Aug. ,  previous  to  the  suspension  of  Crawford's  paper,  H. 
W.  Johnson  &  Co.  began  the  publication  of  the  Daily  Evening  Post.  The 
press  was  one  on  which  had  been  previously  published  the  Message  at  Gold 
Hill,  by  an  association  of  printers  under  the  firm  name  of  George  W,  Bloor  & 


170  TERRITORIAL  ORGANIZATION. 

Enterprise,  a  water  company,68  a  seminary  of  learning, 

Co.  The  Post  was  23  by  32  inches,  and  contained  28  columns.  John  C. 
Lewis  was  einploynd  to  edit  it  until  Oct.,  when  he  purchased  and  changed 
it  to  a  morning  paper,  and  as  such  published  it  till  Jan.  1865,  when  it  sus 
pended.  In  the  following  Dec.  Lewis  started  a  weekly  journal  called  the 
Eastern  Slope  at  Washoe  City  on  the  Post  material,  continuing  the  publica 
tion  until  1868,  when  he  again  suspended,  removing  his  press  to  Reno  in  July, 
where  he  printed  the  Crescent  until  1875,  when  he  sold  to  J.  C.  Dow,  who 
commenced  the  publication  of  the  Daily  Nevada  Democrat,  which  was  fol 
lowed  by  the  Reno  Daily  Record.  In  1878  the  press  was  again  removed  to 
Bodie  to  print  the  Bod.ie  News. 

The  5th  paper  started  at  Carson  was  the  Daily  State  Democrat,  by  A.  C. 
Ellis,  Oct.  25,  1864.  It  was  a  campaign  paper,  17  by  24  inches,  containing 
20  columns,  and  supported  McClellan  for  the  presidency.  It  suspended  at 
the  end  of  the  campaign,  leaving  the  capital  without  a  newspaper. 

On  the  16th  of  May,  1866,  E.  F.  McElwain,  J.  Barrett,  and  Marshall 
Robinson  started  the  Carson  Daily  Appeal,  a  republican  journal,  the  first 
number  of  which  announced  the  capture  of  the  rebel  chief,  Jefferson  Davis. 
Henry  R.  Mighels  was  at  first  only  the  salaried  editor,  but  soon  became 
joint  proprietor  in  place  of  Barrett.  In  1870  the  paper  was  sold  to  C.  L. 
Perkins  and  H.  C.  Street,  the  same  who  fought  the  newspaper  battles  of 
secession  in  Idaho.  The  politics  of  the  paper  were  changed  to  democratic, 
and  the  name  to  Daily  State  Register.  In  September  1872  Mighels  repur 
chased  the  office,  and  issued  the  New  Daily  Appeal,  republican  in  politics,  on 
a  new  press.  William  Witherell  and  D.  R.  Sessions  were  employed  on  the 
paper  as  local  editors,  and  soon  Robinson  became  again  a  partner  in  the 
ownership.  Several  changes  were  made  in  the  size  of  the  paper,  and  it  re 
sumed  its  old  name  of  Carson  Daily  Appeal  in  1874,  and  in  1877  it  was 
changed  to  Morning  Appeal.  On  the  27th  of  May  1879,  death  deprived  this 
journal  of  its  inspiring  spirit. 

Henry  R.  Mighels  was  born  in  Norway,  Maine,  Nov.  3,  1830,  his  father 
being  a  physician  and  a  learned  naturalist.  Henry  received  an  academic 
education  at  Portland,  and  removed  with  his  father  to  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  in 
1849,  whence  he  came  to  Cal.  in  1850.  Possessing  artistic  talent,  he  engaged 
in  the  business  of  decorative  painting,  but  in  1856  took  the  more  congenial  po 
sition  of  editor  of  the  Butte  Record  at  Oroville  and  later  of  the  local  columns 
of  the  Sacramento  Bee.  He  was  the  first  editor  of  the  Marysville  Appeal,  and 
established  his  growing  reputation  on  that  paper.  On  the  breaking  out  of 
the  civil  war  he  went  east  to  enlist  in  the  union  army.  He  was  commissioned 
asst  adj. -gen.  with  the  rank  of  capt.  on  the  staff  of  Gen.  Sturgis.  He  was  in 
eight  battles,  and  wounded  in  June  1864,  from  the  effects  of  which  he  was 
disabled  for  duty  and  honorably  discharged  the  following  Nov.  In  1866  he 
married  Nellie  Verrill,  also  of  Maine,  by  wrhom  he  had  4  children.  A  short 
time  before  his  death,  being  in  broken  health,  he  adopted  the  advice  of  his 
friends  and  collected  for  publication  some  of  the  morceaux  which  had  dropped 
from  his  pen  in  his  journalistic  experience,  which  were  published  under  the 
title  of  Sage- Brush  Leaves  in  a  volume  of  335  pages;  San  Francisco,  1879. 

The  semi-weekly  Nevada  Tribune  was  first  published  at  Carson  City  July 
16,  1872  by  E.  J.  Parkinson  and  Joseph  McClure.  It  was  changed  to  an 
evening  paper  the  following  year.  The  Daily  Evening  Herald  was  started 
August  9,  1875,  by  Wells,  Drury,  &  Co.,  with  C.  A.  V.  Putnam  editor.  The 
Carson  Daily  Times,  republican,  was  first  issued  March  18,  1880,  by  Edward 
Niles.  It  suspended  in  1881.  The  Daily  Index,  published  by  Marshall  Rob 
inson,  commenced  its  existence  Dec.  25/1880. 

58  Organized  Feb.  9,  1860,  with  Wellington  Stewart  prest;  Thomas  J, 
Moore,  supt;  John  Leach,  sec.;  and  William  De  Kays,  treas.  The  legislature 
of  1861  granted  the  right  to  lay  water-pipes  for  supplying  Carson  City,  to 
J.  J.  Musser,  Jonathan  Wild,  Sarah  A.  Blackburn,  and  John  G.  Kelly,  and 
their  associates.  A  gas  company  was  also  chartered  by  this  legislature  for 


SOCIETY.  171 

founded  by  Miss  H.  K.  Clapp,89  a  telegraph  office, 
stage  lines,  and  other  adjuncts  of  comfortable  and  re 
fined  living.  The  plenitude  of  money  in  the  early 
days  of  the  Comstock  lode's  development,  while  it 
made  possible  a  rapid  realization  of  unwonted  luxu 
ries,  was  in  Nevada,  as  it  always  is,  a  temptation  to 
vicious  habits,  and  the  occasion  of  glaring  absurdities.6* 
In  Virginia  might  be  found,  notwithstanding  statutes 

illuminating  Carson  City,  J.  J.  Musser  and  George  Lewis  receiving  the 
franchise. 

59 Miss  Clapp  was  formerly  a  teacher  in  Ypsilanti,  Mich.,  and  very  en 
thusiastic  in  her  profession.  She  was  one  of  the  first  women  to  take  up  her 
residence  at  Carson  City.  Associated  with  her  in  the  Sierra  Seminary  were 
Miss  E.  C.  Babcock,  and  Mrs  E.  G.  Cutler,  who  with  the  principal  did  much 
to  give  tone  to  Carson  society.  Nevers'  Nevada  Pioneers,  MS.,  3. 

00  There  came  to  Carson  valley  in  1855,  with  Orson  Hyde's  company  from 
Salt  Lake,  Alexander  Cowan  and  wife.  The  maiden  name  of  Mrs  Cowan 
was  Eilley  Orrum,  and  she  was  born  in  the  highlands  of  Scotland.  At  the 
age  of  15  years  she  married  Stephen  Hunter,  who  immigrated  with  her  to 
Salt  Lake  in  1850,  where  he,  entering  into  polygamous  relations;  caused  her 
to  leave  him.  In  1853  she  married  Alexander  Cowan,  with  whom  she  re 
moved  to  Carson  valley.  She  kept  a  boarding-house  for  miners  in  Gold 
Canon  in  the  winter  of  ]  855,  and  the  following  summer  with  her  husband 
took  a  land  claim  in  Washoe  valley.  When  Orson  Hyde  and  the  Mormons 
were  recalled  to  Salt  Lake,  Mrs  Cowan  refused  to  return,  preferring  to  re 
main  at  her  farm  in  summer  and  keep  boarding-house  at  the  mines  in  the 
winter.  In  1858  she  married  a  miner  named  Lemuel  S.  Bowers,  an  illiterate 
Irishman,  who  owned  10  feet  on  the  then  undiscovered  Comstock  ledge, 
alongside  of  which  she  also  owned  10  feet,  for  which  she  had  paid  $100. 
When  it  came  to  be  known  what  lay  underneath  their  claims,  the  Bowers 
became  famous  alike  for  their  riches  and  their  ignorance  of  the  uses  of  wealth. 
But  being  urged  by  the  mischievous  miners  to  make  the  tour  of  Europe,  they 
set  out  in  1861  to  perform  this  pilgrimage,  having  first  contracted  for  the 
erection  and  furnishing  of  a  mansion  on  their  land  in  Washoe  valley,  at  a 
cost  of  $407,000.  Before  leaving  Virginia  they  gave  a  farewell  entertain 
ment  to  their  friends  at  the  International  hotel,  on  which  occasion  Bowers 
remarked  that  he  had  money  to  'throw  at  the  birds;'  yet  Sandy,  as  he  was 
familiarly  called,  was  as  innocent  of  boasting  and  as  kindly  intentioned  as 
ever  was  Dickens'  Boffin  of  Boffin's  Bower.  They  remained  three  years 
abroad,  and  probably  gave  some  color  to  the  popular  English  prejudice 
against  rich  Americans,  although  there  was  nothing  American  about  them 
but  their  money.  Four  years  after  their  return,  1868,  Bowers  died,  owning 
an  estate  valued  at  $638,000.  The  business  of  her  mine  and  mill  being  left 
to  the  care  of  a  superintendent,  Mrs  Bowers  soon  found  herself  hopelessly 
in  debt.  Her  fine  mansion  became  a  public  resort,  and  the  brave  Scotch 
woman,  with  so  much  that  is  dramatic  in  her  life,  supported  herself  in  her 
old  age  by  telling  fortunes.  Reno  State  Journal,  Jan.  9,  1875,  and  Jan.  5, 
1878. 

In  strong  contrast  to  this  phase  of  Nevada  life  was  that  of  a  Scotch  miner 
who  made  himself  an  abode  in  an  abandoned  tunnel  near  Silver  City,  and 
excavated  for  himself  a  number  of  apartments.  A  vein  of  gold-bearing  quartz 
ran  along  the  roof  of  his  dwelling  and  he  had  silver  ore  for  his  door-sill,  and 
silver  -in  the  walls  of  his  living  rooms.  The  eccentric  owner  had  a  good 
library,  and  being  of  a  serious  turn  of  mind  sometimes  held  religious  services 
in  his  cave  dwelling.  Grass  Valley  Union,  July  28,  1870. 


172  TERRITORIAL  ORGANIZATION. 

to  the  contrary,  every  form  of  vice,  and  all  kinds  of 
degrading  amusements.  On  Saturday  nights  the 
underground  population  came  to  the  surface ;  and 
while  business  houses  were  closed  on  Sunday,  bar 
rooms,  gambling-dens,  dance-houses,  fourth-rate  the 
atres,  and  bagnios  were  liberally  patronized.61  Duel 
ling  was  not  uncommon,  but  a  bill  introduced  in  the 
house  at  the  first  session  of  the  legislature  legalizing 
it  was  rejected.  Street  fights  and  murders  were  also 
frequent,  though  it  was  usually  the  organized,  migra 
tory  ruffians  who  perpetrated  robberies  and  murders, 
and  not  the  residents  of  the  territory.  California  as 
well  as  the  Mississippi  states  had  contributed  largely 
to  this  undesirable  condition  of  the  body  politic. 

Probably  the  first  federal  judges  would  have  been 
able  to  hold  their  own  against  the  criminal  element  in 
Nevada ;  but  opposed  to  the  combined  influence  of  the 
capital  and  legal  talent  of  California  and  Nevada,  as 
they  sometimes  were,  in  important  mining  suits,  they 
were  powerless.  Statutes  regarding  the  points  at 
issue  did  not  exist,  and  the  questions  involved  were 
largely  determined  by  the  rules  and  regulations  of 
mining  districts,  and  the  application  of  common  law. 
Immense  fees  were  paid  to  able  and  oftentimes  un 
principled  lawyers,  and  money  lavished  on  suborned 
witnesses.  As  I  have  explained  in  the  previous  chap 
ter,  the  community  and  the  courts  were  divided  upon 
the  one  ledge  and  two  ledge  theories,  which  nothing 
could  determine  except  actual  demonstration,  and 
demonstration  often  depended  upon  the  settlement  of 
the  suit. 

61  Jacob  Klein,  born  in  Alsace,  France,  in  1831,  by  trade  a  baker,  who 
immigrated  to  America  at  the  age  of  19  years,  and  came  to  Cal.  in  1853,  re 
moved  to  Nev.  in  1SGO,  settled  at  Carson,  and  erected  a  brewery.  In  a 
manuscript  sketch  of  the  Founders  of  Carson  City  he  describes  society  in  the 
Nevada  towns  at  this  period,  and  for  several  years  following,  as  bad  in  the 
extreme.  He  sold  beer  in  1860  for  §3  per  gallon,  which  fact  covered  a  mul 
titude  of  sins  in  his  customers.  See  Wright's  Big  Bonanza,  354-83,  392-6; 
Never*'  Nevada  Pioneers,  MS.,  2;  Gold  Hill  News,  Oct.  14,  1863,  and  May 
16,  1873;  New  York  Times,  Dec.  1863;  S.  F.  Bulletin,  Sept.  26,  1863;  S.  F. 
AUa-,  May  7,  1860;  Price's  Tw>  Americas,  250-7;  Virginia  Chronicle,  Dec. 
5,  and  18,  1876,  and  March  5,  1877;  Nev.  Scraps  480-1. 


LITIGATION  173 

In  the  case  of  the  Chollar-Potosi  legislation,  Judge 
Mott,  in  whose  district  all  these  suits  fell,  was  accused 
of  entertaining  the  belief  which  favored  the  Chollar 
company,  as  was  also  Chief-justice  Turner.  Mott  was, 
therefore,  worried  or  bribed  into  resigning,  with  no 
other  object  than  to  procure  the  elevation  to  the  bench 
of  James  W.  North,  first  surveyor-general  of  the  ter 
ritory,  and  a  lawyer  who  was  known  to  hold  opinions 
of  geology  adverse  to  the  Chollar  company.  North, 
who,  notwithstanding  appearances,  was  an  honest  man, 
found  himself  informed  by  telegraph  September  14, 
1863,  of  his  appointment  as  judge  of  the  1st  district, 
and  immediately  opened  court.  After  several  months 
of  tedious  litigation  he  decided  in  favor  of  the  Potosi 
company.  It  was  now  the  turn  of  the  Chollar  com 
pany  to  attack  the  judiciary,  and,  as  it  was  known 
that  the  chief  justice  was  on  their  side,  they  endeav 
ored  to  get  a  majority  on  the  bench  by  gaining  over 
the  judge  of  the  3d  district,  P.  B.  Locke,  who  had 
been  appointed  in  the  place  of  Jones,  resigned.  The 
appeal  to  the  full  bench  of  judges  was  argued  on  the 
28th  of  April,  1864,  followed  the  same  evening  by 
attempts  of  the  Potosi  people  to  influence  the  deci 
sion.62  The  excitement  ran  high,  and  Locke  was  se 
verely  and  justly  denounced  for  behavior  unbecoming 
a  man  in  his  position.  Contrary  to  the  expectations 
of  the  corruptionists,  however,  North  filed  his  decision 
May  5th,  with  the  concurrence  of  Locke,  affirming 
his  former  judgment,  and  debarring  the  introduction, 
in  a  suit  for  ejectment  against  the  Potosi  company, 
of  any  damaging  evidence  based  on  the  old  titles  of 
location  of  the  Chollar  company.  Bnt  the  advocates 
of  the  latter  company  used  means  to  induce  Locke  to 
make  an  addendum  to  his  decision,  which  reopened 
the  hearing  of  evidence.  Being  again  besieged  by 
the  Potosi  company,  he  ordered  the  addendum  struck 
off  the  file.  This  uncertain  and  unjudicial  behavior 

62  Territorial  Enterprise,   July  26,  1864;  Gold  Hill  News,   Aug.    3  and  4, 
1864. 


174  TERRITORIAL  ORGANIZATION. 

caused  both  parties  to  express  indignation  against 
Locke  ;  and  as  interested  persons  desired  to  get  North 
off  the  bench,  great  pressure  was  brought  to  bear 
against  all  the  judges. 

Among  those  most  anxious  to  unseat  North  was 
William  M.  Stewart,  a  young  lawyer  from  the  inte 
rior  of  California,  who  was  proving  himself  of  great 
value  to  certain  mining  companies,  who  retained  him 
to  look  after  their  interests  for  $200,000  a  year,63 
from  which  the  measure  of  his  talents  and  his  ener 
gies  may  be  estimated.  Stewart's  methods  were 
sharply  criticised  by  those  opposed  to  him  ;  the  state 
ment  that  he  was  not  always  over-scrupulous  was 
doubtless  inspired  by  the  fact  that  he  was  generally 
successful,  which  was  the  basis  of  his  claim  to  large 
fees. 

On  the  22d  of  August,  1864,  North  resigned,  to 
avoid  the  scandal  of  which  he  was  the  subject.  On 
the  same  day  the  chief  justice  followed  his  example, 
being  persuaded  to  it  by  a  "private  conference"  B4  with 
Stewart.  Immediately  after  this  triumph,  the  mem 
bers  of  the  bar  invited  the  remaining  judge  to  a  meet 
ing,  and  asked  him  to  resign,  which  he  was  forced  to 
do.65  Thus  the  whole  judiciary  was  removed  in  a 
day  by  the  bar  of  Nevada,  under  Stewart's  lead.66 
Some  of  the  public  journals  professed  to  believe  that 

63  Stewart  was  born  in  N.  Y.  state  Aug.   9,  1827,  and  came  to  Cal.  via 
Panama  in  1850.     He  mined  in  the  Coyote  claims  at  Buckeye  hill,  discovered 
the  Eureka  diggings  in  the  autumn  of  that  year,  and  projected  the  Grizzly 
ditch  which  supplied  them  with  water.     He  built  the  first  saw-mill  on  Shady 
creek  in  1851.     In  1852  he  began  to  read  law  with  J.  R.  McConnell  at  Ne 
vada  City.     The  same  year,  such  was  his  progress  and  talent,  he  was  ap 
pointed  district  attorney,  and  elected  to  the  same  office  the  following  year. 
In  1854  he  was  appointed  attorney-general  of  Cal.,  and  married  a  daughter 
of  ex-gov.  Foote  of  Mississippi.    He  continued  to  study  law  and  mining  until 
he  went  to  Virginia  City,  where  he  made  and  lost  several  fortunes. 

64  This  is  Stewart's  own  statement.     But  it  is  certain  that  there  was  a 
petition  signed  by  nearly  4,000  names  published  in  the  Territorial  Enterprise, 
asking  the  judges  to  resign.     The  petition  probably  emanated  from  the  same 
source. 

65  Stewart's  account  of  the  affair  is  that  Locke  hesitated  to  obey,  and 
turned  to  him,   saying,    '  Mr  Stewart,  what  do  you   think  I  ought  to  do  ? ' 
'Do  !'  replied  the  lawyer  gruffly,  'resign,  and  resign  now.'    He  was  obeyed. 

66  Territorial  Enterprise,  Aug.  23,  1864;  8.  F.  Bulletin,  Aug.  23,  18G4. 


LITIGATION.  175 

the  overthrow  of  the  judges  was  a  blessing  to  Ne 
vada,  as  it  would  stop  litigation  for  a  time,  during 
which  the  miners  could  go  on  with  their  work  with 
out  fear  of  being  enjoined  but  nothing  was  said  about 
the  benefit  it  might  be  to  drive  out  the  lawyers,  who 
took  hundreds  of  feet  of  the  best  mines  to  keep  litiga 
tion  going,  and  used  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars 
of  their  clients'  money  to  corrupt  whoever  stood  in 
their  way.  Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  Nevada 
bench  at  this  time,  I  know  of  no  more  trying  position 
than  that  of  an  appointed  judge. 


CHAPTEE  VIII. 

STATE  GOVERNMENT. 
1864-1881. 

LEGISLATION— MOVEMENTS  TOWARD  STATE  ORGANIZATION — THE  UNION 
PARTY— UNION  SENTIMENTS— MILITARY  COMPANIES — GOVERNOR  BLAS- 
DEL— FIRST  STATE  LEGISLATURE— FINANCES  —TAXATION— STRUGGLES 
FOR  SENATORSHIPS  —  MONEY  ALL-POWERFUL  —  GOVERNOR  BRADLEY 
GOVERNOR  KINKEAD — POLITICS  OF  THE  PERIOD — MONOPOLY  AND  POLITI 
CAL  CORRUPTION — SILVER  IN  CONGRESS — PUBLIC  INSTITUTIONS. 

AT  the  territorial  election  of  September  3,  1862, 
Gordon  N.  Mott  was  chosen  delegate  to  congress.1 
Twenty-six  representatives  and  five  councilmen  were 
elected  to  legislate  for  the  people.  They  changed  the 
time  of  meeting  for  succeeding  legislatures  to  the  sec 
ond  Tuesday  of  January  in  each  year,  granted  numer 
ous  franchises,  authorized  the  creation  of  a  jail  fund 
in  Orrnsby  county,  increased  the  compensation  of  the 
federal  judges,  authorized  the  preservation  of  files  of 
all  newspapers,  provided  a  contingent  fund  for  the 
territory,  created  the  county  of  Lander,  amended  the 
common-school  law  passed  at  the  first  session,  created 
a  prison  board,  and  performed  the  usual  amount  of 
miscellaneous  law-making 2  of  no  particular  interest  to 
the  historian.  It  should  be  noticed,  however,  as  re 
lating  to  what  has  gone  before,  that  at  this  session 
the  federal  judges  were  reassigned  to  their  districts, 
the  chief  justice  remaining  in  the  2d  district;  Jones 
was  removed  to  the  1st  district,  such  assignment  not 
to  take  effect  until  Mott  should  have  resigned,  or  until 

1«T.  J.  Musser,  John  D.  Winters,  and  J.  H.  Ralston  were  the  opposing 
candidates,  their  strength  being  in  the  order  here  given. 
*Nev.  Laws,  1862,  15,  65,  73,  76,  94,  53,  110,  115,  and  127. 

(17(5) 


POLITICS.  177 

the  4th  of  March,  1863;  from  which  it  would  appear 
that  the  legislature  contemplated  the  resignation  of 
Mott,  and  invited  it. 

In  the  matter  of  mining  laws,  little  was  attempted. 
By  one  act  mining  claims  were  made  thereafter  trans 
ferable  by  the  same  formalities  as  other  real  estate, 
but  conveyances  previously  made,  "with  or  without 
seals,  recorded  or  unrecorded,"  were  to  be  held  valid 
if  done  in  conformity  to  the  "lawful  local  rules"  of 
the  several  mining  districts,  and  by  these  rules  the 
right  to  contested  claims  should  be  decided  in  court. 
By  another  act  companies  might  sue  for  injuries  sus 
tained  by  the  mismanagement  of  adjacent  companies, 
and  any  judgment  obtained  might  become  a  lien  upon 
the  property  of  the  judgment  debtor,  either  party 
having  the  right  to  apply  to  the  courts  for  an  order 
for  a  survey.  By  a  third  act  corporations  might  sue 
individual  members  for  assessments.  By  this  law  it 
was  easy  for  the  rich  members  to  "freeze  out"  the 
poorer  ones,  and  take  their  shares  for  assessments 
made  by  a  majority  of  the  whole  company.  An  act 
to  provide  for  forming  corporations  was  an  attempt  to 
compel  mining  companies  owning  in  Nevada  to  keep 
their  principal  offices  and  books  within  the  limits  of 
Nevada,  under  a  penalty,  if  refusing,  after  six  months, 
of  losing  their  standing  in  the  courts  of  the  territory. 
This  act  was  not  approved  by  congress.3  On  the  20th 
of  December  an  act  was  approved  to  frame  a  consti 
tution  and  state  government,  and  an  election  of  dele 
gates  ordered  to  take  place  on  the  first  Wednesday  in 
September  1863,  an  appropriation  of  $3,000  being 
made  to  pay  its  expenses.4  The  vote  of  the  people 

3  Latham  of  Cal.  procured  the  disapproval  by  congress  of  this  act  beiore 
the  6  months  had  passed.  Sen.  Jour.,  220,  402,  37th  cong.  3d  sess.;  Arts,  99, 
37th  cong.  3d  sess.,  Misc.  Doc,,  11,  37th  cong.  3d  sess.;  8.  F.  Bulletin,  Oct. 
11,  1861. 

4 The  councilmen  of  the  2d  territorial  legislature  were:  John  W.  Pugh, 
Esmeralda  co. ;  Ira  M.  Luther,  Douglas  co.;  Thomas  Hannah,  A.  W.  Pray, 
and  J.  L.  Van  Bokkelen,  Storey  co. ;  Isaac  Roop,  Roop  co. ;  Gaven  D.  Hall, 
and  John  C.  Lewis,  Ormsby  co. ;  R.  M.  Ford  and  Henry  M.  Steele,  Lyon  co. ; 
James  H.  Sturtevant  and  Solomon  Geller,  Washoe  co. ;  M.  S.  Thompson, 
Humboldt  co.  John  H.  Pugh  was  president,  George  W.  Hopkins,  secretary, 
HIST.  NEV.  12 


178  STATE  GOVERNMENT. 

for  or  against  state  government  was  provided  for  in 
the  same  act.  If  they  desired  state  government,  the 
delegates  would  meet  at  Carson  on  the  2d  of  No 
vember. 

The  result  of  the  election  showed  a  vote  of  8,162, 
and  a  majority  for  a  state  constitution  of  5,150.  So 
strong  an  indication  of  popular  sentiment  inspired 
confidence  in  the  minds  of  the  delegates-elect  that 
the  instrument  they  should  prepare  would  be  accepted, 
and  they  accordingly  put  forth  their  best  endeavors 
to  create  a  constitution  which  should  meet  with  favor 
and  at  the  same  time  serve  their  own  political  pur 
poses.  But  in  this  last  attempt  they  defeated  the 
main  object.  The  constitution,  as  framed,  provided 
that  the  offices  created  by  it  should  be  filled  at  the 
same  time  that  the  vote  was  taken  on  the  instrument 
itself  This  naturally  led  to  opposition  from  all  who 
desired  to  be  nominated  to  some  office,  and  were  not. 
They  would  not  vote  for  the  men  who  were  in  the 
places  they  coveted ;  and  by  refusing  to  vote  they 
defeated  the  constitution,  and  the  plans  of  those  who 
had  expected  to  carry  out  their  designs  by  attaching 
them  to  the  success  of  the  constitution.  The  union 
party,  which  had  heretofore  carried  everything  be 
fore  it  in  Nevada,  exhibiting  the  most  intense  loy 
alty,  was  now  divided  by  factions  on  account  of  offices, 
and  the  seceders  united  with  the  anti-union  demo 
cratic  party  to  prevent  the  adoption  of  the  organic  act. 

Foremost  among  the  seceders  were  William  M. 
Stewart  and  A.  W.  Baldwin.  The  former  used  all 

George  L.  Palmer  asst  sec.,  George  Madeira  sergeant-at-arms,  Daniel  R.  Haw 
kins  messenger,  Henry  M.  Lewis  fireman.  The  representatives  were:  John 
H.  Mills,  James  Drew  Meagher,  W.  S.  Mineer,  J.  G.  Howard,  J.  Williams, 
M.  N.  Mitchell,  E.  R.  Burke,  and  William  H.  Davenport  of  Storey  co.; 
Theodore  Winters,  J.  K.  I.ovejoy,  and  R,  W.  Peekins  of  Washoe  co.;  W.  H. 
Brumfield,  A.  Curry,  and  Aaron  D.  Treadway  of  Ormsby  co. ;  J.  M.  Ackley, 
John  McDonald  Jr,  and  John  B.  Winters,  Lyon  co.;  Robert  Fisher  and 
Charles  M.  Tuttle,  Douglas  co.;  William  H.  Clagett  and  A.  J.  Simmons  of 
Humboldt  co. ;  Arthur  M.  Mekeel,  John  S.  Ross,  and  J.  M.  Calder,  Esmer- 
alda  co.  John  H.  Mills  was  speaker,  William  M.  Gillespie  chief  clerk, 
Charles  D.  King  asst  clerk,  John  Bowman  sergeant-at-arms,  Charles  T. 
Carter  messenger,  Charles  Helm  fireman, 


CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION.  179 

his  powerful  influence  to  enlist  the  mining  population 
against  the  constitution,  upon  the  pretext  that  it  taxed 
mining  property,  the  "poor  miner's  shafts  and  drifts 
and  bed-rock  tunnels."  The  phrase,  honest  miner, 
came  to  provoke  a  smile  wherever  heard,  from  the 
frequency  and  effect  with  which  the  great  lawyer 
used  it  in  his  speeches.  It  was  sufficient,  with  the 
political  discord,  to  make  abortive  the  work  of  the 
constitutional  convention.5  The  split  in  the  party 
appeared  at  the  nominating  convention  which  met  at 
Carson  in  December,  C.  N.  Note  ware  president,  A. 
P.  K.  Safford  secretary,  to  select  candidates  for  the 
state  offices.  It  was  there  that  the  regular  party, 
under  Thomas  Fitch,  the  "silver-tongued,"  himself 
an  aspirant  for  the  office  of  state  printer,  had  its  first 
contest  with  the  Stewart  division.  But  it  was  at  the 
polls e  that  they  felt  the  weight  of  the  opposition 
which  overthrew  them.7  Of  the  nine  newspapers  four 
supported  the  opposition,8  three  of  the  four  giving 
their  support  to  the  democratic  party  within  a  short 
period  thereafter,  and  the  fourth  in  1867. 

5  The  members  of  the  constitutional  convention  of  1863  were  William  G. 
Alban,  Nathaniel  A.  H.   Ball,  Charles  H.  Bryan,  C.  M.  Brosnan,    Samuel  A. 
Chapin,  John  A.  Collins,  Levi  Hite,  Miles  N.  Mitchell,  Joseph  R.  Plunkett, 
William  M.  Stewart,  and  James  C.  Corey,  of  Storey  co. ;  Frederick  K.  Bech- 
tel,  Henry  Conner,  James  Stark,  L.  0.  Stearns,  and  Samuel  Youngs,  of  Es- 
meralda;  Edward  B.  Dorsey,  George  L.  Gibson,  J.  Neely  Johnson,  John  H. 
Kinkead,  and  Warren  Wasson,   of  Ormsby;  Frederick  A.   Ent,   Edward  C. 
Ing,  John  W.  North,   Charles   S.   Potter,  Thomas  B.   Shamp,   of  Washoe; 
William   Epler,    W.    R.    Harrison,   and   A.  W.  Nightingill,    of  Humboldt; 
James  W.  Haines,  C.  N.  Noteware,  and  James  W.  Small,  of  Douglas;  Wil 
liam  B.  Hickok,  George  A   Hudson,  Frank  H.  Kennedy,  James  B.  McClure, 
and  William  H.  Virden,  of  Lyon;  Marcus  D.  Larrowe  and  James  H.  Ralston, 
of  Lander.     W.  M.  Gillespie  was  sec.,  A.  J.  Marsh  and  Amos  Bowman  re 
porters,  and  H.  M.  Stow  door-keeper. 

6  The  vote  stood,  with  Ormsby  county  left  out,  2,157  for  the  constitution, 
and  8, 851  against  it. 

7  The  candidates  put  in  nomination  by  the  convention  of  December  who 
received  the  greatest  number  of  votes  at  the  special  election  in  January  1864, 
were  John  B.  Winters   congressman,   M.  N.  Mitchell  gov.,   M.  S.  Thompson 
lieut-gov.,  R.  S.  Mesick,  M.   D.   Larrowe,   J.   B.   Harmon,    judges  of  sup. 
court,  Orion  C.  Clemens  sec.   state,  W.   B.  Hickok  treas.,  E.  A.   Sherman 
controller,  H.  G.  Worthington  atty-gen.,  A.   F.  White  supt  of  instructions; 
Alfred   Helm  clerk    of  sup.    ct,  G.    W.   Bloor  state  printer,   H.   M.   Jones, 
William  Hay  don,  T.  M.  Pawling  dist  judges. 

8  The  opposition  papers  were  the  Virginia  Union,  controlled  by  Fitch j  the 
Old  Pah  Ute  ,  also  of  Virginia;  and  the  Aurora  Times. 


180 


STATE  GOVERNMENT. 


But  though  disappointed,  the  friends  of  state  gov 
ernment  were  not  discouraged,  a  bill  being  introduced 
in  the  United  States  senate,  in  February  following 
the  January  defeat,  authorizing  the  people  of  Nevada 
to  frame  a  state  constitution,  which  was  approved  by 
the  president  in  March,  and  was  followed  by  a  proc 
lamation  from  Governor  Nye  calling  for  an  eleccion 
of  delegates  on  the  6th  of  June9  to  a  constitutional 
convention,  to  be  held  on  the  4th  of  July  at  Carson 


STATE  SEAL. 

City.  The  form  of  framing  anew  a  state  constitution 
was  gone  through  with,  the  instrument  being  sub 
stantially  the  same  as  the  one  rejected,  except  in  the 

9Unionvilk,  ffumboldt,  Register,  May  14,  1864.  Storey  co.,  where  the 
strongest  opposition  had  prevailed,  sent  Nathaniel  H.  Ball,  Cornelius  M. 
Brosnan,  Samuel  A.  Chapm,  John  H.  Collins,  Charles  E.  De  Long,  Josiah 
Earl,  Thomas  Fitch,  Lloyd  Frizell,  Almon  Hovey,  Charles  W.  Tozer;  Ormsby 
co.  sent  Israel  Crawford,  George  L.  Gibson,  J.  Neely  Johnson,  J.  H.  Kin- 
kead,  and  A.  J.  Lockwood;  Humboldt  co.,  James  A.  Banks,  E.  F.  Dunne, 
and  William  Henry  Jones;  Washoe  co.,  W.  W.  Belden,  H.  B.  Brady,  Gil- 
man  N.  Folsom,  George  A.  Nourse,  and  James  H.  Sturtevant;  Lyon  co.,  J. 
S.  Crossman,  George  A.  Hudson,  Francis  H.  Kennedy,  and  H.  G.  Parker; 
Esmeralda  co.,  B.  S.  Mason,  J.  G.  McClinton,  D.  Wellington,  and  William 
Wetherill;  Lander  co.,  E.  A.  Morse,  J.  H.  Warwick,  and  R.  H.  Williams; 
Nye  co.,  (created  by  the  legislature  of  1863-4),  Francis  M.  Proctor  and 
irancis  Tagliabue;  Churchill  co.,  Nelson  E.  Murdock;  Douglas  co.,  J.  W. 
Hames  and  Albert  D.  Hawley.  Johnson  was  president,  William  M.  Gilles- 
pie  sec.,  Andrew  Whitford  assst  sec.,  A.  J.  Marsh  reporter,  T.  M.  Carson 
Eerg.-at-arms,  William  E.  Skeene  door-keeper,  George  Richards  page. 


LOYALTY  TO  THE  UNION.  181 

matter  of  taxation,  the  new  constitution  exempting 
all  property  in  mines  and  taxing  only  the  products.10 
Everything  was  put  in  order  for  adoption,  even  the 
seal  of  state,  which  represented  the  sun  rising  over 
mountains,  an  elevated  railroad  bridge  supporting  a 
train  of  cars,  a  quartz-mill  on  the  right  with  a  load  of 
ore  approaching  it  from  the  left,  a  plough  and  a  sheaf 
of  wheat  in  the  middle  foreground,  and  around  the 
margin  "Seal  of  the  State  of  Nevada."  The  declara 
tion  of  rights,  and  of  the  paramount  powers  of  the 
federal  government,  were  in  the  most  liberal  spirit, 
and  of  the  most  intense  loyalty,  there  having  been  up 
to  this  time  but  one  political  party  recognized,  and 
that  the  loyal  party. 

Battle-born,  owing  existence  to  an  attack  on  the 
integrity  of  the  nation,  and  paying  for  it  with  a  moun 
tain  of  precious  metals,  we  should  scarcely  expect  to 
find  this  new  commonwealth  disloyal.  California  in 
1861,  while  raising  her  regiments  of  volunteer  infantry, 
received  a  company  from  Nevada.  In  1862  the  3d 
regiment  of  California  volunteers,  under  Colonel  Con 
nor,  commanding  the  military  district  of  Utah  and 
Nevada,  was  stationed  at  the  United  States  posts  in 
Nevada,  with  headquarters  at  Fort  Churchill.  Con 
nor  issued  an  order,  on  taking  possession,  forbidding 
the  utterance  of  traitorous  sentiments,  or  threats 
against  the  loyal  population;  and  though  having  now 
and  then  to  put  down  disaffection  by  a  show  of  force, 
he  had  little  trouble  in  maintaining  good  order,  the 
great  majority  everywhere  being  ready  to  give  him 
assistance.  In  1863,  an  order  being  received  to  raise 
a  battalion  of  cavalry  in  Nevada,  six  companies  were 
formed,  consisting  of  500  men,  and  six  companies  of 
infantry  of  about  the  same  strength.11  These  volun- 

19  Nev.  Laws,  i.  cxxvi. ;  Kinkead' s  Nevada  and  Alaska,  MS.,^t. 

11  The  first  officer  mustered  into  the  service  was  J.  H.  Matthewson,  who 
opened  a  recruiting  office  at  Gold  Hill.  He  was  commissioned  Istlieut  of  Co. 
B.,  Nevada  Cav.  Vol.,  N.  Baldwin,  capt. ;  Co.  A.  being  formed  at  the  same 
time  at  Silver  city,  L.  B.  Zabriskie,  capt.  Baldwin  became  major  of  the 


182  STATE  GOVERNMENT. 

teers,  like  those  of  California  and  Oregon,  were  enlisted 
with  the  promise  of  being  sent  to  fight  the  battles  of 
the  union  when  they  should  be  sufficiently  well 
drilled  ;  but  being  needed  on  the  frontier  in  subdu 
ing  hostile  Indians,  and  suppressing  incipient  civil 
war,  they  never  had  the  opportunity  they  craved. 
They  remained  and  performed  their  less  distinguished 
duty  in  Nevada  and  Utah.  The  rnilitia  organization 
was  also  made  the  subject  of  legislative  care  at  every 
session.12 

But  it  was  in  contributions  of  money,  so  much 
needed  by  the  government  and  wounded  soldiery, 
that  Nevada  most  exhibited  the  people's  patriotism. 
Besides  providing  by  law  for  the  payment  of  her 
quota  of  the  war  debt,  the  territory  contributed 
$163,581.07  in  currency  to  the  sanitary  fund  between 
the  years  of  1862  and  1865.13  Independently  of  this 
was  over  $175,000,  raised  by  one  individual,  R.  C. 
Grid  ley,  who,  from  being  an  open  disunionist,  was 
transformed,  in  the  performance  of  this  charity,  into 
a  loyal  citizen.14  Nor  were  the  legislators  less  mind- 
battalion,  and  was  placed  in  command  at  Fort  Bridger.  Zabriskie  could  have 
had  the  position,  but  preferred  to  remain  with  his  company.  H.  Dalton  was 
recruiting  capt.  of  Co.  C;  George  Milo  of  Co.  D,  Robert  Dyon  of  Co.  E.  and 
J.  VV.  Calder  of  Co.  F.  Co.  D.  was  afterward  commanded  by  Capt.  A.  B. 
Wells,  and  Co.  E.  by  Robert  C.  Payne.  The  infantry  was  commanded  as 
follows:  Co.  A.,  Capt.  A.  J.  Close;  Co.  C,  Capt.  M.  R.  Hassett;  Co.  E. 
Capt.  G.  A.  Thurston;  Co.  F.  Lieut  W.  G.  Seamonds;  Co.  G,  Capt  W.  Wal 
lace;  Co.  H,  Capt.  A.  B.  Kelly. 

12  The  companies  formed  in  1864  were  Dayton  Guards.  Dayton  Artillery, 
Emmet  Guard,   of  Como,    Silver   City  Guard,  and  others.  Dayton  Sentinel, 
July  2,  Sept.  3,  and  Dec.   3,  1864,  and  April  8,    1865;  Ncv.  Comp.   Laws,  ii. 
356-76;  Nev.  Statutes,  1866,  22,  206,   267,   272;  Nev.   Jour.  Sen.,  1873,  App. 
no.  i.  p.  18. 

13  Almarin  B.  Paul  was  secretary  of  the  Nevada  branch  of  the  Sanitary 
Commission.     The  above  sum,  as  given  in  Paul's  report,  does  not  include  the 
counties  of  Humboldt,  Nye,   and  Churchill,   which  must  have  given  from 
$6,000  to  $10,000  more.   Gold  Hill  News,  Sept,  8,  1865. 

14  The  Gridley  sack  of  flour  became  historical.     It  was  from  a  wager  be 
tween  two  citizens  of  Austin,  Lander  county,  upon  the  result  of  a  local  elec 
tion.     The  republican  candidate  for  mayor  was  elected.     It  was  agreed  that 
the  loser  of  the  wager,  which  was  a  50-pound  sack  of  flour,  should  carry  it 
to  the  winner,  a  distance  of  about  a  mile.     Subsequently  it  was  suggested  to 
give  the  sack  to  the  sanitary  commission,  and  amidst  much  mirth  and  en 
thusiasm  it  was  put  up  at  auction.     Men  bid  against  each  other  chiefly  for 
the  sport  it  gave,  and  the  person  to  whom  it  was  knocked  down  returned  it 
to  the  auctioneer  to  be  sold  over  again,  until  $4,549  in  gold  had  been  paid 
in.     Gridley  caught  at  the  idea  of  raising  a  large  sum  in  this  manner.     He 


PARTY  POLITICS.  183 

ful  of  their  expressions  of  loyalty,  but  passed  reso 
lutions  expressive  thereof10  upon  every  fitting  oppor 
tunity,  enacting  a  law  depriving  those  who  were  dis 
loyal  from  votintr  at  elections.  This  was  done  not 

i/ 

less  to  hold  in  check  the  agents  of  a  secret  organi 
zation  than  to  encourage  the  government.16  Had 
the  schemes  of  Gwin  and  Lane  been  carried  out,  it 
was  expected  that  Nevada  would  be  brought  under 
the  new  government,  and  of  this  design  the  union  men 
were  not  ignorant.  They  took  possession  of  the  ter 
ritorial  government,  and  kept  it  until  the  period 
when  a  state  constitution  was  under  consideration, 
when  the  democrats  proceeded  to  organize  themselves 
into  a  party,  Frebruary  14,  1863,  to  strive  for  what 
ever  share  of  the  offices  under  the  state  government 
they  might  be  able  to  secure. 

The  only  act  looking  toward  insubordination  was 
the  rejection  of  the  national  currency  by  incorporat 
ing  in  the  practice  act  of  1863-4  a  provision  substan 
tially  the  same  as  the  California  specific-contract  act, 
by  which  gold  only  could  be  paid  in  cancellation  of 
debts  where  the  contract  read  "payable  in  gold  coin 
of  the  United  States;"  but  this  did  not  receive  the 
sanction  of  the  governor,17 

The  total  vote  on  the  acceptance  of  the  constitu- 

visited  the  towns  on  the  Comstock,  where  he  sold  his  sack  of  flour  over  and 
over,  until  he  took  in  §25,000  more  in  gold,  after  which  he  visited  California, 
obtaining  altogether  from  these  auctions  alone  $175,000.  He  then  visited  the 
east,  and  added  considerably  to  this  great  charity,  giving  a  year  of  his  life  to 
the  mission.  It  is  said  that  he  injured  his  health  by  the  excitement  of  the 
campaign.  At  all  events,  he  died  in  1871  at  Stockton.  Stockton  Evening 
Mail,  March  10,  1881;  Harper's  Mag.,  June  1866,  34-6;  8.  F.  Bulletin,  May 
19  and  25,  1864;  Austin  Reese  Rioer  Reveille,  June  4,  1864.  Nev.  Scraps,  238. 
Among  other  gifts  to  the  sanitary  com.  were  several  silver  bricks.  S.  F.  Call, 
May  4  and  Aug.  17,  1864;  Como  Sentinel,  June  18,  1864.  The  last  silver  slab 
was  sent  in  1865.  Dayton  Sentinel,  Feb.  4,  1865. 

15 House  Misc.  Doc.,  70,  37th  cong.  2d  sess.;  Nev.,  Jour.  Council,  1861,  82- 
3,  102-3;  Nev.  Jour.  Home,  1861,  94,  199-201;  Gold  Hill  News,  Jan.  15,  1864. 

16  There  was  a  provision  introduced  in  the  constitution  enabling  men  in 
the  service  of  the  U.  S.  to  vote  at  elections.  Nev.  Constit.  Debates,  1864,  915, 
943;  Nev.  Laws,  1864,  81-5. 

17 Parker 's  Letter-Book,  MS.,  177-8.  The  Carson  Appeal  of  Sept.  22d, 
1869,  says  that  Nevada  paid  nearly  four  times  as  much  internal  revenue 
per  capita  as  any  other  state,  owing  to  the  honesty  and  efficiency  of  her 
officers. 


184  STATE  GOVERNMENT. 

tion  was  11,393,  the  majority  in  favor  of  it,  9,131. 18 
There  were  elected  at  the  same  time  the  members  of 
the  legislature  for  1864,  and  a  delegate  to  congress, 
John  Cradlebaugh,  on  the  independent  ticket.  The 
democratic  candidate  was  A.  C.  Bradford,  who  was 
beaten  by  Cradlebaugh  by  sixty-five  votes  only.  Fitch, 
the  republican  candidate,  was  far  behind.  This  was 
a  warning  to  the  republican  party.  However,  all 
these  elections  went  for  nothing  when  the  president 
on  the  31st  of  October  proclaimed  Nevada  a  state  of 
the  union.  As  the  presidential  election  was  yet  to 
take  place  in  November,  a  new  election  for  repre 
sentatives  and  state  officers  was  ordered  to  be  held  at 
the  same  time.19  Two  full  tickets  were  put  in  the 
field,  but  the  republicans  elected  their  candidates  by 
large  majorities.'0  The  choice  of  the  people  fell  upon 
H.  G.  Worthington  of  Lander  county  for  member  of 
congress  to  fill  the  unexpired  term  ending  in  March 
1865.  H.  G.  Blasdel  was  chosen  governor.21  Under 
the  constitution  the  state  was  divided  into  nine  judi 
cial  districts,  one  judge  to  be  elected  in  each,  with  the 
exception  of  the  1st  district,  comprising  Storey  county, 
which  might  have  three  district  judges.22 

According  to  the  constitution,  also,28  the  first  legis- 

l*Nev.  Constit.  Debates,  xiv.,  gives  the  majority  at  9,091,  but  the  Lander 
county  vote  was  not  counted. 

19  Congress  changed  the  day  fixed  in  the  enabling  act  to  bring  the  election 
on  this  day. 

20  The  total  vote  at  the  election  was  16,420;  the  majority  for  republican 
presidential  electors  was  3,232.     The  same  majority,  or  near  it,  was  given  to 
all  the  republican  candidates  except  two.     Nye  county  sent  one  democrat, 
Frank  M.  Proctor,  to  the  state  senate;  and  Churchill  county  one  democrat 
to  the  assembly,  James  A.  St  Clair. 

21 J.  S.  Grossman  lieut-gov.,  C.  N.  Noteware  sec.  state,  A.  W.  Nightin- 
gill  controller,  E.  Rhoades  treas.,  A.  F.  White  supt  of  public  instruction,  S. 
H.  Marlette  sur.-gen.,  C.  M.  Brosnan,  H.  0.  Beatty,  and  James  F.  Lewis, 
sup.  ct  judges,  George  A.  Nourse  att'y-gen.,  Alfred  Helm  clerk  of  sup.  ct. 

22  There  were  elected  in  this  district  C.  Burbank,  R.  S.  Messick,  and  R. 
Rising,  judges.     Ormsby  co.,  which  constituted  the  2d  district,    elected  S. 
H.  Wright;  Lyon  co.,  the  3d  district,  W.  Hayden;  Washoe  and  Roop,  the 
4th  district,  C.  C.  Goodwin;  Nye  and  Churchill,  the  5th  district,  H.  L.  Baker; 
Humboldt,  the  6th  district,  E.   F.  Dunne;  Lander,   the  7th  district,  W.  H. 
Beatty;  Douglas,  the  8th  district,  D.  W.  Virgin;  Esmeralda,  the  9th  district, 
S.  H.  Chase.     The  district  judges  elected  in  1864  were  to  hold  office  until 
January  1867,  and  after  that  their  terms  should  be  for  four  years.   Gold  Hill 
News,  Nov.  16,  1864;  Nev.  Latos,  1864,  53. 

23  Nev.  Laws,  1864-5,  65,  article  xvii.,  sec.   12  of  the  constitution.     The 


FIRST  STATE  LEGISLATURE.  185 

lature  convened  on  the  12th  of  December,2*  and  on 
being  organized  listened  on  the  14th  to  the  message 
of  Governor  Blasdel,  which  communicated  to  them, 
among  other  facts  affectino-  the  state,  that  the  new 

O  O 

government  had  inherited  from  the  territory  a  debt 
of  $264,000  exclusive  of  the  expenses  of  the  last  con 
stitutional  convention,  and  that  to  meet  this  indebt 
edness  there  was  an  empty  treasury  and  an  uncollected 
tax  of  $70,000.25  He  recommended  economy  and 
wise  revenue  laws;  but,  as  I  have  already  remarked 
in  another  place,  the  state  of  Nevada  has  always  been 
burdened  with  debt,  from  habits  of  extravagance 
originating  in  too  great  expectations,  and  from  regard 
ing  mining  as  the  sole  industry  worth  encouraging."6 

regular  sessions  thereafter  were  to  begin  on  the  first  Monday  in  Jan.  follow 
ing  the  election  of  members. 

24 The  members  of  the  first  state  legislature  were:  Senators  N.  W.  Win- 
ton.  S.  A.  Kellogg,  C.  A.  Sumner,  and  W.  H.  Claggett  from  Storey  co. ;  J. 
S.  Seely  and  A.  J.  Lock  wood  from  Omsby;  James  S.  Slingerland  and 
Charles  Lambert  from  Washoe;  Lewis  Doron  and  John  Ives  from  Esmeralda; 
M.  D.  Larrowe  and  W.  W.  Hobart  from  Lander;  M.  S.  Thompson  and  Fred 
erick  Hutchins  from  Humboldt;  J.  W.  Haines  from  Douglas;  Alfred  James 
from  Lyon  and  Churchill;  and  D.  L.  Hastings  from  Lyon.  The  assembly 
men  were:  W.  M.  Cutter,  Edwin  Patten;  Erastus  Bond,  W.  W.  Bishop, 
Charles  \V.  Tozer,  James  A.  Rigbey,  A.  L.  Greely,  H.  M.  Bien,  John  Leavitt, 
R.  A.  Ycung,  James  Bolan,  and  Jacob  Smith  of  Storey  co. ;  S.  C.  Denson,  J.  E. 
W.  Carey,  and  L.  C.  McKeeby  of  Ormsby;  D.  H.  Brown,  B.  H.  Nichols,  and 
J.  Anson  Dun  of  Humboldt,  D.  P.  Walter,  E.  P.  Sine,  J.  L.  Hinckley,  and 
M.  A.  Rosenblatt  of  Lander;  W.  F.  Toombs,  W.  G.  Lee,  and  H.  G.  Parker 
of  Lyon;  James  Small  and  Henry  Epstein  of  Douglas;  A.  C.  Bearss  of  Nye; 
L.  M.  Shackleford,  H.  H.  Beck,  and  A.  J.  Myrick  of  Washoe;  James  A.  St 
Clair  of  Churchill;  D.  H.  Haskell,  D  Wellington,  John  S.  Mayhugh,  and 
Cyril  Hawkins  of  Esmeralda.  Nev.  Sen.  and  Assem.  Jours.,  1864;  Gold  Hill 
News,  Nov.  16,  1864.  The  senate  was  presided  over  by  the  lieutenant-gov 
ernor.  The  officers  elected  were  L.  B.  Moore  secretary,  Geo.  R.  Ammond 
assistant  secretary,  Mr  Hollister  and  George  Wellington,  enr.  and  eng.  clerks, 
Thomas  Peasley  sergeant-at-arms,  and  Hickey  door-keeper.  The  house 
elected  Charles  W.  Tozer  speaker,  W.  M.  Gillespie  chief  clerk,  C.  S.  Ham 
mer  eng.  clerk,  W.  B.  Fulwiler  enr,  clerk,  J.  M.  Woodward  sergeant-at- 
arms.  Nev.  Jour.  Sen.,  10. 

25 1  am  not  able  to  reconcile  this  statement  of  Gov.  Blasdell,  which  is  un 
doubtedly  correct,  with  the  report  of  Nye,  in  March  1864,  that  the  territory 
was  not  owing  more  than  $15,000,  which  I  find  over  his  own  signature  in 
Parker's  Letter-Book,  MS.,  179,  this  authority  being  a  book  of  copies  of  official 
correspondence,  taken  with  a  press  and  therefore  unaltered. 

26  The  taxes  imposed  by  an  act  to  provide  revenue  for  the  support  of  the 
state  government  and  payment  of  the  public  debt  imposed  a  tax  of  $1.25  on 
each  .$100  of  taxable  property,  and  a  poll-tax  of  $4  on  every  male  inhabitant 
over  21  and  under  60  years  of  age,  not  exempted  by  law.  The  county  tax 
was  $1.50  on  every  $100.  The  sheriff  of  each  county  was  made  ex-officio  col 
lector  of  licenses  at  the  following  rates:  Each  public  billiard  table  $5  per 
quarter  year;  every  bowling  alley  $10  per  quarter;  theatres  $100  per  month, 


186  STATE  GOVERNMENT. 

But  whatever  errors  it  fell  into  its  loyalty  remained ; 
and  even  before  hearing  the  message  of  the  execu 
tive  a  resolution  was  offered  in  the  house  by  Bien  of 
Storey  county,  congratulating  the  country  on  the 
reelection  of  Lincoln,  and  pledging  the  lives,  honor, 
and  fortunes  of  Nevada  in  support  of  the  govern 
ment,27  which  was  made  a  joint  resolution  by  the 
senate  on  the  1st  of  February.  On  the  29th  of 
December  the  senate  passed  a  congratulatory  reso 
lution  offered  by  Sumner  to  General  Sherman  on.  the 
design  and  brilliant  execution  of  his  "march  to  the 
sea,"  which  was  concurred  in  by  the  assembly.  On 
the  16th  of  February  the  senate  and  assembly  rati 
fied  the  thirteenth  amendment  to  the  constitution  of 
the  United  States  by  which  slavery  was  abolished. 

But  to  return  to  more  purely  local  affairs.  On  the 
15th  of  December,  both  houses  being  organized,  they 
proceeded  to  the  election  of  two  United  States  sena 
tors,  Stewart,  Nye,  Charles  E.  De  Long,  Cradle- 
baugh,  and  B.  C.  Whitman  being  nominated.  Stewart 

or  $5  a  day  for  a  shorter  time  than  a  month;  if  for  three  months  $200;  and  if 
for  a  year  $600;  concert  singers  paid  the  same  license  as  theatrical  perform 
ers:  a  single  exhibition  of  a  menagerie  or  a  circus  was  taxed  $20;  tight-rope 
dancers,  jugglers,  and  such  folk  were  taxed  $10  a  day;  a  pawnbroker  $100 
per  quarter;  a  keeper  of  an  intelligence  office  $15  per  quarter.  Brokers  were 
divided  into  five  classes,  according  to  the  amount  of  their  business,  and  taxed 
respectively,  $100,  $80,  $50,  $30,  and  $20  per  quarter.  Bankers  were  also 
classified,  and  taxed  respectively  $200,  $150,  $100,  $75,  and  $50  per  month. 
All  venders  of  any  kind  of  wares,  merchandise,  liquors,  drugs,  or  keepers  of 
livery  were  divided  into  ten  classes,  according  to  their  receipts,  and  taxed 
respectively  $50,  $37,  $25,  $20,  $15,  $10,  $7.59,  $5,  $3.75,  and  $2.50  per 
month;  but  retailers  of  liquors  were  taxed  $10  a  month,  and  hotel  keepers 
who  kept  a  bar  outside  the  limits  of  any  town  were  taxed  $15  a  quarter. 
Hotels  and  boarding  and  lodging  houses  were  taxed  $10  and  $5  a  month; 
peddlers  on  foot  and  auctioneers  $10  a  month;  peddlers  using  a  wagon  for  the 
vending  of  any  merchandise  or  liquors,  or  anything  except  fruits  and  vegeta 
bles,  $20  a  month.  A  capitation  tax  of  $1  upon  each  person  leaving  the  state 
by  any  railroad,  stage-coach,  or  any  vehicle  employed  in  passenger  carrying, 
was  also  levied,  and  charged  upon  the  companies  engaged  in  such  traffic,  such 
companies  adding  the  amount  to  their  fares.  As  the  coaches  always  were 
well  loaded  with  passengers  this  was  a  fruitful  source  of  revenue,  amounting 
in  some  years  to  $20,000.  An  ad  valorem  tax  of  $1  on  each  $100  valuation 
of  the  product  of  all  mines,  after  deducting  the  cost  of  extracting  and  reduc 
ing  the  ores,  was  levied;  and  lastly  a  stamp-tax  was  imposed  on  agreements, 
affidavits,  assignments,  leases,  bills  of  exchange,  and  almost  all  documents 
employed  in  business  affairs  of  from  two  cents  to  $1,  which  was  a  source  of 
no  inconsiderable  revenue.  Nev.  Laws,  1864-5,  271-324.  The  state  was  em 
powered  to  issue  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $150,000. 

27  Nev.  Jour.  Assem.,  1864-5,  17;  Nev.  Jour.  Sen.,  1864-5,  99. 


ELECTION.  187 

was  elected  on  the  first  ballot."  Then  followed  a 
number  of  ballotings  for  a  senator  among  the  remain 
ing  candidates,  Nye  receiving  on  every  one  the  great 
est  number  of  votes,  but  not  enough  to  elect  him,  and 
De  Long  receiving  the  next  greatest  number.  An 
adjournment  took  place,  which  permitted  the  presen 
tation  of  informal  arguments,  and  at  the  first  ballot 

O 

on  the  16th  Nye  was  elected.  That  Stewart  brought 
his  great  influence  to  bear  there  can  be  no  doubt. 
Nevada  thereby  gained  a  representation  in  the  senate 
of  which  a  young  state  might  justly  be  proud,  and 
which  was  of  the  greatest  value  to  the  country  at 
large,  when  uncompromising  republicanism  was  de 
manded  to  reestablish  its  dignity  among  the  nations. 
The  presidential  elector  chosen  to  convey  the  vote  of 
Nevada  to  Washington  in  1864  was  S.  T.  Gage.29 

The  term  for  which  Worthington  had  been  elected 
to  congress  expiring  in  March,  it  became  necessary  to 
provide  a  successor  at  the  general  election  of  Novem 
ber  7,  1865.  About  the  only  issue  of  importance  at 
this  time,  the  civil  war  having  been  brought  to  a  close, 
followed  quickly  by  the  tragedy  at  Ford's  theatre  in 
Washington,  when  the  revengeful  hand  of  political 
fanaticism  struck  down  the  most  devoted  and  pure- 

28  The  newspapers  accused  Stewart  of  working  himself  into  theU.  S.  sen 
ate  through  his  manipulation  of  '  the  honest  miner.'     The  voice  of  Stewart's 
honest  miner  was  heard  above  all  crying,  '  Hurrah  for  the  state  of  Nevada, 
and  William  M.   Stewart  for  the  first  chosen  senator.'  Nev.    Scraps.     It  is 
said  that  Stewart  sent  word  to  Cradlebaugh  that  if  he  would  resign  to  him 
all  the  patronage  due  to  Nevada's  senators,  his  election  should  be  secured; 
but  Cradlebaugh  refused  the  proposition. 

29  Gage,  an  intense  unionist,  was  born  in  Ashtabula  county,  Ohio,  March 
7,  1831.     His  father,  Joshua  Gage,  a  man  of  sterling  qualities,  was  one  the 
early  pioneers  in  Ohio.     Stephen,  who  worked  during  summer,  and  attended 
school  in  winter,  began  teaching  upon  his  graduation,  at  the  age  of  nineteen; 
teaching,  farming,  and  conducting  a  saw-mill  alternately  up  to  1852.   During 
this  year  he  crossed  the  plains  with  an  ox-team,  driving  the  entire  distance 
himself,  and  making  the  quickest  trip  across  the  plains  on  record.     In  Cali 
fornia  he  engaged  in  milling,  mining,   and  merchandizing.     In  1856.   at  the 
age  of  twenty-four  years,  he  was  elected  to  the  legislature,  being  the  young 
est  member  of  that  body.     He  was  one  of  the  committee  who  drafted  an 
able  report  on  the  important  question  of  a  transcontinental   railroad.     He 
held  various  offices  up  to  1860.     During  this  and  the  succeeding  year  he  en 
gaged  in  transporting  goods  over  the  Sierra  Nevada  to  the  Washoe  mines, 
his  pack-trains  being  the  largest  on  the  road. 


!88  STATE  GOVERNMENT. 

minded  of  rulers,30  was  that  of  the  Pacific  railroads, 
which  Nevada,  in  common  with  the  whole  Pacific 
coast,  very  much  desired  to  have  built  at  the  earliest 
possible  period.  On  a  pledge  to  labor  for  this  end 
Delos  R.  Ashley  was  elected  Nevada's  representa- 
tive.31 

Under  the  constitution  of  Nevada,  members  of  con 
gress  were  chosen  only  at  the  general  elections  for 
state  officers  and  legislators,  all  terms  expiring  on  the 
day  succeeding  the  next  general  election.  The  terms 
of  those  elected  in  1865  expired  in  November  1866, 
and  biennially  thereafter.3'  This  provision  made 
another  election  for  congressman  necessary  in  1866, 
when  Ashley  was  reflected  by  a  majority  over  his 
democratic  opponent,  H.  K.  Mitchell,  of  4,376,  the 
issues  involved  in  President  Johnson's  policy  influenc 
ing  the  vote  of  the  people.  By  the  same  majority 
Blasdel  was  reflected  governor.  The  changes  made 
in  the  official  list  were  J.  S.  Slingerland,  lieutenant- 
governor;  R.  W.  Parkinson  controller;  A.  N.  Fisher 
superintendent  of  public  instruction;  Robert  M. 
Clarke  attorney-general;  and  J.  E.  Eckley  state 
printer. 

The  terms  alloted  to  senators  Stewart  and  Nye 
were  four  and  two  years.  Nye  drawing  the  two  years 

In  1862  he  became  a  resident  of  Virginia  City,  where  he  was  prominent 
in  federal  and  state  politics.  Later,  he  had  much  to  do  with  railroad  mat 
ters.  He  was  invaluable  to  the  Central  Pacific  road  during  the  early  strug 
gles  of  that  corporation.  His  arguments  before  legislative  committees  were 
logical  and  ingenious,  stamping  him  as  a  man  of  marked  ability. 

In  1871  he  removed  to  San  Francisco.  He  was  the  only  officer  of  the 
road  located  outside  of  Sacramento  at  that  date.  Later,  he  removed  to 
Oakland,  Cal.  In  1885  he  was  appointed  assistant  president  of  the  South 
ern  Pacific  system  of  railroads. 

39  It  would  be  unjust  to  the  Nevadans  not  to  mention  the  feeling  with 
which  the  news  of  Lincoln's  assassination  was  received.  Every  town  and 
hamlet  was  hung  with  funeral  black,  and  the  expression  of  men's  faces  plainly 
indicated  their  mingled  grief  and  wrath.  The  man  at  Gold  Hill  who  was 
bold  enough  to  express  gratification  at  the  president's  death,  was  summarily 
stripped,  flogged,  and  marched  to  prison  with  a  placard  on  his  back  inscribed 
'a  traitor  to  his  country.'  Gold  Hill  News,  April  15,  17,  20,  1865. 

31  There  were  two  other  republican  aspirants,  W.  H.  Claggett  and  Charles 
A.  Sumner.      The  democratic  nominee  was  H.  K.  Mitchell.   Ashley's  majority 
was  1,476.     He  took  his  seat  Dec.  21,  1865.  House  Jour.,  101,  39th  cong.  1st 
sess. 

32  Neo.  Laws,  1864-5,  65;  Id.,  1866,  223. 


POLITICS.  189 

term,  and  becoming  a  candidate  for  reelection  by  the 
legislature  in  January  1867,  when  he  was  returned  for 
the  six  years'  term  commencing  in  March.33  In  the 
republican  convention  of  September  1868  Stewart 
was  again  put  in  nomination  for  senator  against  De 
Long,  who  withdrew  to  prevent  a  rupture  in  the  party, 
but  was  subsequently  compensated  by  the  position  of 
minister  to  Japan,  which  office  he  filled  with  distinc 
tion.  The  same  convention  which  nominated  Stewart, 
also  nominated  Thomas  Fitch84  for  congressman, 
without  opposition.  Stewart  was  elected  on  the  first 
ballot.  At  the  state  and  presidential  election  in 
1868  all  the  republican  candidates  were  chosen,35 
including  Fitch  for  congressman,  with  the  exception 
of  nine  democratic  members  of  the  legislature. 

All  over  the  Pacific  coast  the  close  of  the  civil  war 
had  been  followed  by  the  reorganization  of  the  demo 
crats  and  their  gradual  return  to  power.  It  took  them 
twenty  years  to  become  strong  enough  to  elect  a  pres 
ident  of  the  United  States ;  but  for  congress,  and  for 
various  offices  under  state  and  territorial  organiza 
tions,  they  received  the  suffrages  of  a  fearless  and 
magnanimous  people  with  only  a  little  less  impartial 
ity  than  of  old.  In  1870  this  party  elected  its  can 
didates  to  most  of  the  important  offices  in  the  state  of 

33  The  other  nominees  were  Charles  E.  De  Long,  John  B.  Winters,  Thomas 
Fitch,  and  Thomas  H.  Williams.  De  Long  accused  Nye  of  fraud  in  the  ad 
ministration  of  Indian  affairs  when  ex  officio  supt,  and  the  contest  became 
very  bitter.  The  legislature  was  compelled  to  take  notice  of  accusations  of 
corruption  in  the  senatorial  election,  and  appointed  a  committee  of  5  to  in 
vestigate  the  charges.  This  committee  reported  to  the  legislature  in  special 
session  in  March  that  their  clerk,  J.  V.  Wheelhouse,  had  absconded  with 
all  the  papers  relating  to  the  matter,  which  might  very  properly  be  construed 
as  a  confession  of  persistent  corruption  in  the  accused.  The  testimony  se 
cured  from  witnesses  went  to  show  that  De  Long  would  have  been  elected 
but  for  money  offered  by  the  friends  of  Nye,  and  taken  by  representatives 
Robert  Cullen,  J.  R.  Jacobs,  and  two  others.  Nev.  Jour.  Assem.,  1867,  342-6. 

34Fitch  was  born  in  N.  Y.  city  Jan.  27,  1838.  One  of  his  ancestors  was 
the  last  colonial  governor  of  Connecticut,  and  another  commanded  the  New 
England  regiment  during  the  French  war;  therefore  Fitch  had  blue  blood. 
He  had  only  a  common  school  education,  however,  and  started  out  in  life  as 
a  clerk  in  an  importing  house.  In  1859  he  engaged  in  journalism  on  the  Mil 
waukee  Free  Democrat.  In  1860  he  came  to  Cal.,  and  4  years  afterward 
began  the  practice  of  law.  Elliot  &  Co.'s  Hist.  Ar;z.,  289. 

35  The  governor  held  over  until  1870.  John  Day  was  elected  sur-gen.,  H. 
R.  Mighels  state  printer,  B.  C.  Whitman  and  J.  Neely  Johnson  sup.  judges. 


19Q  STATE  GOVERNMENT. 

Nevada,  namely,  that  of  governor,  L.  R  Bradley; 
lieutenant-governor,  Frank  Denver;  treasurer,  Jerry 
Schooling  ;  state  printer,  Charles  L.  Perkins ;  supreme 
judge,  John  Garber;  attorney-general,  L.  A.  Buck- 
ner7a6  They  also  elected  the  member  of  congress, 
Charles  Kendall.  What  is  remarkable  about  this 
change  of  party  sentiment  and  power  is  its  complete 
ness,  the  majorities  on  the  democratic  side  being  fully 
as  large  as  they  had  formerly  been  on  the  republican 
side.  Where  the  latter  had  been  accustomed  to  have 
more  than  double  the  votes  'of  the  democrats,  the 
democrats  had  now  double  the  votes  of  the  republi 
cans.  This  change  was  brought  about  largely  by  the 
unpopularity  of  F.  A.  Tritle,  the  Republican  candi 
date  for  Governor,  who  was  supposed  to  be  a  favorite 
of  the  Bank  of  California.  This  corporation  having 
large  mining  and  milling  interests  in  the  State,  had 
gained  the  enmity  of  the  workingmen,  who  raised  the 
cry  "Anti-bank,"  to  the  detriment  of  the  Republicans. 
In  1872,  Nye's  term  drawing  near  its  close,  there 
entered  the  political  arena  a  power  greater  than  party, 
patriotism,  or  talent,  which  was  money.  The  repre 
sentatives  of  this  world-moving  lever  were  two  men 
well  known  in  connection  with  mines,  railroads,  and 
banks,  but  hitherto  not  notable  in  politics.  One  was 
William  Sharon,  born  of  Quaker  parents  in  Ohio  in 
1821.  Like  many  famous  men,  he  had  once  owned 
an  interest  in  a  flat-boat,  but  failing  to  make  it  profit 
able  had  studied  law,  which  mental  training  proved 
useful  to  him  in  his  subsequent  career  of  merchant, 
speculator,  banker,  and  railroad  manipulator.  Op 
posed  to  Sharon  in  the  race  for  the  senatorship  was 
John  Percival  Jones,  a  mining  operator  whose  business 
it  was  to  bull  the  stock  market,  and  in  which  he 
made  both  money  and  adherents,  being  considered 
the  friend  of  the  miners,  and  named  by  the  press  the 
"  Nevada  commoner."  The  commoner  now  desired 

The  republican  candidates  elected  were  the  sec.  of  state,  J.  D.  Minor; 
con.,  W.  W.  Hobart;  A.  N.  Fisher,  supt  of  public  instruction;  John  Day, 
sur-gen.;  mineralogist,  H.  R.  Whitehall;  clerk  of  sup.  court,  Alfred  Helm. 


PURCHASABLE  POSITIONS.  191 

to  step  up  higher  and  become  a  senator.  It  was 
expected  that  the  race  would  be  to  the  most  bounti 
ful,  and,  therefore,  it  was  said  that  Sharon,  with  the 
Pacific  railroad  at  his  back,  was  endeavoring  to  pull 
down  the  stock  market  in  order  to  disable  his  rival. 
He  accused  Jones  of  himself  forcing  down  stocks  by 
causing  the  fire  in  the  Yellow  Jacket  mine,  whereby 
several  lives  were  lost  and  much  damage  sustained,  in 
order  to  buy  up  the  stock  of  Savage  at  a  profit.37 
Such  was  the  nature  of  the  contest.  Sharon  finally 
withdrew,  and  Jones  had  opposed  to  him  only  Nye; 
for  there  was  still  a  republican  majority  in  the  legis 
lature;  but  the  people  were  pleased  with  their  rich 
commoner,  and  no  longer  regarded  the  claims  of  their 
poorer  Gray  Eagle,  the  sobriquet  applied  to  Nye. 
Jones  received  fifty-three  out  of  seventy-two  votes  in 
the  legislature  of  1873,  and  took  his  seat  in  March. 
Nye  died  December,  25,  1876.38 

The  republican  candidate  for  congressman,  C.  C. 
Goodwin,  was  defeated  in  1872  by  Charles  W.  Ken 
dall,  reflected  on  the  democratic  ticket,  but  the  party 
gained  the  presidential  electors  by  over  2,000  major 
ity  ;  also  the  supreme  judge  and  state  printer,  the 
only  state  officers  voted  for.39 

The  senatorial  contest  of  1874  was  another  strug 
gle  between  men  with  large  moneyed  interests  princi 
pally.  The  democrats  again  chose  in  convention 
Thomas  H.  Williams,  and  the  republicans  William 
Sharon.  A  third,  or  independent,  party  had  for  its 
leader  Adolph  Sutro,  who  feared  if  Sharon  should  be 
elected  it  would  redouble  the  power  of  the  bank  of 
California  and  Comstock  lode,  against  which  he  was 
making  his  great  fight  for  the  Sutro  tunnel.  Party 
lines  were  less  rigidly  drawn  than  ever  before.  There 

37  Jones  was  supt  of  Crown  Point  in  1869.  He  risked  his  life  in  an  en 
deavor  to  extinguish  the  fire. 

™Nev.,  Jour.  Sen.,  1873,  app.,  no.  12;  S.  F.  Call,  Jan.  24  and  March  29, 
1873.  Of  republicans  who  aspired  to  the  senatorship  at  this  time  were  ex- 
Governor  Blasdel  aud  F.  A.  Tritle;  among  the  democrats  there  were  Thomas 
H.  Williams,  Judge  Garber,  and  Henry  I.  Thornton.  Gold  Hill  News,  Aug. 
19,  1872;  S.  F.  Bulletin,  Dec.  28,  1876. 

39  Thomas  P.  Havvley  judge,  and  C.  A.  V.  Putnam  printer. 


192  STATE  GOVERNMENT. 

were  some  men  on  the  independent  ticket  from  both 
the  other  parties,  but  more  from  the  democratic  than 
the  republican  ticket.  This  insured  the  reelection  of 
Governor  Bradley,  the  election  of  Jewett  W.  Adams 
lieutenant-governor,  J.  R.  Kittrell  attorney-general, 
J.  J.  Hill  state  printer,  and  J.  Schooling  treasurer; 
the  remaining  offices  being  given  to  the  republicans, 
who  also  elected  their  candidate  for  congressman, 
William  Woodburn  of  Storey  county.40  The  legisla 
ture  consisted  of  forty- seven  republicans  and  twenty- 
eight  democrats,  the  full  number  of  members  allowed 
by  the  constitution.  There  was  not  one  democrat 
among  the  fourteen  members  from  Storey  county — 
all  were  republicans,  and  represented  a  constituency 
nearly  all  of  whom  were  interested  in  the  Comstock 
mines,  which  they  had  been  told  would  be  ruined  by 
the  Sutro  tunnel.  To  prevent  this  ruin  Sharon  must 
be  elected,  and  was  elected41  in  January  1875,  to  suc 
ceed  Stewart,  for  the  six-years'  term,  Fitch  assum 
ing  the  labor  of  the  campaign.  But  to  his  coadjutor, 
Jones,  was  left  the  duty  of  representing  the  interests 
of  Nevada.  Sharon  did  not  take  his  seat  until  Feb 
ruary  1876,  and  was  continually  absent  from  the 
beginning  of  the  session,  commencing  in  October 
1877,  to  January  1880, 42  attending  to  his  money  mat 
ters.  No  honor  accrued  to  him  or  to  the  state 
through  such  representation. 

The  state  congressional  and  presidential  election  of 
1876  gave  results  showing  the  very  gradual  restora 
tion  of  the  ante-bellum  political  balance.  Again  the 
republicans  obtained  the  presidential  electors,  their 
representative  in  congress,  Thomas  Wren,  and  su 
preme  judge,  O.  R  Leonard.  They  still  had  a  large 

40  J.  D.  Minor  was  chosen  secretary  of  state,  \V.  W.  Hobart  controller, 
S.  P.  Kelly  supt  of  public  instruction,  John  Day  sur-gen.,  H.  R.   Whitehill 
mineralogist,    W.   H.   Beatty  sup.   judge,   Warren   Earll  sup.  judge  (short 
term),  and  C.  T.  Bicknell  clerk  sup.  corut. 

41  The  other  aspirants  were  H.  K.  Mitchell  and  Thomas  P.  Hawley. 
aSen.  Jour.,  240,  44th  cong.   Istsess.;  Id.,  6,  149,  45th  cong.    Istsess.; 

Id.,  6,  948,  45th  cong.  2dsess.;  /•*.,  6-7,  357,  46th  cong.   Istsess.:  Id.,   85, 
912,  46th  cong.  2d  sek 


NEW  OFFICIALS.  193 

majority  in  the  assembly,  but  in  the  seriate  the  dem 
ocrats  had  a  majority  of  one.  A  movement  to  call  a 
convention  to  revise  the  constitution,  and  also  to 
change  the  time  of  the  beginning  of  the  fiscal  year 
from  the  31st  to  the  1st  of  December,  was  set  on  foot 
by  a  resolution  of  the  legislature,  passed  February  18, 
1875,  and  voted  upon  at  this  election,  there  beinoj  a 
majority  of  3,341  against  it,  and  against  the  design 
of  the  agitators  to  abolish  the  tax  on  mining  products. 
In  the  political  canvass  of  1878  this  matter  of  refus 
ing  to  repeal  the  tax  on  bullion  was  made  a  plank 
in  the  republican  platform,  but  afterward  withdrawn 
through  the  influence  of  the  bonanza  firm.  The  re 
publican  candidate  for  congress,  Rollin  M.  Daggett, 
was  nominated  without  opposition  in  his  own  party, 
and  elected  against  W.  E.  F.  Deal  of  Storey  county, 
democrat.  J.  H.  Kinkead,  republican,  was  elected 
governor  over  L.  R.  Bradley,  whom  even  his  political 
opponents  regretted  to  have  beaten,  on  account  of  his 
incorruptible  honor  and  practical  judgment  in  affairs.43 
Every  state,  officer  on  the  ticket  was  elected,  except 
the  superintendent  of  public  instruction  and  the  lieu 
tenant-governor,  for  which  position  R.  H.  Mighels, 
the  brilliant  and  patriotic  journalist,  had  been  nomi 
nated.  His  defeat  was  owing  to  the  fact  that  he  had 
openly  advocated  the  cause  of  the  Chinese,  going  so  far 
as  to  compare  them  with  men  of  Irish  and  Cornish 
birth,  to  the  detriment  of  the  latter,  and  when  confront 
ed  with  his  utterances,  attempted  neither  to  explain 
or  deny  them.  The  regrets  of  his  admirers  were  not 
lessened  by  his  untimely  death  in  1879,  which 

43  Kinkead  was  born  in  Pa  1826,  removing  with  his  parents  to  Ohio  when 
an  infant.  At  the  age  of  18  years  he  began  going  west,  first  to  St  Louis, 
then  in  1849  to  Salt  Lake,  where  he  engaged  in  business  and  remained  5 
years,  coming  to  Cal.  in  1854.  In  Jan.  1856  he  married  a  daughter  of  J.  C. 
Fall  of  Marysville,  and  went  to  New  York  city  for  a  year,  where  he  was  in 
business,  but  returned  to  Marysville,  and  finally  settled  in  Nevada  in  1860, 
and  was  appointed  territorial  treasurer.  From  that  time  he  has  been  con 
nected  with  the  political  history  of  Nevada.  In  1867  he  visited  Alaska  with 
the  government  expedition  iinder  Gen.  J.  0.  Davis.  I  have  in  my  collection 
a  manuscript  narrative  of  his  participation  in  public  affairs,  In  Nevada  and 
Alaska,  in  which  is  much  valuable  information, 
HIST.  NEV.  13 


194  STATE  GOVERNMENT. 

removed  him  beyond  the  possibility  of  reparation  at 
some  future  time.44 

In  order  to  make  more  clear  the  anomalous  condi 
tion  of  Nevada  politics,  it  is  necessary  to  consider  the 
local  influences  brought  to  bear  upon  elections.  As 
has  already  been  stated,  the  first  constitution  formed 
taxed  all  mines  in  the  same  manner  that  other  prop 
erty  was  taxed,  and  for  that  reason  was  rejected  by  a 
mining  population,  led  by  able  and  well-paid  agents 
of  the  great  mines.  The  accepted  constitution  ex 
empted  from  taxation  everything  but  the  proceeds  in 
bullion.  The  revenue  law  passed  by  the  first  state 
legislature  provided  that  twenty  dollars  per  ton,  the 
assumed  cost  of  reducing  the  ores,  might  be  deducted 
from  the  gross  products,  and  that  only  three  fourths 
of  the  remainder  should  be  taxed.  This  discrimina 
tion  in  favor  of  mining  property,  though  evidently 
unconstitutional,  was  not  referred  to  the  courts  at 
that  time.  Meanwhile  the  Comstock  mines  were 
yielding  an  aggregate  of  $15,000,000  or  $17,000,000 
annually,  and  the  amount  which  under  the  constitu 
tion  was  due  the  state  and  Storey  county,  had  accu 
mulated  to  a  vast  sum  on  the  Comstock  mines  alone. 
In  1867  suit  was  brought  before  Judge  S.  H.  Wright 
of  the  2d  district,  to  test  the  constitutionality  of  the 

44  The  republican  candidates  elected,  besides  those  I  have  mentioned, 
were:  Jasper  Babcock  sec.  of  state,  L.  L.  Crockett  treas.,  J.  F.  Hallock 
cont.,  A.  J.  Hatch  sur-gen.,  Thomas  P.  Hawley  sup.  judge,  A.  M.  Murphy 
atty-gen..  C.  F.  Bicknell  clerk  sup.  court. 

On  the  democratic  ticket  were  Jewett  W.  Adams  lieut-gov.  (elected), 
George  W.  Baker  sec.  of  state,  R.  M.  Elstner  cont.,  J.  E.  Jones  treas.,  D. 
R.  Sessions  supt  of  public  instruction  (elected),  S.  H.  Day  sur.-gen.,  F.  W. 
Cole  sup.  judge,  J.  R.  Kittrell  attorney -general,  Richard  Rule  clerk  of  the 
supreme  court. 

Lewis  R.  Bradley,  born  in  Va  in  1806,  began  life  as  supt  of  a  farm  at  $80 
per  year,  being  promoted  to  be  purchaser  of  horses  and  mules.  In  1843  he 
removed  to  Ky,  and  the  following  year  to  Mo.,  where  he  remained  until 
1852,  when  he  migrated  to  Cal.  with  a  band  of  cattle.  The  next  year  he 
returned  to  the  states,  and  brought  out  horses,  mules,  and  sheep,  on  which 
he  made  large  profits.  In  1862  he  settled  in  Lander  co.,  where  he  has  fol 
lowed  stock-raising.  His  wife  was  Virginia  Willis  of  Va.  John  R.  Bradley 
was  born  in  Va  in  1835,  and  married  in  Mo.  in  1857.  The  father  settled  in 
Elko  co.  in  1866,  being  a  pioneer  of  that  part  of  the  state.  He  had  been  co. 
com.  and  treaa.  of  Elko  co.,  and  his  son,  John  R.,  has  held  the  same  offices 
after  him.  A.  M.  Hillhouse  was  nominated  for  U.  S.  senator.  Nevada  State 
Journal,  Nov.  17,  1878. 


LEGISLATION  AND  TAXATION.  195 

revenue  law  as  it  related  to  mining  property,  and  at 
the  same  time  an  extra  session  of  the  legislature  was 
called  to  deal  with  this  particular  subject.  Before 
the  decision  of  the  court  was  rendered  pronouncing 
the  former  law  unconstitutional,  the  special  legisla 
ture  had  abolished  it,  and  passed  others  still  more 
favorable  to  the  mining  interest,  and  especially  to  the 
mines  of  Storey  county,  where  the  tax  was  limited 
to  twenty-five  cents  on  every  $100  worth  of  bullion. 
These  proceedings  kept  the  matter  in  the  courts  and 
put  off  the  day  of  reckoning  when  the  bank  of  Cali 
fornia,  represented  by  William  Sharon,  and  control 
ling  all  the  then  paying  mines  on  the  Comstock, 
would  have  to  pay  up  its  indebtedness  to  the  state 
and  county. 

But  in  1869  and  1870  new  complications  arose. 
Sharon  had  been  able  in  the  former  year  to  induce 
the  legislature  to  authorize  Storey  county  to  issue  its 
bonds  for  $300,000  to  constitute  a  gift  to  the  Virginia 
and  Truckee  railroad  company,  his  particular  and 
favorite  enterprise,  a  levy  of  one-half  of  one  per  cent 
to  be  made  annually  on  the  county  property  to  meet 
the  interest  of  these  bonds  and  create  a  sinking  fund. 
It  became  a  question  with  the  railroad  company, 
namely  the  bank  of  California,  how  to  avoid  paying  the 
tax  upon  one  species  of  their  property  to  discharge  the 
interest  on  money  presented  to  them  by  the  county. 
As  usual,  resort  was  had  to  the  legislature,  arid  a  new 
law  passed  which  classified  ores,  and  exempted  accord 
ing  to  class,  those  which  were  rated  below  $12  a  ton 
being  allowed  ninety  per  cent  for  the  cost  of  reduction ; 
under  $30  and  over  $12  eighty  per  cent;  under  $100 
and  over  $30  sixty  per  cent;  and  over  $100  fifty  per 
cent,  provided  it  could  be  proved  that  this  was  the 
cost  of  reducing  them.  What  was  left  of  the  pro 
ducts  of  the  mines  was  taxable,  except  in  the  case  of 
those  where  the  Freiberg  process  was  used,  when  a 
further  exemption  of  $15  was  allowed.  This  law 
enabled  the  Comstock  owners  to  work  their  low  grade 


196  STATE  GOVERNMENT. 

ores  without  tax,  for  it  was  easy  enough  to  show  that 
the  expense  covered  all  or  nearly  all  the  proceeds; 
and  at  this  time  the  bonanzas  in  the  old  mines  were 
worked  out. 

But  almost  simultaneously  with  this  legalized  de 
fiance  of  the  constitution,  Fair  and  Mackay  discovered 
the  great  bonanza  in  the  Consolidated  Virginia  and 
California  mines,  which  soon  began  to  produce  over  a 
million  dollars  a  month,  making  this  firm  a  powerful 
rival  of  the  bank  of  California,  which  did  not  desire 
the  new  money  kings  to  enjoy  the  same  exemption 
which  had  been  so  advantageous  to  itself.  The  Sharon 
interest,  therefore,  offered  no  opposition  when,  in  1874, 
the  people  at  large,  and  Storey  county  in  particular, 
elected  their  representatives  with  the  pledge  that 
they  would  enact  a  more  righteous  law  than  had  yet 
been  enacted  concerning  the  taxation  of  the  mines. 
To  this  end,  Senator  John  Piper  of  Storey  county 
prepared  a  bill  which  passed  without  opposition  in 
February  1875,  making  the  products  of  the  mines 
taxable  at  the  rate  of  $1.50  on  every  $100,  or  at  the 
same  rate  that  other  property  was  assessed. 

It  was  now  the  turn  of  the  bonanza  firm  to  protest, 
partly  because  the  new  law  seemed  to  discriminate 
between  them  and  the  bank  of  California,  which  had 
been  helped  to  evade  paying  a  just  tax  on  its  property, 
and  greatly  because  they  were  forced  to  pay  so  large 
a  proportion  of  bonds  of  the  Virginia  and  Truckee 
railroad,  which  they  believed  had  instigated  the 
change.  They  set  up  a  plea  that  the  new  law  was 
unconstitutional  and  refused  to  pay  any  taxes  at  all, 
by  their  action  forcing  the  people  to  make  up  the 
deficit.  The  matter  became  a  political  issue  at  the 
election  of  1876,  both  parties  insisting  on  no  more 
compromises  with  the  great  mining  corporations,  and 
every  candidate  being  compelled  to  pledge  himself- 
not  to  vote  for  a  reduction  of  the  tax  on  bullion. 

The  report  of  the  controller  at  the  opening  of  the 
session  showed  a  balance  of  the  state  debt  unprovided 


RULE  OF  THE  COMSTOCK  FIRMS.  197 

for  amounting  to  $108,429.71,  of  which  $74,678.53 
was  then  due.  Adding  to  this  the  estimated  cost  of 
running  the  state  government  for  two  years,  or  until 
another  meeting  of  the  legislature,  $894,250.85,  and 
the  state  would  be  owing  about  a  million  dollars, 
while  the  state  revenue  less  the  tax  on  mines  would 
not  reach  $800,000.45  The  mining  tax,  less  the 
bonanzas,  should  the  yield  continue  the  same,  would 
reduce  the  amount  of  debt  $64,464,  but  there  would 
still  be  a  deficit  of  $193,255  to  be  met.  This  state 
of  public  affairs  shook  the  nerves  of  the  legislators. 
To  add  to  the  uneasiness  of  the  Storey  county  mem 
bers,  it  was  seen  that  the  refusal  to  pay  taxes  by  Fair 
and  Mackay  would  compel  the  county  to  borrow 
$100,000  to  carry  on  its  schools  and  pay  for  its  court 
house. 

Two  courses  lay  open  to  the  legislature:  to  increase 
the  state  and  county  debt  by  borrowing,  or  compro 
mise  with  the  bonanza  firm.  They  decided  to  violate 
their  pledges  and  compromise.  A  bill  passed  both 
houses  which  was  the  essence  of  a  contract  entered 
into  between  Fair  and  Mackay  on  one  side  and 
Storey  county  officials  and  state  officers  of  finance 
on  the  other.  It  reduced  the  bullion  tax  31^  per 
cent,  which  was  equal  to  giving  up  20  per  cent  of  the 
entire  property  value  of  the  state.  The  price  agreed 
upon  for  this  submission  was  the  payment  of  the  tax 
withheld  in  the.  past  by  the  bonanza  firm.  After 
deliberating  two  or  three  days  Governor  Bradley 
vetoed  the  bill,  and  the  question  was  left  with  the 
supreme  court,  where  it  was  likely  to  be  decided  in 
favor  of  the  state  of  Nevada. 

In  May  another  attempt  at  compromise  was  made, 
this  time  succesfully.  The  bonanza  firm  offered  to 
pay  all  that  was  due  from  them  under  the  law  to  the 
state  and  county,  with  the  costs  of  the  suits  instituted 
to  collect,  if  the  recipients  would  agree  that  in  case 

45  The  controller  figured  $12,643.47  too  high  on  the  expenses,  and  too  low 
on  the  revenue  by  $93,626.20. 


198  STATE  GOVERNMENT. 

the  decision  of  the  United  States  supreme  court  was 
against  them,  the  district  court  of  Storey  county 
would  issue  a  stay  of  execution  for  the  satisfaction  of 
so  much  of  the  judgment  as  included  the  penalties  for 
contempt  and  the  percents,  until  the  1st  of  April, 
1879.  This  offer  being  accepted,  $290,275.72  was 
paid  down  two  days  before  the  svpreme  court  decided 
in  favor  of  the  state.  The  legislature,  as  had  been 
tacitly  understood,  passed  an  act  in  1879  releasing  the 
bonanza  firm  from  paying  the  penalties  due  the  state 
and  the  county  of  Storey.  The  attorney -general  of 
Nevada,  however,  requested  that  the  constitutionality 
of  the  act  might  be  tested,  with  the  result  that  the 
court  ordered  the  payment  of  $77,578.22,  the  amount 
of  the  penalties  unpaid.46 

From  what  has  gone  before  it  will  be  perceived  how 
really  little  national  politics  had  to  do  with  politics  in 
Nevada  during  the  rule  of  the  Comstock  firms.  The 
republican  majority  in  the  legislature  in  1879  was 
thirteen  in  the  senate  and  thirty-two  in  the  assembly, 
making  secure  the  return  of  J.  P.  Jones  to  the  Uni 
ted  States  senate.  Jones  had,  as  chairman  of  the 
monetary  commission  in  1876,  done  himself  and  his 
state  great  credit  by  his  report. 

This  commission  particularly  concerned  Nevada  as 
a  silver-producing  state,  its  duty  being  to  inquire  into 
the  change  which  had  taken  place  in  the  relative 
value  of  gold  and  silver,  the  causes  thereof,  and 
whether  permanent  or  not;  its  effect  upon  trade, 
commerce,  finance,  and  the  productive  interests  of  the 
country,  and  upon  the  standard  of  value  in  our  own 
and  foreign  countries;  also  into  the  policy  of  the  restor 
ation  of  the  double  standard  in  this  country,  and  the 
legal  relations  between  the  two  coins  if  restored;  and 

46  The  case  was  appealed  in  Nov.  1880,  and  decided  in  the  sup.  court 
against  the  company.  Another  attempt  was  made  by  the  legislature  in  1881 
to  release  the  bonanza  company,  but  Gov.  Kinkead  vetoed  the  bill.  His  ac 
tion  was  applauded  by  the  majority.  Curson  Index,  March  4,  1881;  Virginia 
City  Chronicle,  March  4,  1881;  Lamb's  Burly  Mining  Camps,  MS.,  4. 


MONETARY  STANDARDS.  199 

further,  into  the  policy  of  continuing  legal-tender 
notes  concurrently  with  the  metallic  standards,  with 
the  effects  thereof  upon  the  labor,  industries,  and 
wealth  of  the  country;  lastly,  also,  into  the  best 
means  of  providing  for  the  resumption  of  specie  pay 
ments.  Nothing  so  thoroughly  exhaustive  of  these 
questions  had  ever  been  presented  to  congress,  and 
the  view  taken  was  favorable  to  the  interests  of 
Nevada,  and  particularly,  at  that  time,  to  the  Corn- 
stock  mines.  Therefore,  he  received  the  votes  of  all 
the  republicans  in  the  legislature,  and  one  of  the 
democratic  members.  The  legislation  of  congress 
upon  the  question  of  a  double  standard  for  money  had 
affected  the  mining  interests  of  Nevada  sensibly. 
In  July  1870  an  act  was  passed  to  refund  the  national 
debt,  the  government  engaging  to  pay  at  some  future 
time  §2,000,000,000  in  coin  of  the  value  of  the  coin 
age  of  that  date.  The  units  of  value  of  coinage 
were  dollars  consisting  of  412^  of  standard  silver  and 
25f0  grains  of  that  of  standard  gold.  In  1873  the 
holders  of  the  United  States  bonds,  and  bonds  of  the 
French  government,  made  a  movement  in  Europe  to 
demonetize  silver  in  order  to  compel  the  payment  of 
these  bonds  in  gold  only,  Germany  being  the  first  to 
come  into  the  arrangement.  Such  influences  were 

O 

brought  to  bear  in  the  United  States  that  congress, 
in  revising  and  codifying  the  mint  and  coinage  laws 
of  the  country,  omitted  the  silver  dollar  from  the  list 
of  coins,  and  it  being  the  only  silver  coin  which  was 
a  full  legal  tender,  became  thereby  demonetized,  and 
the  people  were  compelled  to  pay  the  national  and 
private  indebtedness  in  gold  alone.  The  product  of 
gold  being  irregular,  and  growing  less  with  the 
increase  of  population,  as  well  as  the  decrease  of  the 
metal,  it  was  considered  to  work  not  only  a  present 
hardship  by  raising  the  price  of  gold  in  the  market, 
but  to  threaten  at  some  future  time  to  make  the 
people  slaves  to  the  bondholders,  by  compelling  them 
to  yield  so  much  more  of  their  labor  and  property  for 


200  STATE  GOVERNMENT. 

a  dollar  in  gold  than  they  would  have  to  do  were 
there  a  double  standard  as  before.  Silver  had  already 
depreciated  twenty  per  cent  in  1878,  when  congress 
required  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  to  purchase,  at 
the  lowest  market  price,  not  less  than  two  nor  more 
than  four  millions  a  month  to  be  coined  into  standard 
dollars  for  circulation,  the  government  speculating  in 
the  difference  in  commercial  value,  but  without  restor 
ing  the  silver  dollar  to  its  equality  with  the  gold  one. 
This  was  the  status  of  silver  in  the  currency  of  the 
United  States,  while  the  question  of  restoring  it  to 
its  former  value  was  becoming  one  of  the  foremost 
subjects  with  which  statesmen  had  to  deal,  and  one 
of  vital  importance  to  the  state  of  Nevada.  By 
1885  the  silver  question  was  regarded  as  a  political 
issue,  and  the  public  was  much  interested  in  knowing 
what  course  a  democratic  administration  would  pur 
sue  with  regard  to  it.  A  silver  convention  was  held 
at  Carson  January  31st.  The  voice  of  the  conven 
tion  was  that  demonetizing  silver  would  double  the 
riches  of  the  rich,  and  in  the  same  proportion  increase 
the  burdens  of  the  laboring  and  producing  classes. 
The  Nevada  Silver  Association  was  formed,  with  a 
constitution  and  by-laws,  the  object  of  which  was  to 
insist  upon  the  retention  of  silver  as  money.  The 
meeting  also  indorsed  the  proceedings  of  the  silver 
convention  held  at  Denver,  Colorado,  at  which  Kan 
sas,  Colorado,  Utah,  New  Mexico,  Idaho,  Wyoming, 
and  Arizona  were  represented.*7 

47  Proceedings  of  the  Nevada  Silver  Convention,  1885;  Pacific  Coast  Mining 
Review,  1878-9,  97-103;  Jones'  Speech  on  the  Silver  Question,  April  24,  1876; 
Jones'  Speech  on  the  Optional  Standard,  June  28  and  July  15,  1876;  Jones' 
Speech  on  Silver  Demonetization,  Feb.  14,  1878;  Carson  Appeal,  July  14,  1876; 
S.  F.  Chronicle,  March  2,  1885;  Proceedings  of  the  Nevada  Silver  Convention, 
1885. 

A  monograph  upon  the  silver  question  called  A  Plea  for  Silver  Coinage 
and  the  Double  Standard,  pp.  139,  written  by  T.  B.  Buchanan,  and  published 
at  Denver  in  1885,  attempts  to  explain  the  money  question  as  affecting 
values.  It  is  a  good,  common  sense  treatise,  but  shows  what  its  author 
claims,  that  the  science  of  political  economy  cannot  all  be  contained  in  one 
book,  and  has  never  been  completely  formulated.  A  much  more  trenchant 
treatment  is  that  contained  in  a  dictation  on  The  Silver  Question  by  Win  M. 
Stewart  in  my  possession,  the  body  of  which  is  also  contained  in  a  pamphlet 


DEMONETIZATION  OF  SILVER.  201 

President  Cleveland  in  Febuary  1885  expressed 
views  contrary  to  the  retention  of  silver  in  circulation 
on  a  par  with  gold,  and  immediately  the  conflict  over 
silver  revived,  and  was  carried  on  vigorously,  the 
battle  being  chiefly  between  eastern  bankers  and 
western  silver  producers.  In  his  message  to  congress 
in  December  he  elaborated  his  views  more  fully.  It 
brought  out  some  interesting  facts  and  figures.  The 
statement  of  the  director  of  the  United  States  mint 
for  the  year  ending  June  30, 1885,  was  that  the  decline 
in  gold  production  on  the  Pacific  coast  from  1881  to 
1885,  inclusive,  was  $8,070,438.07.  The  deposits  of 
gold  and  silver  at  the  San  Francisco  mint  was 
$25,399,707.10,  or  $5,000,000  less  than  the  preceding 
year.  The  Nevada  mint  was  closed  this  year,  the 
mining  industry  once  centering  in  Carson  "  being 
practically  reduced  to  nothing,"  and  the  institution 
being  conducted  simply  as  an  assay  office.  It  has 
since  been  closed.  With  regard  to  the  country  in 
general,  there  was  deposited  at  the  United  States 
mints  during  the  year  $52,894,075.09  in  gold,  and 
$36,789,774.92  in  silver,  the  total  coinage  value  of 
which  was  $89,683,850.01,  an  increase  over  the  pre 
vious  year  of  $1,728,726.09.  The  imports  of  gold 
bullion  into  the  United  States  during  the  year  was 
$11,221,846.45  ;  the  exports  of  gold  bullion,  $395,750, 
bring  a  gain  in  gold  of  $10,826,096.45.  The  imports 
of  silver  bullion  amounted  to  $4,530,384  ;  the  exports 
to  $20,422,924,  being  a  loss  of  $5,066,444.  The  pro- 

with  that  title  issued  in  San  Francisco  in  1885.  The  sub-title  is  an  expres 
sion  of  the  author's  views,  running  as  follows:  'Bondholders'  conspiracy  to 
demonetize  silver;  legislation  affecting  national  debt,  and  gold  and  silver; 
unfaithful  treasury  officials;  hostility  of  national  banks;  independent  finan 
cial  policy  for  the  United  States;  free  coinage  or  enforcement  of  existing 
laws.'  Mr  Stewart  shows  the  absurdity  of  permitting  foreign  bondholders  to 
regulate  American  finance,  and  ridicules  President  Cleveland's  action  in 
sending  a  commissioner,  Manton  Marble,  to  Europe  to  import  the  views  of 
the  purchasers  of  American  bonds.  He  prophecies  the  oppression  of  the 
people,  the  growth  of  a  bond-holding  aristocracy,  the  mortgaging  of  prop 
erty,  and  the  impoverishment  of  the  agricultural  classes.  The  loss  of  mil 
lions  of  mining  property,  rendered  valuless,  is,  he  thinks,  one  of  the  least  in 
jurious  effects  of  the  disturbance  of  the  relative  values  prevailing  in  our 
present  currency. 


202  STATE  GOVERNMENT. 

duction  in  the  United  States  during  the  year  had 
been  $30,800,000  in  gold,  and  $48,800,000  in  silver. 
Of  this  amount  of  silver  $28,000,000  had  been  coined 
and  $6,000,000  used  in  the  arts,  which,  with  the  bul 
lion  exported  and  wasted,  left  little  or  nothing  on 
hand.  The  production  of  the  whole  world  in  the 
year  ending  June  30,  1885  was  $95,292,569  in  gold, 
and  $115,147,878  in  silver,  gold  production  having 
fallen  off  over  $5,000,000  since  1882. 

There  would  appear  to  be  nothing  very  alarming  in 
the  relative  qualities  or  values  of  gold  and  silver  at 
this  time,  but  agitation  has  made  it  a  party  question 
in  congress.  The  repeal  of  the  act  of  1878  being 
insisted  on  by  the  monometalists,  various  schemes  for 
preventing  the  demonetization  of  silver  were  broached, 
such  as  certificates  of  deposit  with  a  market  value, 
the  government  being  obligated  to  coin  the  bullion 
and  use  it  in  redeeming  certificates  when  presented, 
and  other  proposed  devices  for  keeping  silver  in  circu 
lation.  An  English  writer,  Morton  Frewen,  proposed 
that  the  Pacific  ports  should  be  made  free  to  the  east 
ern  nations  of  China  and  Japan,  buying  their  tea, 
coffee,  sugar,  rice,  jute,  etc.,  in  exchange  for  the  silver 
of  Colorado,  Nevada,  and  California,  and  building  up 
a  mercantile  marine  to  rival  England.  This  propo 
sition,  which  might  be  considered  were  it  not  for  the 
Isthmus  canal  and  the  Canadian  Pacific  railway, 
would  doubtless  be  received  with  caution.  A  meet 
ing  of  the  Nevada  Silver  Association  was  held  at 
Nevada  City  October  20,  1885.  The  resolutions 
passed  declare  that  the  agitation  of  the  silver  ques 
tion  is  "especially  aggravating,  since  the  success  of 
such  a  policy  involves  the  annihilation  of  millions  of 
dollars  worth  of  capital  locked  up  in  their  mills  and 
mines,"  threatening  to  bankrupt  an  industrious  and 
loyal  people.  A  convention  of  silver  men,  and  another 
of  bankers,  was  held  at  New  Orleans  in  December, 
but  congress  alone  had  the  settlement  of  the  ques 
tion;  and  the  president's  message  was  distinctly 


/*•   ''  r' 

^UNIVE'B 

\^C4L!FO; 
CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENTS-.  203 

adverse  to  silver  coinage.  Later  legislation  was  more 
favorable. 

James  G.  Fair,  though  never  an  aspirant  for  office 
and  taking  so  little  interest  in  political  affairs  that  he 
never  voted  for  a  president  but  twice,  was  prevailed 
upon  by  the  democrats  to  become  their  candidate  for 
the  United  States  senate.  The  course  of  Sharon  as 
senator  had  not  been  without  distinction  or  profit. 
He  had  offered  himself  for  renomination  purely  on  his 
merits,  without  the  usual  golden  cross  on  the  palms 
of  his  constituents,  and  the  election,  which  may  be 
said  to  have  gone  by  default,  threw  everything  into 
the  hands  of  the  democrats,  who  had  a  majority  of 
over  800  for  presidential  electors.  George  W.  Cas- 
sidy,  their  candidate  for  congressman,  was  elected  by 
over  1,200  majority,  and  Charles  H.  Belknap  supreme 
judge  in  place  of  W.  H.  Beatty.  By  this  election 
Nevada  lost  her  able  and  working  congressman,  Dag 
gett,  and  an  able  and  incorruptible  jurist.48 

There  were  offered  at  this  election  the  following 
amendments  to  the  constitution,  which  were  accepted : 

48Cassidy  was  reflected  in  1882  by  a  majority  of  1,258  over  his  opponent. 
J.  W.  Adams,  democrat,  was  elected  governor  by  about  the  same  majority. 
O.  R.  Leonard,  republican,  was  elected  judge  by  even  a  larger  majoricy,  and 
all  the  other  state  offices  were  filled  by  republicans.  Reno  Gazette,  Dec.  30, 
1882;  Biennial  Rept  Sec.  of  State,  1884,  3.  Rollin  M.  Daggett  was  born  in 
Richville,  New  York,  in  1832.  In  1837  his  father  removed  to  north-western 
Ohio,  and  young  Daggett  received  his  education  and  a  knowledge  of  print 
ing  at  Defiance  in  that  state.  At  the  age  of  17  years  he  crossed  the  plains 
to  Cal.  on  foot,  supporting  himself  with  his  rine.  After  mining  for  two 
years,  in  1852  he  estsblished  the  Golden  Era,  a  literary  journal,  in  S.  F.,  and 
in  186J  the  Mirror  in  the  same  place,  the  latter  being  merged  in  the  S.  F. 
Herald.  His  reputation  as  a  journalist  was  wide-spread.  He  settled  in 
Nevada  iu  1862,  and  was  a  member  of  the  territorial  council  of  1863.  The 
following  year  he  became  connected  with  the  Territorial  Enterprise,  and  re 
tained  his  place  upon  that  journal  for  many  years.  In  1876  he  was  presi 
dential  elector,  and  in  1878  congressman.  Morons  Pen  Pictures  of  the  State 
Officers,  Legislators,  Public  Officials,  ami  Newspaper  Men,  at  the  Capital  During 
the  9tk  Session  of  the  Nevada  Legislature,  Virginia,  Nevada,  1879.  Contains 
72  biographies.  W.  H.  Beatty  was  born  in  Monlova,  Ohio,  Feb.  18,  1838, 
removed  to  Ky  in  infancy,  and  to  Cal.  in  1853.  Being  still  a  lad,  he  re 
turned  east  and  spent  3  years  at  the  university  of  Va,  coming  back  to  Cal.  in 
1858,  studying  law  in  Sac.,  and  being  admitted  to  practice  in  the  sup.  court. 
In  1863  he  went  to  Austin,  Nevada,  and  was  elected  judge  of  the  7th  district 
court  in  the  following  year.  The  legislature,  in  1869,  appointed  him  judge 
of  the  new  district  of  White  Pine  county,  to  which  office  he  was  elected  in 
1870.  His  promotion  to  the  supreme  bench  followed  in  1874.  Later  he  re 
moved  to  Cal.,  and  in  1888  was  elected  chief  justice  sup.  court  of  Cal. 


204  STATE  GOVERNMENT. 

The  elimination  of  the  word  "white"  from  section  1, 
article  2.  The  addition  of  article  18,  granting  rights 
of  suffrage  and  office-holding  without  reference  to  race, 
color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude.  The  addi 
tion  of  section  10  to  article  11,  forbidding  the  use  of 
public  moneys  for  sectarian  purposes.  Chinese  immi 
gration  was  disproved  by  a  vote  of  17,259  against 
183. 

Of  the  sixty-one  members  of  the  legislature  elected, 
only  nine  were  republicans.  Two  of  these  were  sen 
ators,  who  with  the  republicans  holding  over  gave  a 
majority  of  five  in  that  branch  of  the  legislature, 
whereas  they  had  but  seven  members  altogether  in 
the  assembly.  The  aspirants  for  the  senatorship, 
besides  Fair,  of  the  democrats,  were  Sutro  of  the 
independents,  who  desired  to  keep  the  Comstock  out 
of  politics,  and  Thomas  Wren,  nominated  by  the 
republicans  in  place  of  Sharon.49  Sutro  was  not  put 
in  nomination.  Fair  was  elected  on  the  first  ballot. 
Wren  received  twenty  votes  and  Daggett  one. 

49  William  Sharon  was  born  in  Smithfield,  Ohio,  Jan.  9,  1821.  After 
graduating  at  college  he  studied  law,  practising  for  a  time  at  St  Louis,  Mo. 
Afterward  he  engaged  in  a  mercantile  business  at  Carrollton,  111.  Coming 
to  Cal.  in  1849,  he  opened  a  store  at  Sac.,  later  engaging  in  real  estate  in  S. 
F.  When  the  bank  of  Cal.  opened  an  agency  at  Virginia  City  the  manage 
ment  was  entrusted  to  him,  and  in  connection  with  his  associates  in  the 
bank  bought  up  the  greater  portions  of  the  Kentuck,  Yellow  Jacket,  and 
Chollar  mines,  and  obtained  control  of  the  mining  mills,  incorporating  the 
Union  Mill  and  Mining  company,  and  the  Virginia  and  Truckee  R.  R.,  the 
state  of  Nevada  granting  a  liberal  subsidy  in  aid  of  the  latter.  The  road 
was  finally  completed  to  Reno,  where  it  connected  with  the  C.  P.  R.  R.,  the 
cost  being  three  millions.  Sharon  and  W.  C.  Ralston  also  purchased  the 
Belcher  mine,  receiving  large  returns  therefrom.  In  1875  Mr  Sharon  was 
elected  U.  S.  senator  from  Nevada,  serving  with  honor  and  credit.  Mrs 
Sharon  was  formerlyMiss  Maria  Mulloy,  a  native  of  Quebec,  and  the  result 
of  their  union  was  five  children,  two  surviving,  Frederick  W.,  who  married  a 
daughter  of  Lloyd  Tevis,  and  Florence  E.,  who  became  the  wife  of  Sir 
Thomas  Hesketh.  Mrs  Sharon  died  in  1875,  and  Mr  Sharon  in  1885.  After 
setting  apart  $100,000  for  charitable  purposes,  and  the  embellishment  of 
Golden  Gate  park,  the  property  fell  in  equal  parts  to  his  sou,  daughter,  and 
son-in-law,  F.  G.  Newlands. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

INDIAN  WARS 
1849-1882. 

CALIFORNIA  EMIGRANTS  OF  1849— SUBSEQUENT  DEEDS  OF  VIOLENCE— WIN- 
NEMUCCA  AND  THE  PAH  UTES — OUTBREAK  OF  1860 — ATTITUDE  OF  YOUNG 
WINNEMUCA— THE  SHOSHONES— ATTACK  ON  WILLIAMS'  STATION — 
ORGANIZATION  OF  FORCES— BATTLE  OF  PYRAMID  LAKE— DEATH  OF 
ORMSBY— MOVEMENTS  OF  TROOPS— FURTHER  FIGHTING — CONTINUED 
TROUBLES — THE  GOSH  UTE  WAR— TREATIES  AND  RESERVATIONS. 

IN  whatever  part  of  the  country  the  American  trap 
per  has  first  come  in  contact  with  the  aborigines,  there 
has  followed  wars  and  extermination.  Of  the  first 
conflicts  between  white  men  and  the  natives  of  Nevada 
I  have  spoken  in  the  opening  chapter  of  this  history. 
The  migration  to  California  in  1849  was  large;  and 
during  this  and  the  following  year  the  Indians  were 
more  bold,  and  the  white  men  vengeful.  Several 
trains  were  attacked  in  the  Hurnboldt  valley,  and 
their  cattle  taken,  leaving  the  emigrants  on  foot. 
Later  companies  coming  up  formed  a  pursuing  party, 
and  having  a  fight  with  the  natives,  killed  thirty  of 
them.1  This  checked  hostilities,  but  did  not  allay 
hatred.  The  notorious  Bill  Hickman  shot  down  two 
Hurnboldt  Indians  who  hung  about  his  camp  at  Stony 
Point.2  On  the  same  ground  reddened  by  the  blood 
of  his  victims,  a  few  months  later  three  white  men 
were  killed  by  the  Indians.8 

1  Beatles  First  in  Nevada,   MS.,   5-6.     The  Sac.    Transcript  of   Sept.  23. 
1850,  says  that  in  the  Carson  valley  constant  skirmishing  had  occurred  be 
tween  the  immigrants  and  the  Indians,  and  that  in  a  battle  with  400  or  500 
of  them  they  were  victorious. 

2  Cosser  says  Hickman  pretended  to  no  other  reason  for  these  acts  than 
the  pleasure  in  killing  them. 

3  A.  Woodard  of  Sac.,  Oscar  Fitzner,  and  John  Hawthorne,  carrying  the 
mail  from  Salt  Lake  to  Sac.,  were  the  victims. 

(205) 


206  INDIAN  WARS. 

From  1851  to  1857  there  were  many  deeds  of  vio 
lence  on  both  sides.  In  1856  a  party  of  ten  men  led 
by  Levi  Hutton  of  Missouri  were  surrounded  in 
camp  on  the  Hurnboldt  by  sixty  Indians  well  armed 
with  rifles  and  revolvers.  The  party  returned  the  fire 
of  the  Indians  and  retreated,  dragging  their  wagon 
by  hand,  four  of  their  horses  being  killed  and  others 
wounded.  All  that  night  and  next  day  the  Indians 
continued  to  harrass  them.  Hutton  and  Aleline,  a 
Frenchman  from  St  Louis,  were  killed.  Two  other 
men  were  severely  wounded,  Thomas  Reddy  from 
Leavenworth,  and  James  Edwards  from  St  Louis. 
Reddy  became  exhausted  and  urged  the  remainder  of 
the  party  to  leave  him  and  save  themselves,  which 
they  finally  did,  taking  what  provisions  they,  could 
carry,  and  destroying  all  the  arms  they  were  forced 
to  leave.  The  party  of  seven  arrived  in  Carson  val 
ley  October  25th,  where  Edwards  had  his  wounds 
dressed,  after  a  fatiguing  journey  of  200  miles.  Thir 
teen  Indians  were  killed.4 

In  1857  a  party  of  twenty-two  immigrants  under 
Captain  Piersori  encountered  on  the  Humboldt,  near 
the  mouth  of  Reese  river,  a  large  body  of  Pah  Utes, 
with  whom  they  had  a  severe  contest.  The  place  ob 
tained  the  name  of  Battle  Mountain,  which  name  was 
retained  when  the  country  was  settled,  and  given  to 
a  mining  district  on  Reese  river,5  John  McMarlin 

O 

and  James  Williams,  in  charge  of  pack  trains  from 
Mormon  station  to  California,  were  killed  by  Washoes 
on  the  trial  which  crossed  the  mountains  south  of  Lake 
Tahoe  on  the  same  day,  one  at  Slippery  Ford  hill 
and  the  other  on  the  summit.  The  settlers  became 
alarmed  and  called  upon  the  people  of  California  for 
assistance.6  Arms  and  ammunition  were  tendered  by 
the  governor  of  that  state ;  the  Pah  Utes  also  offered 
their  warriors  to  fight  the  Washoes. 

4  Hayes'  Scraps  Mining,  xi.  2,  3. 

6  8.  F.  Alta,  May  7,  I860;  8.  F.  Alia,  Aug.  2,  Sept.  7  and  10,  1857. 

GA  party  of  young  men  attempted  to  find  and  punish  the  offenders,  but 
incautiously  fired  at  some  birds  and  discovered  themselves  to  the  Indiana, 
who  ried.  Hawleys  Lake  Tahoe,  MS.,  4-8. 


WASHOES  AND  PAH  UTES.  207 

Brigham  Young,  governor  and  superintendent  of 
Indian  affairs  for  Utah,  in  the  summer  of  1857  sent 
Garland  Hurt,  Indian  agent,  to  Carson  valley,  who 
made  a  treaty  of  amity  with  the  Washoes. 

In  the  summer  of  1858  the  Pah  Utes  gave  consid 
erable  trouble  in  the  Humboldt  valley,  and  F.  Dodge 
was  sent  to  reside  in  Carson  valley  as  Indian  agent 
to  endeavor  to  keep  the  peace.  Early  in  the  follow 
ing  year  also,  they,  as  well  as  the  Pit  river  and 
Walker  river  tribes,  displayed  open  hostility  to  pros 
pectors  and  settlers.  In  March  seven  men,  among 
whom  was  the  well  known  pioneer  Peter  Lassen,  were 
prospecting  in  the  Black  Rock  country,  on  the  immi 
grant  route  of  1846,  when  they  were  attacked  in 
camp  and  Lassen  and  another  man  killed.  Other 
small  parties  disappeared  never  to  be  heard  from,  and 
their  fate  could  be  readily  conjectured.7 

The  winter  of  1859-60  was  one  of  exceptional  se 
verity,  and  the  Indians  suffered  greatly  from  cold  and 
hunger.  So  strong  was  their  distrust  of  the  white 
race  that  although  some  good  men  now  endeavored 
to  mitigate  their  misfortunes,  building  large  fires  and 
offering  them  food,  they  were  but  little  benefited, 
many  refusing  to  eat,  lest  the  food  should  be  poisoned, 
and  attributing  the  extreme  cold  to  the  presence  of 
the  detested  white  man.  Many  children  died  of  pri 
vation.8 

In  January  1860  the  Pah  Utes  killed  Dexter  E. 
Deming,  who  lived  on  Willow  creek,  north  of  Honey 
lake,  then  thought  to  be  in  Nevada.  A  company, 
under  Lieutenant  W.  J.  Tutt,  was  ordered  to  pursue 

7  Auckland's  Indian  Fighting,  MS.,  2-3;  Kelly's  Ncv.   Directory   1862,  33; 
S.  F.  Bulktin,  April  21  and  28,  and  May  9,  10,  and  11,  1859.     According  to 
the  report  of  Dodge,  Indian  agent  for  Carson  district,  the   Pah  Utes  num 
bered  about  6,000,  the  head  chief,  Winnemucca,  residing  on  Smoke   creek, 
near  Honey  lake.     Small   bands  under  sub-chiefs  resided   at   the  forks  of 
Carson  river,  Gold  Canon,  Big  Bend,  sink  of  the  Carson,  on  Walker  river, 
at  Big  Meadows  on  Truckee  river,  at  the  lower  crossing  of  Truckee,  at  the 
mouth  of  Truckee,  at  Pyramid  lake,  and  Lower  Mud  lake.     The  Washoes 
numbered  900,  and  inhabited  the  country  at  the  base  of  the  Sierra  Nevada, 
Washoe,  and  Eagle  valleys,  and  about  LakeTahoe.  Ind.  Aff.  fopt,  1859,  273-4. 

8  Territorial  Enterprise,  Dec.  24,  1859;  Hayes'  Mtnin'j  Scraps,  xi.  40. 


208  INDIAN  WARS. 

the  offenders,  who  were  traced  to  the  Pah  Ute  camp. 
The  governor  then  appointed  two  commissioners, 
William  Weatherlow  and  T.  J.  Harvey,  to  visit 
Poito,  the  head  chief,  known  as  Old  Winnemucca, 
to  demand  the  criminals,  in  accordance  with  an  exist 
ing  treaty.  Winnemucca  was  found  at  Pyramid 
lake.  He  did  not  deny  the  governor's  right  in  the 
matter,  but  refused  to  give  the  order  for  the  surren 
der,  and  demanded  $16,000  for  Honey  Lake  valley. 
It  was  observed  early  in  March  that  the  Indians 
were  withdrawing  from  the  settlements.  In  the  lat- 

& 

ter  part  of  April  they  held  a  council  at  Pyramid 
lake,  and  recited  their  grievances,  a  long  enough  list 
of  insults  and  injustice,  among  which  the  encroach 
ments  of  the  white  race  upon  their  favorite  lands,  and 
the  cutting  down  of  the  pine  nut  trees,  which  were 
their  orchards,  were  mild  charges.  Every  chief  in 
the  council  except  Numaga,  known  as  Young  Winne 
mucca,  although  not  related  to  the  head  chief  of  that 
name,  which  signifies  bread  giver,  was  in  favor  ot 
war,  he  having  mingled  more  with  white  people,  and 
knowing  their  numbers  and  strength.  The  head  chief, 
like  Peupeumoxmox  of  the  Walla  Wallas  was  a 
shrewd  politician,  and,  while  secretly  supporting  the 
war  movement,  never  committed  himself  openly  to 
either  party,  but  consented  to  be  governed  by  the 
majority.  Then  there  was  a  chief  of  the  Shoshones 
who  had  married  a  Pah  Ute,  and  another  chief  from 
Powder  river,  Oregon,  a  half  Bannack,  who  were 
clamorous  for  war.9 

Meanwhile  Mogoannoga,  chief  of  the  Humboldt 
Meadows  men,  known  to  the  settlers  as  Captain  Soo, 
stole  away  from  the  council  with  nine  braves  to  end 

9  The  Shoshone  was  killed  a  few  years  later,  after  a  raid  into  Paradise 
valley,  by  some  of  his  own  people,  near  Battle  mountain.  They  killed  him 
because  he  kept  them  in  perpetual  trouble  by  his  raids  upon  the  stock  of  the 
settlers  in  Nevada  and  Oregon.  The  chief  of  the  Smoke  Creek  Indians,  a 
brother-in-law  of  vVinnemucca,  was  slain  by  one  of  his  own  people  for  at 
tempting  to  bewitch  him.  Ihe  chief  of  the  Honey  Lake  band  was  also 
killed  by  his  followers  after  years  of  war,  to  put  a  stop  to  hostilities;  and 
another  Honey  Lake  chief  was  killed  by  his  people.  A  brother  of  Winne 
mucca  named  Wahe  was  murdered  by  the  Pah  Utes  at  Walker  river. 


ATTACK  AT  WILLIAMS'  STATION.  209 

all  discussion  by  opening  the  war.  On  the  7th  of 
May  they  attacked  Williams'  station,  on  the  over 
land  road,  killed  seven  men,  and  burned  the  house. 
Then  passing  by  the  place  of  Samuel  8.  Buckland,1' 
they  came  to  the  farm  of  W.  H.  Bloomfield.  They 
drove  off  the  stock  and  returned  to  Pyramid  lake, 
sending  one  of  their  number  in  advance  to  announce 
to  the  council  still  in  session  that  war  had  been  be 
gun.  On  the  morning  of  the  8th,  also,  J.  O.  Wil 
liams  returned  to  his  home  to  find  it  a  smoking  ruin, 
near  which  lay  the  dead  bodies  of  his  brothers,  and 
among  the  ashes  the  bones  of  his  friends.  He  fled  to 
Virginia  City,  pursued  a  part  of  the  way  to  Buck- 
land's,  where  he  gave  the  alarm. 

Like  the  bursting  out  of  a  long  smothered  confla 
gration  was  the  vengeful  excitement  which  followed 
the  news  of  the  attack  at  Williams'  station.  Couriers 
sped  in  every  direction,  and  at  night,  and  by  un 
frequented  ways,  to  warn  camps  of  prospectors  and 
outlying  settlements  of  their  danger.  On  the  day  of 
the  attack  John  Gibson  and  seven  others,  sixty  miles 
away,  were  also  slaughtered;  settlers  were  killed  and 
houses  burned  at  Honey  lake,  and  two  men  killed  on 
Truckee  river;  war  parties  stationed  themselves  in 
the  Humboldt  valley,  and  in  the  mountains  at  Mono 
and  Walker  river.  Intelligence  was  sent  to  Califor 
nia  with  an  appeal  for  arms  and  ammunition,  to  which 
the  citizens  of  that  state  quickly  and  generously  re 
sponded.  But  without  waiting  for  aid,  the  Nevadans 
immediately  formed  companies  in  all  the  towns,  and 
proceeded  on  the  9th  to  Buckland's,  en  route  to  Wil 
liams'  station.  They  were  divided  into  several  de 
tachments  under  leaders  few  of  whom  had  any  mili 
tary  knowledge,  numbering  altogether  but  105  men. 
They  were  poorly  armed  and  undisciplined.11  After 

19  Buckland  was  a  native  of  Ohio,  born  in  Licking  county  in  1826.  He 
came  to  Cal.  in  1850,  via  Panama,  removing  to  Carson  valley  in  1857.  In  a 
manuscript  by  him  in  my  library  he  states  that  the  attack  was  brought  on  by 
the  Williams  brothers,  who  had  imprisoned  and  violated  a  Pah  Ute  woman. 

11  Under  arms  were:  The  Genoa  rangers,  Capt.  Thomas  F.  Condon,  C.  E. 
Kimball,  Michael  Tay,  Robert  Ridley,  Big  Texas,  M.  Pular,  J.  A.  Thomp- 
HIST.  NEV.  14 


210  INDIAN  WARS. 

interring  the  dead  the  volunteers  proceeded  to  the 
Truckee  river,  where  they  encamped  on  the  night  of 
the  llth  at  the  present  site  of  Wadsworth,  moving 
down  next  day  toward  the  main  camp  of  the  enemy. 
About  two  miles  from  the  foot  of  the  lake  the  moun 
tains  approach  closely  to  the  river,  leaving  but  a  nar 
row  strip  of  bottom  land,  which  constitutes  a  pass 
easily  defended,  and  dangerous  to  an  attacking  force. 
No  enemy  appearing  in  sight,  the  volunteers  marched 
on  for  a  mile  and  a  half.  When  they  were  well  with 
in  the  trap,  about  100  Indians  showed  themselves  on 
the  ridge  a  little  in  advance.  Major  Ormsby  gave 
the  order  for  his  company  to  charge  up  the  slope. 
When  they  reached  the  plateau  above,  on  still  an 
other  ridge,  another  line  was  stationed  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  first,  but  more  extended,  and  with  their 
right  and  left  almost  touching  the  narrow  valley 
through  which  ran  an  impassable  river.  Soon  from 
every  sage  brush  twanged  an  arrow  or  hissed  a  bullet, 
and  the  thirty  men  realized  their  peril.  They  made 
a  hasty  retreat  to  a  piece  of  timber  which  came  down 
toward  the  bottom  on  the  west.  But  here  they  were 
met  by  the  savages  under  the  Black  Rock  chief  Se- 
quinata,  commonly  called  Chiquito  Winnemucca,  or 
Black  Rock  Tom,  who  forced  them  down  toward 

son,  Lee  James;  Carson  City  Rangers:  Maj.  William  M.  Ormsby,  John  L. 
Blackburn,  F.  Steinger,  Christopher  Barnes,  James  M.  Gatewood,  William 
8.  Spurr,  Frank  Gilbert,  William  Headley,  F.  Shinn,  William  Mason,  Rich 
ard  C.  Watkins,  John  Holmes,  Samuel  Brown,  William  E.  Eichelroth,  Anton 
W.  Tjader,  James  J.  Mclntyre,  Eugene  Angel,  William  C.  Marley,  Lake, 
Abraham  Jones,  Charles  Shad,  Bartholomew  Riley,  and  5  discharged  U.  S. 
soldiers  from  Fort  Ruby.  Silver  City  guards:  Capt.  R.  G.  Watkins,  Albert 
Bloom,  Charles  Evans,  James  Lee,  James  Shabel,  Boston  Boy,  Keene,  and  a 
boy;  Virginia  vols.  co,  1:  Capt.  F.  Johnson,  F.  J.  Call,  McTerriey,  Hugh 
McLaughlin,  Charles  McLeod;  John  Fleming,  Henderson  (Greeks),  Andreas 
Schnald  (Italian),  Marco  Kneegiswoldt,  and  John  Gaventi  (Austrians),  George 
(aChileno),  O.  C.  Steel;  Virginia  vol. ,  co.  2.,  Capt.  Archie  McDonald,  Wil 
liam  Armington,  Charles  W.  Allen,  G.  F.  Brown,  Joseph  G.  Baldwin,  Jr,  D. 
D.  Cole,  A.  K.  Elliott,  A.  L.  Grannis,  Fred.  Galehousen,  F.  Hawkins,  Arch 
ibald  Haven,  J.  C.  Hall,  George  Jones,  Charles  Forman,  R.  Lawrence,  Henry 
Meredith,  P.  Mclntosh,  O.  Spurr,  M.  Spurr,  John  Noyce,  C.  McVane,  Pat 
rick  McCourt,  S.  McNaughton,  Henry  Newton,  A.  J.  Peck,  and  Richard 
Snowden.  Another  company  from  Gold  Hill  contained  J.  F.  Johnson,  G. 
Jonner,  James  McCarthy,  T.  Kelley,  J.  Bowden,  N.  A.  Chandler,  A.  G.  B. 
Hammond,  Armstrong,  E.  Millson,  and  24  others. 


THE   WINNEMUCCAS.  211 

the    river,   where    they    would  be    entirely    at    his 
mercy. 

At  this  juncture  Numaga  or  Young  Winnernucca, 
threw  himself  between  Chiquito  Winnemucca's  war 
riors  and  the  volunteers,  and  attempted  to  obtain  a 
parley;  but  he  was  disregarded  by  the  Indians,  now 
in  hot  pursuit  of  Ormsby's  men,  who  had  been  ree'n- 
forced  by  other  companies  from  the  valley,  and  were 
making  a  stand  in  the  timber,  where  Ormsby  by  gen 
eral  consent  took  the  command.  When  the  com 
mander  comprehended  that  his  force  was  surrounded 
he  made  an  effort  to  keep  open  an  escape  by  sending 
Captain  Condon  of  the  Genoa  rangers,  and  Captain 
R.  G.  Watkins  of  the  Silver  City  guards,  the  only 
veteran  soldier  among  them,12  to  guard  the  pass  out 
of  the  valley.  But  a  panic  ensued.  Seeing  the  hope 
lessness  of  their  situation,  many  turned  arid  fled. 
Watkins  returned  to  the  bottom  where  the  remnants 
of  the  commands  were  engaged  in  a  life  and  death 
struggle  with  the  Indians,  who,  flushed  with  victory, 
were  sating  their  thirst  for  blood.  The  white  men 
cried  for  mercy,  but  the  savages  said  "No  use  now  ; 
too  late." 

The  battlo  began  about  four  o'clock  in  the  after 
noon.  The  bloodiest  part  of  it  was  where  the  rear  of 
the  white  forces,  crowding  at  the  pass  in  their  efforts 
to  escape,  retarded  the  exit,  and  the  Indians  riding  in 
amongst  them  hewed  them  in  pieces.  Just  where 
Ormsby  died  his  friends  could  not  tell.  He  was  shot 
in  the  mouth  by  a  poisoned  arrow,  and  wounded  in 
both  arms.  The  working  of  the  poison  caused  him  to 
fall  from  his  horses.  It  was  said  that  he  besought  his 

<^ 

men  to  rally  around  him,    dreading  to  fall    into   the 
hands  of  his  enemies  before   life   was  extinct.     The 


12  Watkins  was  one  of  Walker's  Nicaragua  force,  and  had  lost  a  leg  in 
action.     He  rode  a  powerful  horse,  to  which  he  was  strapped. 

13  *  White  men  all  cry  a  heap;  got  no  gun,  throw  'um  away;  got  no  revol 
ver;  throw  'um  away  too;  no  want  to  light  any  more  now;  all  big  scare,  just 
like  cattle;  run,  run,  cry,  cry,  heap  cry,  same  as  papoose;  no  want  Injun  to 
kill  'um  any  more.' 


212  INDIAN  WARS. 

pursuit  was  kept  up  until  interrupted  by  the  darkness 
of  night,  and  the  fugitives  scattered  over  the  country 
a  hundred  miles  from  Virginia  City.14  Comparatively 
few  were  wounded.  The  first  effect  of  the  defeat  at 
Pyramid  lake  was  to  drive  many  out  of  the  country. 
The  women  and  children  of  Virginia  City  were  placed 
in  an  unfinished  stone  house,  which  was  turned  into  a 
fortress  and  called  Fort  Biley.  At  Silver  City  a  for 
tification  was  erected  on  the  rocks  overlooking  the 
town,  and  a  cannon  made  of  wood  was  mounted  at  the 
fort  to  frighten  away  invaders.  At  Carson  City  the 
Penrod  hotel  was  used  as  a  fortification,  after  being 
barricaded,  and  pickets  established.  At  Genoa  the 
small  stone  house  of  Warren  Wasson  was  taken  for  a 
defence,  while  Wasson  rode  through  the  enemy's  coun 
try  110  miles,  to  Honey  lake,  to  carry  a  telegraphic 
order  from  General  Clarke  to  a  company  of  cavalry 
supposed  to  be  at  Honey  lake,  to  march  at  once  to 
Carson. 

As  I  have  before  stated,  the  Californians  responded 
quickly  to  the  call  for  help.  The  news  of  the  battle 
and  the  death  of  young  Meredith  aroused  the  citizens 
of  Downieville,  who  within  thirty-six  hours  raised  and 
equipped  165  men,  who  marched  to  Virginia  City  on 
foot  in  five  days.  Sacramento,  Placerville,  La  Porte, 
San  Juan,  and  Nevada  City  sent  volunteers  to  help 
fight  the  Pah  Utes.  San  Francisco  raised  money  and 
arms.  General  Clarke  issued  orders  to  Captain  Stew 
art  of  the  3d  artillery  stationed  at  Fort  Alcatraz,  and 

14  The  killed,  besides  Ormsby,  were  Eugene  Angel,  William  Arrington,  S. 
Auberson,  Boston  Boy,  A.  K.  Elliott,  John  B.  Fleming,  YV.  Hawkins,  Wil 
liam  Headly,  F.  Gatehouse,  John  Gaventi,  George  Jones,  Flourney  Johnson, 
M.  Kuezerwitch,  James  Lee,  Henry  Meredith,  P.  Mclntosh,  Charles  McLeod, 
O.  McNaughton,  J.  McCarty,  Parsons,  Richard  Snowden,  William  E.  Spear, 
Andrew  Schueld,  and  others.  One  correspondent  of  the  S.  F.  Herahl  gave 
the  number  of  bodies  found  on  the  field  and  buried  at  43,  Hayes'  Scraps  Min 
ing,  xi.  104,  and  another  says  that  on  the  27th,  two  weeks  after  the  fight, 
nearly  60  persons  were  still  missing.  See  also  Sac.  Record,  June  22,  1872; 
S.  F  Herald,  May  14,  I860;  8.  F.  Call,  Jan.  26,  1879;  Kleins  Founders  of 
Carson  City,  MS.,  4;  S.  F.  Alta,  May  8,  1860;  Hawleys  Lake  Tahoe,  MS.,  4-5; 
Cradlebautjh's  New  Biog.,  MS.,  4-5;  Hayes1  Scraps  Mining,  xi.  61-83;  S.  F. 
Bulletin,  May  14,  16,  17,  26,  29,  31,  and  June  5,  6,  7,  1860j  Gal.  Farmer, 
May  11,  1860. 


HELP  FROM  CALIFORNIA.  213 

Captain  Flint  of  the  6th  infantry,  stationed  at  Be- 
nicia,  to  proceed  at  once  to  Carson  Valley,  the  two 
companies  numbering  150  men,  and  there  establish  a 
military  post.  Almost  daily  thereafter  there  were 
arrivals  from  west  of  the  mountains,  which  gave  much 
uneasiness  to  the  divers  Winnemuccas  on  the  watch 
to  see  what  turn  affairs  would  take.  By  the  last  of 
the  month  there  were  about  800  troops  in  the  field, 
of  whom  over  200  were  regulars.15 

On  the  26th  the  united  forces  marched  down  the 
Carson  Valley  from  Camp  Hayes  twenty  miles  below 
Carson  City,  with  the  understanding  that  they  were 
to  go  to  Pyramid  lake,  and  if  the  Indians  would  fight, 
to  engage  them  ;  but  if  they  could  not  be  brought  to 
battle,  the  volunteers  were  to  disband  in  ten  days,  and 
leave  the  regulars  to  guard  the  passes  into  Carson 
valley.  Thus  the  pony  express,  just  established,  as 
well  as  the  settlers,  might  be  protected.  Every  sta 
tion  was  reported  broken  up  as  far  east  as  Dry  Creek 
and  Simpson  Park,  in  the  eastern  part  of  what  is  now 


15 The  Washoe  regiment  was  officered  as  follows:  Col  commanding,  John 

C.  Hays;  lieut-col,  E.  J.  Sanders;  maj.,  Dan.  E.   Hungerford;  adjt,  Charles 
S.  Fairfax;  actg-adjtof  infantry,  J.  S.  Plunkett;  reg.   quartermaster,  Benj. 
S.  Lippincott;  asst  quartermaster,  John  McNish;  dept  qnartermaster,  Alex. 
Miot;  commissary,  R.  N.  Snowden;  A.  C.  S.,  Capt.    H.   Toler;  surgeon,  E. 
J.  Bryant;  asst-surgs,  Ed.  T.  Perkins,   C.    R.   Bell;    serg-maj.,  R.    Macgill. 
Co.    A,   Spy;  J.    B.    Fleeson  capt. ;  15  men.     Co.    B,    Sierra  guards;  E.  J. 
Smith  capt.;  1st  lieut  J.  B.  Preasch;  2d  lieut  William  Wells;  3d   lieut  J. 
Halliday;  46  men.     Co.  C,  Truckee  rangers;  capt.  Alanson  Nightingill.    Co. 

D.  Sierra  guards;  capt.  J.  B.  Reed;  1st  lieut  N.  P.  Pierce;  orderly  D.  Rals 
ton;  14  men.     Co.  E,  Carson  rangers;  capt.  P.  H.  Clayton.     Co.  F,  Nevada 
rifles;  capt.  J.  R.  Van  Hagan.     Co.  G.  Sierra  guards;  capt.  F.  F.  Patterson; 
1st  lieut  C.  S.  Champney;  2d  lieut  T.  Maddux;  3d  lieut  A.  Walker;  41  men. 
Co.  H,  San  Juan  rifles;  capt.  N.  C.  Miller.     Co.  I,  Sacramento  guards;  capt. 
A.  G.  Snowden.     Co.  J;  capt.  James  Virgo.     Co.   K,  Virginia  rifles;    capt. 

E.  T.  Storey;  106  men.     Co.  L,   Carson  City  rifles;    capt.   J.   L.  Blackburn; 
1st  lieut  A.    L.  Turner;  ord.    sergt  Theo.    Winters.     Co.    M,  Silver  City 
guards;  capt.  Ford.  Co.  N,  Highland  rangers;  capt.  S.  B.  Wallace  (spy  co.); 
15  men;  1st  lieut  Robert  Ly on;  2d  lieut  Joseph  F.  Triplett;  20  men.   Co.  O, 
Sierra  guards;  capt.  Creed  Raymond;  1st  sergt  George  A.   Davis;  2d  sergt 
H.  M.   Harshberger;  9  men.     Scouts  William  S.   Allen,   Samuel  Buckland, 
Benjamin  Webster,    and  S.   C.   Springer.     Teamsters  and  armed  followers 
numbered  30  more.     U.  S.  troops,  officers:  Capt.  Jasper  M.  Stewart,   3d  ar 
tillery  commdg  82  men;  lieut  H.   G.   Gibson,  with  howitzers  and  10  men; 
capt.;  F.  F.  Flint,  6th  inf.;  lieut  E.  R.  Warner;  62  men;  lieut  J.  McCreary, 
6th  inf.;  53  men;  quartermaster,   Capt.  T.  Moore;  asst  quartermaster,    Ed. 
Byrne;  surg.,  Charles  C.  Keauy. 


214  INDIAN  WARS. 

Eureka  county.16  On  the  19th  of  June  the  express 
and  mail  were  escorted  from  Carson  City  eastward 
by  a  picked  company  of  twenty  men,  and  the  line  re 
established.  While  the  volunteers  were  crossing  the 
Twenty-six-mile  desert,  one  of  the  scouts,  Michael 
Bushy,  was  cut  off  by  the  Indians.  His  remains 
were  found  two  years  afterward  near  Williams'  sta 
tion,  and  the  Indians  who  pointed  them  out  said  he 
had  fought  bravely  for  eight  miles,  turning  on  his 
pursuers  and  driving  them  to  cover,  but  his  horse 
gave  out,  the  enemy  surrounded  him,  and  the  end 
soon  came. 

The  army  found  the  Indians  waiting  for  them  at 
Big  Meadows,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Williams'  sta 
tion,  where  they  engaged  a  detachment  of  scouts, 
under  Captain  Fleeson,  whom  they  attempted  to  cut 
off.  In  the  skirmish  two  volunteers  were  wounded, 
and  six  Indians  killed.  The  enemy  retreated  when 
the  main  volunteer  force  came  up.  In  this  fight,  as 
in  the  battle  of  Pyramid  lake,  the  Indians  had  rifles 
of  longer  range  than  the  volunteers.  The  regulars 
coming  up  two  hours  after  the  action  at  Big 
Meadows,  the  whole  force  moved  on  to  the  scene  of 
the  first  battle,  where  they  found  and  buried  the 
bodies  of  the  slain.  From  this  point  the  Indians 
warily  withdrew  toward  Pyramid  lake,  followed  by 
the  army,  which  could  not  bring  them  to  any  decisive 
engagement,  but  which  was  resolved  to  drive  them 
beyond  the  lake,  and  then  leave  the  regular  troops  to 
guard  the  passes,  as  previously  agreed  upon,  hoping 
thus  to  starve  them  into  subjection. 

As  the  fatal  pass  was  neared  they  found  the  bodies 
of  those  killed  in  the  retreat  of  the  12th  of  May, 
which  were  interred,  and  camp  was  made  on  the  1st 
of  June,  about  eight  miles  below  the  lower  crossing 
of  the  Truckee  river.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  3d 
an  order  was  issued  to  Captain  Storey  of  the  Vir 
ginia  Rifles  with  twenty  men,  Captain  Wallace  of  the 

K  Hayes  Scraps  Mining,  xi.  217,  221. 


FORT  STOREY.  215 

Spy  company  with  three  men,  Captain  Van  Hagen  of 
the  Nevada  Rifles  with  twenty  men,  and  Captain 
George  Snowden,  to  make  a  reconnoissance  toward 
the  battle  fleld.  They  approached  near  enough  to 
count  twenty-three  bodies,  when  suddenly  arose  from 
the  shadow  of  bush  and  rock  a  host  of  armed  Pah 
Utes,  and  the  detachment  hastily  retreated  toward 
camp,  pursued  by  the  foe,  which  posted  itself  on  a 
rocky  ledge  two  miles  from  camp. 

News  of  the  attack  being  conveyed  to  Colonel 
Hayes  and  Captain  Stewart,  they  hastened  to  the 
spot,  and  a  battle  three  hours  in  length  was  fought, 
in  which  200  volunteers  and  100  regulars  were  en- 

O 

gaged.  They  dislodged  the  Indians,  pursuing  them 
between  four  and  five  miles,  killing  twenty-five  and 
taking  fifty  of  their  horses.  In  this  action  Captain 
Storey,17  was  shot  throngh  the  lungs,  and  died  on  the 
7th.  Privates  J.  Cameron  and  A.  H.  Phelps  of  his 
company  were  also  killed.  Four  regular  soldiers 
were  wounded,  and  a  private  of  the  Nevada  Rifles, 
Andrew  Hasey,  who  charged  with  his  company  after 
being  severely  wounded  in  the  hip.  The  pursuit  was 
abandoned  at  sundown,  the  Indians  fleeing  to  the 
mountains.  Fortifications  were  constructed,  and  the 
name  of  Fort  Storey  given  to  the  place. 

On  the  4th  the  march  was  resumed  toward  Pyra 
mid  lake.  The  Pah  Ute  valley  was  found  deserted, 
the  trail  of  the  Indians  appearing  to  lead  north. 
From  this  point,  where  Captain  Stewart  remained 
and  threw  up  earthworks,  which  he  named  Fort 

17  Edward  Faris  Storey,  after  whom  Storey  county  was  named,  was  born 
in  Georgia  July  1,  1828,  and  was  a  son  of  Colonel  John  Storey,  who  com 
manded  a  regiment  during  the  Indian  wars  in  the  western  part  of  Georgia, 
under  Jackson's  administratioh.  He  afterward  removed  to  Texas,  and  with 
his  three  sons  in  1846  enlisted  in  a  company  of  Texas  rangers  under  Capt. 
McCulloch.  Of  the  sons  only  E.  F.  Storey  survived  the  war.  In  1848  he 
was  elected  lieut  in  a  company  of  rangers  under  Oapt.  Jacob  Roberts  to 
quel'.  outlaws.  In  1849  he  married  Adelia  Calhoun  Johnson  of  Texas,  by 
whom  he  had  a  daughter,  later  Mrs  J.  W.  Williams  of  Visalia,  California, 
which  child,  after  the  death  of  his  wife  in  1852,  he  brought  to  the  Pacific 
eor.st  overland  through  Mexico,  embarking  at  Mazatlan  for  S.  F.  He  en- 
ga  red  in  stock  raising  in  Tulare  co.,  removing  to  Nevada  a  short  time  before 
th3  Indian  outbreak. 


216  INDIAN  WARS. 

Haven,  Colonel  Hayes  returned  to  Carson  and  dis 
banded  his  regiment.  On  the  march  he  lost  a  valued 
scout,  William  S.  Allen/8  who  was  shot  from  an  am 
buscade,  this  act  being  the  last  of  the  Pah  Ute  war  of 
1860,  in  the  western  part  of  the  county  of  Carson. 
There  was  some  fighting  in  the  Goose  Lake  country 
between  the  force  under  Colonel  Lander,  then  explor 
ing  for  a  wagon  road  over  the  sierra  and  across  the 
great  basin,  who  had  been  appointed  special  Indian 
agent.  In  August,  Lander  gave  information  that 
old  Winnemucca,  with  the  principal  part  of  his  band, 
was  in  the  mountains  north  of  the  Humboldt  river, 
and  the  Smoke  Creek  chief  scouting  from  theTruckee 
river  over  to  a  point  north  of  the  sink  of  the  Hum 
boldt.  Before  quitting  the  Humboldt  country,  Lan 
der  sought  an  interview  with  young  Winnemucca, 
and  through  him  a  convention  was  entered  into  by 
which  Numaga  agreed  that  the  Pah  Utes  should  keep 
the  peace  for  one  year,  and  Lander  promised  at  the 
end  of  that  time  to  use  his  influence  with  congress  to 
procure  payment  for  the  Pah  Ute  lands. 

The  regulars  under  Captain  Stewart  remained  at 
Fort  Haven  until  the  middle  of  July,  some  persons 
taking  advantage  of  their  presence  to  make  settle 
ments  on  the  Truckee,  and  near  Pyramid  lake.19  The 
troops  after  leaving  Fort  Haven  occupied  themselves, 
under  the  direccton  of  Captain  Stewart,  in  erecting 
Fort  Churchill,  a  permanent  post  on  the  Carson 
river  thirty-five  miles  below  Carson  City.  Indian- 
agent  Frederick  Dodge  endeavored  to  perfect  the 
promised  peace  by  setting  off  reservations  at  Walker 
and  Pyramid  lakes,  and  in  the  Truckee  valley,  where 
the  fishing  and  other  food  supplies  of  the  Indians 
were  most  abundant,  and  placing  them  in  charge  of 
Warren  Wasson,  an  energetic,  fearless,  and  just  man. 

18  Budcland's  Indian  Fighting,  MS. 

19  J.  D.  Roberts,  Thomas  Marsh,  Robert  Reed,   Hans  Parian,   0.  Spevey, 
Anderson  Spain,  Washington  Cox  Corey,  and  M.  A.  Braley.     The  mines  at 
Aurora  were  discovered  by  Corey  and  Braley,   whose  names  were  given  to 
two  mountains  in  that  region. 


ON  OWEN  RIVER.  217 

By  the  exertions  of  Wasson  and  the  friendly  chiefs 
Oderkeo,  Numaga,  and  Truckee/9  war  was  averted 
for  the  time. 

The  winter  of  1861-2  was  severe,  and  the  Indians 
whose  hunting  ground  had  been  spoiled,  and  whose 
stock  of  provisions  was  inadequate  to  their  wants, 
killed  the  cattle  belonging  to  the  white  men,  and  were 
themselves  sometimes  slaughtered  in  return.  Retali 
ations  multiplied,  and  several  white  men  21  were  killed 
in  Owen  River  valley.  The  remaining  inhabitants, 
herdsmen,  fortified  themselves  thirty  miles  above 
Owen  lake.  Eighteen  men  marched  from  Aurora  to 
the  relief  of  the  graziers,  who  now  took  the  field  sixty 
strong,  under  a  leader  named  May  field,  and  had  a 
skirmish  with  the  Indians  in  force,  losing  one  man.23 
Retreating  to  camp  they  were  pursued,  and  in  another 
skirmish  two  other  white  men  were  slain.23  The  com 
pany  escaped  under  cover  of  night  and  returned  to 
their  fortification,  abandoning  a  considerable  quantity 
of  ammunition,  eighteen  horses,  and  leaving  their  dead 
on  the  field.  On  the  march  they  met  Lieutenant- 
colonel  George  Evans  with  two  lieutenants  and  forty 
men  of  the  Second  Cavalry  California  volunteers, 
from  Los  Angeles,  who  joined  his  force  to  theirs,  and 
went  again  in  pursuit  of  the  Indians.  In  the  mean 
time  Governor  Nye  had  been  informed  by  Agent 
Wasson  of  the  difficulty  on  Owen  river,  with  request 
for  troops  sufficient  to  quiet  the  disturbance,  and  pre 
vent  the  infection  of  war  from  spreading  to  the  Pah 
Utes.  General  Wright,  in  command  of  the  depart 
ment,  ordered  Captain  E.  A.  Rowe  of  the  above 
mentioned  regiment,  stationed  at  Fort  Churchill  to 
send  fifty  men  to  the  scene  of  the  conflict,  and  the 
orders  of  Captain  Rowe  to  Lieutenant  Noble,  in 

28  Truckee  died  in  October  1860.  His  name  was  given  to  the  Truckee 
river  by  the  early  immigrants,  to  whom  he  behaved  well.  He  possessed 
papers  given  him  by  Fremont  in  1844. 

21  E.  S.  Taylor,  J.  Tallman,  R.   Hansen,  and  Crozen  were  killed  by  the 
Indians  in  the  spring  of  1862. 

22  C.  J.   Pleasants  of  Aurora. 

33  N.  F.  Scott,  sheriff  of  Mono  county,  and  Morrison  of  Visalia. 


218  INDIAN  WARS. 

command  of  the  detachment  were  not  to  engage  the 
Indians  without  the  sanction  of  the  Indian  agent. 
But  when  Lieutenant  Noble  met  Colonel  Evans 
on  the  7th  of  April  his  command  was  taken  away, 
and  his  men  ordered  to  join  in  the  pursuit  of  the 
Indians,  whom  Wasson  desired  to  meet  and  pacify. 
On  the  second  day,  believing  that  the  Indians  were 
secreted  in  a  certain  canon,  Evans  sent  Sergeant  Gil- 
lespie  and  nine  men  to  reconnoiter  in  advance  of  the 
main  command.  The  squad  was  fired  upon  almost 
as  soon  as  it  entered  the  canon,  the  sergeant  killed 
and  Corporal  Harris  wounded.  An  attack  was  then 
ordered,  the  cavalry  under  Evans  taking  the  moun 
tains  on  the  right  of  the  defile,  Noble,  with  his  com 
pany  and  a  few  citizens,  the  heights  on  the  left,  and 
the  remainder  of  the  force  remaining  below.  Noble 
succeeded  in  gaining  his  position  under  a  galling  fire 
from  a  concealed  foe,  but  the  colonel  of  the  citizen's 
company,  Mayfield,  who  had  accompanied  him.  was 
killed  Not  being  able  to  cope  with  an  invisible 
enemy,  he  retir  -d  down  the  mountain,  and  Evans 
having  no  provisions  for  an  extended  campaign,  re 
turned  to  Los  Angeles.  Noble  then  escorted  the 
graziers  with  their  herds,  numbering  4,000  cattle  and 
2,500  sheep,  to  quieter  pastures  in  Nevada,  and  the 
Indian  agents  undertook  the  task  of  soothing  away 
the  excitement  among, tie  reservation  Indians,  who 
from  fighting  among  themselves  were  willing  and 
anxious  to  go  to  war  with  the  Owens  River  tribe 
should  they  be  asked  to  do  so.  But  with  this  people 
the  governor  of  California  made  a  treatv  in  the  fol- 

*/ 

lowing  October, 

On  the  23d  of  May  the  governor  met  Winnemucca 
and  his  people  in  council  at  the  lower  bend  of  the 
Truckee,  but  nothing  came  of  it.  In  August,  eleven 
immigrants,  men,  women,  and  children,  were  killed 
by  the  Indians  on  the  Humboldt,  eight  miles  east  of 
Gravelly  Ford,  and  their  bodies  cast  into  a  stream. 
Thereupon  General  Conner  issued  the  eminently  in- 


TREATIES.  219 

telligent,  just,  and  humane  order  to  "sliest  all  male 
Indians  found  in  the  vicinity,  and  to  take  no  prisoners." 
When  savagism  and  civilization  fight,  let  me  ask,  Is 
it  savage  warfare  or  civilized  warfare  that  the  white 
men  enofao-e  in  ?  The  operations  of  Connor  who  as- 

O      O  J. 

sumed  command  of  the  district  of  Nevada  and  Utah 
in  August  1862,  against  the  Pah  Utes  of  eastern 
Nevada,  and  the  Snakes,  Shoshones,  and  Bannacks  of 
Idaho  are  given  elsewhere  in  these  histories. 

Meanwhile  desultory  hostilities  were  carried  on 
with  the  Gosh  Utes.  A  company  of  regulars  under 
Captain  Smith  crept  upon  a  camp  of  Indians  in  Step- 
toe  valley  on  the  4th  of  June,  and  killed  twenty-four. 
Next  day  they  killed  five  more,  and  the  day  after 
twenty-three — horrible  massacres  these  acts  would  be 
called  had  the  savages  perpetrated  them.  Meanwhile 
the  Indians  continued  to  pick  off  an  emigrant  or  a 
stage  driver  occasionally,  and  destroyed  the  stations 
all  alonor  the  line.  Treaties  were  made  in  the  summer 

O 

and 'autumn  of  1863  with  the  Shoshones,  General 
Connor  and  Governor  Doty  of  Utah  treating  with  the 
Shoshones  and  Bannacks  in  south-eastern  Idaho  in 
July,  and  Governor  Doty  and  Governor  Nye  with 
those  in  the  north-eastern  part  of  Nevada,  at  a  later 
period,  including  the  Gosh  Utes,  who  were  placed  on 
a  reservation  in  Ruby  valley.24  In  the  spring  and 
summer  of  1863  were  raised  the  Nevada  cavalry  and 
infantry  by  order  of  the  general  government,  which 
were  distributed  to  the  different  posts  and  overland 
stations.  Nevertheless,  murders  by  white  men  and 
red  continued  through  1864  and  1865  much  as  before. 
Twenty-nine  of  Winnemucca's  men  having  been 
killed  for  stealing  cattle,  by  a  cavalry  captain  in  March 
of  the  year  last  named,  a  conference  was  called  at 
which  the  chieftain  handed  in  a  catalogue  of  crimes 
committed  against  him  by  white  men,  which  far  out 
numbered  those  which  could  justly  be  brought  against 

2*  The  losses  sustained  by  the  stage  company  in  the  Gosh  Ute  war  were 
150  horses,  7  stations  destroyed,  and  16  men  killed. 


220  INDIAN  WARS. 

him ;  yet  Winnemucca  was  not  able  to  kill  ten  white 
men  for  every  twenty  dollars'  worth  of  property  stolen, 
else  he  would  have  done  so.  In  April  the  settlers  in 
Paradise  valley  were  attacked,  and  the  Indians  with 
difficulty  repulsed.  In  May  thirty- six  men  attacked 
a  force  of  500  Pah  Utes  and  Shoshones,  130  miles 
north-east  of  Gravelly  Ford,  and  75  miles  from  Para 
dise  valley.  The  troops  were  repulsed  after  four 
hours  hard  fighting,  having  lost  two  men  killed  and 
four  wounded.  An  Indian  camp  at  Table  mountain 
was  surprised  in  September  and  ten  killed.  A  whole 
village  full  were  butchered  shortly  afterward,  and 
other  camps  and  other  villages;  and  so  the  game  went 
on,  until  enough  of  the  savages  were  swept  away — 
the  civilized  war  being  likewise  brought  to  a  close — 
to  enable  the  Nevada  volunteers  to  be  mustered  out 
of  service.25 

Troubles  continuing  in  northern  Nevada,  Captain 
Conrad  of  Company  B,  of  that  organization,  and  a 
detachment  of  Company  I,  under  Lieutenant  Duncan, 
with  eight  citizens,  had  a  battle  on  the  morning  of 
the  12th  of  January,  1866,  with  th^.  Indians  on  Fish 
creek,  sixty-five  miles  west  of  Paradise  valley.  The 
conflict  was  a  determined  one  on  both  sides,  the 
savages  being  led  by  Captain  John,  a  chief  of  the 
Warner  Lake  Shoshones,  who  had  killed  Colonel 
McDermit.  After  a  three  hour's  fight  the  troops 
were  victorious,  slaying  thirty-five  warriors,  capturing 
ten  women  with  their  children,  and  destroying  their 
supplies.26 

The  settlers  of  Paradise  valley  being  again  dis 
turbed  by  Indian  raids,  an  expedition  against  them 
was  organized,  under  Major  S.  P.  Smith,  of  fifty-one 

25  The  military  farce  in  Nevada  in  1868  consisted  of  6  cos.  of  cav.  and  2 
of  inf.,  which  companies  garrisoned  camps  McDermit,  Winfield  Scott,  Ruby, 
Halleck,  and  Fort'Churchill.  Mess,  and  Doc.,  1868-9,  368-9.     In  1872  camps 
Halleck  and  McDermitt  alone  were  garrisoned,  the  former  by  1  company  of 
the  1st  U.  S.   cavalry,  and  1  company  of  the  12tb  U.  S.  inf.  Sec.   War  Rcpt, 
i.  66,  43d  cong.  1st  sess. 

26  Unionville,  Nev.  Gazette,  Jan.  24  1866:  Sac..   Union,  Jan.  22,  1866;  Doc., 
7,  Misc.  Hist.  Papers,  MS. 


WINNEMUCCA.  221 

men  of  the  same  regiment  aided  by  thirty  citizens  of 
the  infested  region.  A  battle  was  fought  at  Rock 
canon,  on  the  15th  of  February,  in  which  115  Ind 
ians  were  killed  and  19  prisoners  taken,  with  a  loss  of 
one  soldier  killed  and  Major  Smith  and  six  privates 
wounded. 

By  reference  to  the  second  volume  of  my  History 
of  Oregon,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  troops  in  that  state 
and  in  Idaho  were  driving  the  Indians  south,  while  the 
Nevada  troops  were  forcing  them  north,  so  that 
truly  the  savage  had  no  place  to  lay  his  head.  The 
total  loss  to  Indians  in  the  district  of  Nevada  for 
1866  was  I72jdlled  and  about  an  equal  number  made 
prisoners. 

In  1874-5  there  was  some  trouble  with  the  Indians 
in  eastern  Nevada,  which  was,  however,  quickly  sup 
pressed.  C.  C.  Clevland  was  conspicuous  in  putting 
down  the  disturbance.  Owing  to  the  milder  disposi 
tion  of  the  Nevada  tribes,  as  well  as  to  the  swift 
vengeance  by  which  any  resistance  was  met,  the  state 
has  suffered  less  than  some  others  by  Indian  wars. 
Probably  250  or  300  white  persons  have  been  killed 
by  Indians  in  Nevada,  while  ten  times  that  number 
of  savages  have  suffered  death  at  the  hands  of  white 
men. 

No  treaty  was  ever  entered  into  between  the  gov 
ernment  and  the  Pah  Utes  or  Washoes.  The  latter 
never  had  a  reservation,  but  roamed  up  and  down  the 
country  formerly  occupied  by  them,  sometimes  labor 
ing  as  servants,  but  largely  idle,  with  every  combina 
tion  of  vices,  savage  and  civilized.  The  friendly  Pah 
Utes,  less  vile,  more  manly,  and  numbering  a  little 
over  1,000,  were  for  the  most  part  established  on  re 
servations  at  Truckee  and  Walker  rivers,  aggregat 
ing  644,000  acres.  These  reservations  were  surveyed 
by  the  government,  and  confirmed  to  the  Indians  by 
executive  order  in  1874.27 


.  A/.  Kept.   1871,  682.  Land  Off.  Kept,   1864,  20;  Hayes  Scraps,  Ind 
ians,  i.  51;  Sec.  Int.   Rept,  iii.,    9-10,   168-73,   361-95,  40th  coiig.   2d  sess.  ; 


222  INDIAN  WARS. 

Winnemucca  did  not  remain  long  upon  the  reser 
vation  at  Pyramid  lake,  but  roamed  over  the  northern 
part  of  the  state,  being  never  met  in  battle.  After 
the  peace  of  LfifiS  in  southern  Oregon  and  Ne\ada, 
he  remained  in  the  neighborhood  of  Camp  McDermit 
and  received  rations  from  the  military  department.'8 
It  is  quite  certain  that  in  the  Modoc  war  of  1872-3 
the  Modocs  looked  for  assistance  from  the  Pah  Utes 
and  Shoshones  in  that  quarter.  A  tract  in  eastern 
Oregon  containing  1,800,000  acres  was  set  apart  in 
1870  for  a  reservation  on  which  to  place  the  Mal- 
heur  and  Warner  lake  Shoshones,  and  the  rest 
less  Pah  Utes  of  northern  Nevada.  A  few  were 
gathered  upon  it  in  1873,  among  them  Winnemucca's 
band,  who  still  spent  the  summers  in  roaming  through 
Nevada  and  Idaho,  and  were  fed  whenever  they 
applied  for  rations  at  Camp  McDermit.  During  the 
wars  of  »1877-8  in  Idaho  and  eastern  Oregon,  Winne 
mucca's  band  was  hovering  on  the  edges  of  the  hostile 
field,  yet  sustaining  a  neutral  character.  The  war  of 
1878  caused  the  abandonment  of  the  Malheur  reser 
vation,  the  Indians  having  destroyed  the  agency.  At 
the  conclusion  of  the  war  the  Shoshones  arid  Pah  Utes 
were  removed  to  the  Simcoe  reservation  in  Washing 
ton,  where  they  were  not  wanted  bv  the  Yakimas, 
who  made  them  miserable  by  various  systematized 
oppressions,  causing  them  in  1880  to  return  to 
Nevada.  The  Malheur  reservation  was  ordered  to 
be  sold,  and  the  money  applied  to  the  benefit  of  the 
Indians.29 

The  treaty  made  in  October  1863,  between  the 
Indians  of  eastern  Nevada  on  one  side  and  governors 
Nye  and  Doty,  of  Nevada  and  Utah  respectively,  on 
the  other,  contained  an  article  authorizing  the  presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  to  select  a  reservation  for 

Tyler's  Posts  and  Stations,  2;  Ind.  Aff.  Kept,    1874,  3-4,  53-4,  104-79,  278-84; 
Id.,  1873,  336-46;  Nev.   Sen.  Jour.,   1873,  app.   no.  6,    18;  Sen.  Doc.,  42,  i., 
43d  cong.  Istsess.;  House  Ex.  Doc.,  157,  xii.,  43d  cong.  1st  sess. 
™  Winnemucca  died  in  Oct.  1882.  Reno  Gazette,  Oct.  27,  1882.' 
9  Winnemucca  Silver  State,  July  10,  1880;  Reno  Gazette,  Nov.  27,  1880. 


RESERVATIONS.  223 

the  western  Shoshones.  This  reservation  was  estab 
lished  in  1877  at  Duck  valley,  between  the  forks  of 
the  Owyhee  river,  in  Elko  county.  The  only  other 
was  the  Moapa  river  reservation  in  the  south-eastern 
corner  of  the  state,  established  in  1875.5' 

30  In  Feb.  1871  congress  passed  an  act  to  provide  for  the  disposition  of 
useless  military  reservations,  in  which  Camp  McGarry,  Nevada,  was  named. 
Ex.  Doc.,  1013,  1180,  vol.  26,  46th  cong.  3d  sess.;  Con<j.  Gbohe,  1870-1,  app. 
341.  Total  area  of  military  reserves  22,195.33  acres.  Ex.  Doc.,  253,  vol.  25, 
46th  coiig,  3d  sess. 


CHAPTER  X. 

MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 
1849-1886. 

QUESTIONABLE  VALUE  OF  MINES— TRANSPORTATION — ROADS  AND  RAILROADS 
— MAIL  ROUTES  AND  TELEGRAPHS— STAGES — PONY  EXPRESS — STEAM 
BOATS— FISHERIES— METALS— BOOK  REVIEWS— AGRICULTURE — CLIMATE 
— WHIRLWINDS  AND  EARTHQUAKES— FLORA  AND  FAUNA — LIVE  STOCK — 
CATTLE  RAISING — LANDS  AND  SURVEYS— COUNTIES  OF  NEVADA — SUM 
MARY  OF  RESOURCES— SOCIETY — EDUCATIONAL,  RELIGIOUS,  AND  BENEV 
OLENT  INSTITUTIONS— NEWSPAPERS — BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

WHAT  advantage  to  Nevada  has  been  her  mountain 
of  silver  ?  What  advantage  her  organization  as  a 
state  ?  Some,  no  doubt,  but  more  to  individuals  than 
to  the  commonwealth  at  large.  To  the  later  inhabi 
tants,  the  merchant,  the  miner,  the  farmer,  the  pro 
fessional  man,  it  is  not  a  matter  of  great  moment,  the 
fact  that  millions  of  money  have  been  taken  from 
somewhere  about  Sun  Peak,  leaving  hills  of  debris 
and  ghastly  holes  in  the  ground — money  squandered 
by  lucky  gamblers  in  New  York  and  Paris,  and  used 
for  purposes  of  political  bribery  and  social  corruption 
in  Virginia  City  and  San  Francisco.  Less  than  the 
least  of  the  tailings  of  all  this  vast  output  of  wealth 
has  gone  to  benefit  Nevada.  California  assumed  in 
the  beginning,  and  kept  until  the  end,  the  mastery  of 
affairs.  San  Francisco  without  the  Comstock  was  a 
different  city  from  San  Francisco  with  a  long  list  of 
Nevada  mines,  paying  large  dividends,  on  the  stock- 
boards. 

I  wish  I  could  say  that  Comstock  ethics  were  likely 
to  mend;  but  the  truth  must  be  told,  which  is  that 

(224) 


VALUE  OF  MINES  TO  THE  STATE.  225 

the  managers,  when  they  had  appropriated  to  them 
selves  the  bonanza,  erected  a  multitude  of  mills,  and 
kept  on  reducing  the  lower  grade  ores  at  a  cost  to 
themselves  of  $5  a  ton,  but  to  the  other  stockholders 
of  $14,  when  perhaps  the  rock  only  yielded  $14, 
or  at  any  rate  it  was  reported  at  that  figure.  A 
thousand  Comstocks  at  this  rate  would  be  of  little 
value  to  a  state.  Some  good,  in  spite  of  all  this, 
remains  from  bonanza  days.  S.  L.  Jones,  brother  of 
Senator  Jones,  has  worked  several  of  the  Gold  Hill 
mines  from  the  350  foot  level  to  the  1,700  foot  level, 
systematically  and  economically,  and  Evan  Williams1 
has  shown  great  skill  and  wisdom  in  the  working  of 
low  grade  ores.  Had  the  same  business  like  methods 
prevailed  in  former  days  it  would  have  been  better 
for  all  interested.  In  1885  the  state  was  redistricted 
for  judicial  purposes  and  in  1887  the  old  fee  system 
revised,  and  by  these  wholesome  measures  much 
expense  was  saved  to  the  sta.te,  without  any  detriment 
to  the  public  service.2 

But  after  all,  the  real  wealth  of  Nevada  lies  in  the 
improvements  made ;  in  developments  that  are  in  fact 
improvements;  in  farms  and  manufactures;  inroads 
and  systems  of  irrigation  ;  which  are  due  rather  to 

1  Williams  was  born  in  Blossbtirgh  city,  Perm.,  of  Welch  parentage,  Jan. 
13,  1844.  He  came  to  Nevada  in  1868,  and  for  some  years  was  prominent 
in  educational  matters.  He  was  subsequently  a  senator  from  Ormsby 
county  for  years.  Noted  for  his  ability  and  common  sense;  a  fearless  and 
just  man,  wholly  reliable,  very  public  spirited,  of  a  generous  nature,  and 
deservedly  popular  ;  became  wealthy  by  intelligent  land  investments  ;  he 
did  much  to  develop  the  Owen  river  section  of  Inyo  co.,  Gal. 

SM.  D.  Foley,  who  participated  in  this  legislation  as  state  senator,  was 
born  at  St  Andrews,  New  Brunswick,  October  22,  1849,  of  Scotch-Irish 
parentage;  came  to  Nevada  in  1867  and  participated  in  the  White  Pine 
excitement;  removed  to  Eureka,  Nevada,  in  1870,  where  he  still  resides. 
He  has  taken  an  active  part  in  various  enterprises  of  importance,  notably 
in  the  affairs  of  the  Richmond  Mining  company,  is  of  the  firm  of  Remington, 
Johnson  &  Co.,  successors  to  the  well-known  house  of  WTalker  Bros.,  Salt 
Lake  City,  Utah,  with  a  branch  of  the  business  in  Eureka;  is  president  of 
the  Bank  of  Nevada,  Reno,  in  which  he  is  a  large  stockholder;  is  interested 
in  ranching  and  stock-raising.  He  served  two  terms  in  the  state  senate,  of 
which  body  he  was  a  useful  member,  especially  in  legislation  on  economic 
questions. 

HIST.  NBV.    15 


226  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

the  absence  of  enormous  mineral  developments,  such 
as  paralyze  puny  effort,  invite  speculation,  and  turn 
the  heads  of  men  from  patient,  plodding  effort.  Far 
greater  general  progress  has  been  made  since  the 
Comstock  mines  ceased  their  fabulous  yield  than 
before.  But  this  is  not  meant  to  deny  the  value  of 
legitimate  mining  to  Nevada. 

With  regard  to  transportation,  always  an  important 
subject  in  an  undeveloped  country,  Nevada  was  for  a 
long  time  unfortunate.  It  is  true  that  a  road  to  Cali 
fornia  existed  before  the  discovery  of  mines  in  west 
ern  Utah,  and  the  same  trail  led  backward  to  the 
Missouri  frontier.  But  the  distance  in  one  direction 
and  the  high  sierra  in  the  other  gave  the  territory  an 
isolation  which  retarded  development,  and  added  to 
the  cost  and  inconvenience  of  living.  It  was  neces 
sary  to  make  provision  in  the  summer  for  the  sub 
sistence  of  the  people  through  the  winter  season, 
during  which  they  were  cut  off  by  snow  from 
travel  in  either  direction  through  an  uninhabited 
country. 

As  early  as  1851  the  United  States  mail  was  car 
ried  by  a  contract  with  Woodard  and  Chorpening  of 
Sacramento,  from  that  place  to  Salt  Lake  City, 
going  and  returning  once  every  month,  the  mail-bags 
being  transported  on  the  backs  of  mules,  and  the  dis 
tance  being  750  miles.  The  route  was  via  Folsom, 
Placerville,  the  old  immigrant  road  through  Straw 
berry  and  Hope  valleys  to  Carson  valley,  through 
Genoa,  Carson  City,  Dayton,  Ragtown,  across  the 
forty  mile  desert  to  the  Humboldt  river  near  the  sink 
of  the  Humboldt,  thence  along  the  south  side  of  the 
river  to  the  point  where  Stone  House  station  of  the 
Central  Pacific  railroad  was  placed ;  thence  south  of 
east  by  the  Hastings  cut-off  to  Salt  Lake  City. 
Woodward  and  two  of  his  men  were  killed  at  Stone 
House  station  in  the  autumn  of  1851,  but  Chorpen 
ing  continued  to  carry  the  mail  until  the  expiration  of 
his  contract  in  1853.  Snow-shoes  began  to  be  used 


ROADS  AND  MAILS.  227 

in  crossing  the  Sierra  in  the  spring  of  1853  by  the 
carriers,  Fred  Bishop  and  Dritt,  succeeded  by  George 
Pierce  and  John  A.  Thompson.  The  latter  distin 
guished  himself  by  his  feats  on  snow-shoes,  being  a 
Norwegian  by  birth.  The  shoes  used  were  ten  feet 
long,  and  of  the  Canadian  pattern. 

In  1854  the  legislature  of  California  appointed 
commissioners  to  lay  out  a  road  from  Placerville  to 
Carson  valley.  The  contract  for  carrying  the  mails 
for  four  years  was  again  given  to  Chorpening  in  com 
pany  with  Ben  Holladay,  with  permission  to  use 
a  covered  wagon  and  four-mule  team,  and  to  carry 
passengers,  which  was  the  best  means  of  travel  in 
western  Utah  prior  to  1857,  when  J.  B.  Crandall 
established  a  tri-weekly  line  of  stages  between  Placer 
ville  and  Genoa,  which  carried  the  mail  between  these 
places,  connecting  with  Chorpening's  line  at  Genoa. 
This  was  the  Pioneer  Stage  Line  which  became  so 
great  an  institution  in  early  times.  It  was  transferred 
to  Lewis  Brady  &  Company  in  1858,  who  established 
a  semi-weekly  line  between  Sacramento  and  Genoa; 
and  George  Chorpening  secured  the  mail  contract 
from  Placerville  to  Salt  Lake,  where  it  connected 
every  week  with  the  overland  mail  from  that  city  to 
St  Joseph,  Missouri,  thus  completing  a  transconti 
nental  mail  and  stage  line  between  the  Missouri  and 
Sacramento  rivers.  The  first  eastward  bound  coach 
left  Placerville  June  5,  1858;  and  the  first  arrival 
from  the  east  at  Placerville  was  on  the  19th  of  July 
following. 

The  improvement  in  mail  communication  was  rapid. 
Letters  from  the  east  came  through  overland  a  week 

O 

sooner  than  by  ocean  transit.  The  amount  of  mail 
matter  that  was  sent  by  stage  increased,  and  new 
routes  were  sought  to  shorten  the  distance,  the  stage 
stations  being  moved  south  in  the  autumn  of  1859. 
to  the  Simpson  route.  During  the  winter  a  new  stage 
line  between  Placerville  and  Genoa  was  started  by 
John  A.  Thompson  and  Child,  who  used  sleighs 


728  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

between  Strawberry  and  Carson  valleys,  keeping  the 
road  open  all  winter  for  the  first  time. 

The  pony  express  was  the  next  step.  It  was  the 
conception  of  F.  A.  Bee,3  W.  H.  Eussell  and  B.  F. 
Ficklin,  managing  officers  of  the  Central  Overland 
and  Pike's  Peak  Express  company,  incorporated  by 
the  Kansas  legislature  in  the  winter  of  1859-60,  to 
keep  messengers  going  for  over  1,700  miles,  flying  at 
the  rate  of  from  seven  to  nine  miles  an  hour  for  ten 
days.  Stations  were  first  established  twenty-five 
miles  apart,  but  the  distance  between  was  subse 
quently  shortened.  The  messengers  were  required  to 
ride  seventy-five  miles,  but  the  ponies  were  changed 
at  every  station.  Not  more  than  ten  or  twelve  pounds 
of  mail  were  allowed  to  be  carried,  five  dollars  being 
charged  on  each  letter.  Newspapers  printed  on  tissue 
paper  were  allowed.  The  mail  was  wrapped  in  oiled 
silk  and  carried  in  pockets  in  the  four  corners  of  the 
mochila,  or  leathern  saddle  cover,  which,  with  the 
saddle,  went  through  from  St  Joseph  to  Sacramento 
without  change.  The  first  pony  express  from  the  east 
brought  eight  letters,  and  made  the  distance  in  ten 
days,  having  started  April  3,  1860.  The  first  from 
the  west  left  Sacramento  April  4th,  and  arrived  at 
St  Joseph  on  the  13th.  The  route  followed  was 
nearly  straight,  and  through  Nevada  pursued  the 
Simpson  trail  via  Ruby  valley.  The  expense  of 
maintaining  this  line  through  an  unsettled  country 
was  extraordinary.  As  an  enterprise  it  was  unpro 
ductive,  and  the  object  of  its  founders  has  never  been 
distinctly  made  known.  They  claim,  however,  to 
have  shown  that  the  central  route  across  the  conti 
nent  was  feasible  for  railroad  operating  at  any  time  of 
the  year,  which  had  been  doubted.  The  view  taken 
by  Walter  Crowinshield  of  Nevada,  who  assisted  to 

3  Bee  was  born  Sept.  9,  1826,  at  Clinton,  Oneida  co.,  N.  Y.  He  came 
to  Cal.  in  1849.  Was  early  identified  with  telegraphic  matters  and  later 
gained  distinction  by  being  the  third  in  rank  as  consul  of  the  Chinese 
government.  He  was  a  man  of  striking  personal  appearance  and  tenacity 
of  purpose, 


PONY  EXPRESS.  229 

restock  the  road  after  the  Pah  Ute  outbreak  in  1860, 
is  that  it  was  with  a  view  of  obtaining  the  mail  con 
tract  over  that  route  when  its  feasibility  was  demon 
strated.  Yet  this  company  made  no  effort  in  that 
direction,  but  suffered  the  old  Butterfield  contractors 
to  obtain  the  route  west  of  Salt  Lake  under  the  name 
of  Wells,  Fargo  &  Co.  and  Ben  Holladay  to  secure 
the  eastern  portion.  But  other  considerations  besides 
climatology  settled  the  location  of  the  first  overland 
road — placing  it  out  of  the  reach  of  the  confederate 
states. 

In  the  spring  of  1860  another  advance  was  made 
in  staging.  Louis  McLane  having  purchased  the 
Pioneer  line  from  Genoa  to  Placerville,  sold  it  to 
Wells,  Fargo  &  Co.,  who  then  had  control  of  the 
entire  route  to  Salt  Lake.  McLane,  however,  in 
1862  purchased  an  opposition  line  to  Placerville  owned 
by  A.  J.  Rhodes,  who  introduced  six-horse  coaches, 
and  lowered  the  fare  from  forty  to  twenty  dollars. 

In  1861  a  daily  overland  mail  was  established  from 
the  Missouri  river  to  San  Francisco,  over  the  central 
route,  in  lieu  of  the  southern  daily  overland  mail 
through  northern  Texas,  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  and 
southern  California,  established  in  1858,  which  was 
discontinued  July  1,  1861.  To  avoid  the  expense  of 
transporting  feed,  etc.,  the  company  opened  a  farm  at 
Ruby  valley,  and  raised  an  abundance  of  barley,  oats, 
potatoes,  and  vegetables,  this  being  the  first  experi 
ment  at  farming  in  eastern  Nevada.  Congress  in 
making  the  change  required  the  letter  mail  to  be  car 
ried  through  in  twenty  days,  with  as  much  newspaper 
mail  as  would  make  one  thousand  pounds  daily. 
Other  matter  was  allowed  thirty-five  days,  besides 
the  privilege  to  the  contractors  of  sending  the  excess 
bi-monthly  by  steamer.  The  contractors  were  also 
required  during  the  continuance  of  their  contract,  or 
until  July  1,  1864,  to  run  a  pony  express  semi-monthly, 
schedule  time  ten  days,  carrying  five  pounds  of  mail 
for  the  government,  with  the  privilege  of  charging 


230  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

the  public  $1.50  per  half  ounce.  The  contract  also 
required  the  performance  of  a  tri-weekly  mail  service 
to  Denver  and  Salt  Lake  City.  The  maximum  price 
allowed  for  the  overland  service,  including  the  pony 
express,  was  $1,000,000.  The  quickest  time  ever 
made  across  the  continent  was  in  1861,  when  Presi 
dent  Lincoln's  inaugural  address  was  brought  to  Sac 
ramento  in  five  days  and  eighteen  hours.  The  last 
pony  to  Denver  was  but  twenty-one  and  a  half  min 
utes  in  running  ten  miles  and  eighteen  rods.  These 
were  the  achievements  of  pioneer  times. 

In  September  1861  the  telegraph  line  from  Denver 
to  Sacramento,  via  the  stage  route,  was  completed, 
this  being  the  first  wire  toward  the  east,  although 
the  Carson  and  Placerville  division,  built  by  F.  A. 
Bee,  had  been  in  use  since  1859.  It  was  necessary 
to  the  proper  protection  of  the  road,  as  well  as  a  con 
venience  to  the  public.  There  never  was  any  stage 
service  in  the  world  more  complete  than  that  between 
Placerville  and  Virginia  City.  A  sprinkled  road, 
over  which  dashed  six  fine,  sleek  horses,  before  an 
elegant  Concord  coach,  the  lines  in  the  hands  of  an 
expert  driver,  whose  light  hat,  linen  duster,  and 
lemon-colored  gloves  betokened  a  good  salary  and  an 
exacting  company,  and  who  timed  his  grooms  and  his 
passengers  by  a  heavy  gold  chronometer  watch,  held 
carelessly,  if  conspicuously,  on  the  tips  of  his  fingers 
—these  were  some  of  its  conspicuous  features.  This 
service  continued  until  it  was  supplanted  by  the  Cen 
tral  Pacific  railroad  from  Sacramento. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  1858,  the  Placerville  and  Hum- 
boldt  Telegraph  company  erected  the  first  pole  on  the 
line  of  a  transcontinental  telegraph,  and  the  wire  was 
extended  to  Genoa  that  autumn,  to  Carson  City  in 
the  following  spring,  and  to  Virginia  City  in  1860. 
Congress  then  passed  an  act  directing  that  the  secre 
tary  of  the  treasury  advertise  for  sealed  proposals  for 
the  construction  of  a  line  from  the  Missouri  river  to 


STAGE  AND  TELEGRAPH.  231 

San  Francisco,  to  be  completed  within  two  years  from 
July  31,  1860,  to  be  for  the  use  of  the  government 
for  ten  years,  the  bids  not  to  exceed  $40,000  per  year. 
This  offer  caused  a  concert  of  action  between  the 
California  State  Telegraph  company  and  the  Overland 
Telegraph  company,  which  immediately  organized 
with  a  capital  of  $1,250,000.  The  line  was  under 
the  general  superintendency  of  James  Gamble,  who 
completed  its  construction  from  Sacramento  to  Salt 
Lake  City,  where  it  connected  with  the  eastern  divi 
sion,  between  the  27th  of  May  and  22d  of  September, 
1861.  It  was  built  along  the  central  or  overland 
stage  route,  and  was  in  use  until  May  13,  1869,  when 
the  stage  route  was  abandoned,  and  the  railroad  be 
gan  to  carry  the  mail. 

In  June  1863  a  telegraph  line  was  completed  from 
San  Francisco  to  Aurora,  via  Genoa.  In  February 
1864  a  franchise  was  granted  to  John  B.  Watson  to 
construct  a  line  of  telegraph  from  Unioriville  and 
Star  City  to  San  Francisco,  via  Austin,  Virginia, 
Gold  Hill,  and  Carson,  in  Nevada,  and  Nevada  City, 
Marysville,  and  Sacramento  in  California,  which  was 
constructed  and  put  in  operation  within  the  year.  A 
second  overland  telegraph  line  was  erected  in  1866 
by  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  company  of  New  York, 
which  pushed  its  line  westward  nearly  to  Denver  the 
first  year,  and  from  the  western  end  to  Virginia  City 
in  the  same  time.  This  line  was  carried  from  Vir 
ginia  to  Austin  along  the  former  overland  route. 
Telegraphic  rates  were  held  very  high  so  long  as 
there  was  but  one  line.  The  charge,  from  Aurora  to 
San  Francisco,  for  ten  words  was  $2.50,  and  to  the 
eastern  cities  as  high  as  $7.  To  encourage  competi 
tion,  the  Nevada  legislature  enacted  in  1866  that  any 
persons  or  corporations  might  construct  and  maintain 
telegraph  lines  over  public  or  private  lands  when  they 
did  not  interfere  with  the  use  or  value  of  the  same.* 
With  the  construction  of  the  Central  Pacific  railroad 

*  Nevada  Comp,  Laws,  ii,  310-12. 


232  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

came  the  erection  of  the  Western  Union  transcon 
tinental  telegraph  line,  which  followed  the  railroad 
route. 

With  the  first  contract  to  carry  the  mail  over  the 
Sierra  in  wagons,  it  became  necessary  to  improve  the 
old  immigrant  road,  which,  in  1856,  was  done  by  par 
tially  rebuilding  it.  The  road  to  Salt  Lake  had  also 
to  be  furnished  with  bridges,  and  made  passable. 
Numerous  toll-roads  were  chartered.  John  Reese 
and  Israel  Mott  were  the  first  grantees  of  toll  privi 
leges  under  the  provisional  government.  The  first 
territorial  legislature  granted  six  franchises  for  toll- 
roads,  the  second  twenty-five,  and  the  third  twenty- 
nine.  It  would  seem  from  this  that  the  traveller 
could  not  proceed  far  in  any  direction  without  paying 
toll.  From  Gold  Hill  down  Gold  canon  to  Dayton, 
a  distance  of  seven  miles,  was  a  toll-road  in  1859, 
owned  by  H.  C.  Howard,  S.  D.  Bosworth,  and  G.  D. 
Roberts.  As  most  of  the  quartz  extracted  from  the 
Comstock  lode  passed  over  it  to  the  various  mills,  it 
was  a  paying  property,  and  cost  about  $20, 000. 5 

As  early  as  1860  an  application  was  made  for  a 
railroad  franchise  from  Carson  City  to  Virginia  City, 
the  petitioner  being  Leonard  L.  Tread  well.  Several 
projects  were  before  the  first  legislature,  which  granted 
charters  to  four  companies,  namely,  the  Nevada  Rail 
road  company,  with  the  privilege  of  constructing  a 
road  from  the  western  to  the  eastern  boundary  of  the 
territory,  to  Leland  Stanford,  Charles  Crocker,  Collis 
P.  Huntington,  Lucius  A.  Booth,  Mark  Hopkins, 
Theodore  D.  Judah,  James  Bailey,  and  Samuel  Silli- 
man;  the  Virginia  City  and  Washoe  company;  Vir 
ginia,  Carson,  and  Truckee  company;  and  the 
Esmeralda  and  Walker  River  company.  Henry  A. 
Cheever  and  associates  received  the  franchise  for  the 


5  Another,  extending  from  Gold  Hill  half  way  to  Carson,  was  built  at  a 
cost  of  $12,000  by  Waters,  Blanchet,  and  Carson  in  1861.  Kelly  s  Nev.  Dir.t 
1872,  174. 


RAILROADS.  233 

Virginia  and  Washoe  road  ;  J.  H.  Todman,  R.  R. 
Moss,  C.  W.  Newman,  William  Arrington,  Hiram 
Bacon,  Joseph  Trench,  John  A.  Hobart,  Frank 
Drake,  William  Hayes,  William  Gregory,  J.  P. 
Foulks,  and  associates  the  grant  for  the  Virginia, 
Carson  and  Truckee  road  ;  and  P.  G.  Vibbard,  John 
P.  Foulks,  and  John  Nye  the  grant  for  the  Esmer- 
alda  and  Walker  River  road.  Only  the  first  of  these 
roads  was  built  under  these  legislative  grants.  Even 
at  that  early  period  the  people  protested  against  too 
much  power  in  the  hands  of  a  few. 

So  eager  were  men  for  cheap  and  rapid  transit  to 
and  from  the  Pacific  that  in  the  first  state  constitu 
tion,  which  was  rejected,  a  clause  was  introduced 
which  permitted  the  legislature  to  give  $3,000,000 
in  bonds  to  the  first  company  that  should  connect 
Nevada  with  navigable  waters.  Though  the  clause 
was  stricken  out,  the  first  state  legislature  took 
measures  to  ascertain  what  was  being  done  by  rail 
road  companies,  and  whether  any  company  was 
actually  intending  to  construct  a  railroad  to  tide 
water  in  California.  The  Central  Pacific  had  at  this 
time  built  only  thirty  miles  on  its  selected  route, 
while  another  company,  the  San  Francisco  and 
Washoe  Railroad,  had  constructed  thirty-eight  miles 
from  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Sacramento  river 
to  Latrobe  in  California,  which  was  on  a  nearly  direct 
line  with  Carson  City.  It  was  therefore  resolved  by 
both  houses  that  congress  should  be  asked  to  enact  a 
law  giving  $10,000,000  in  United  States  bonds,at  dates 
of  thirty  years  or  less, to  the  corporation  which  should 
first  complete  a  railway  line,  in  good  running  order, 
from  navigable  water  on  the  Sacramento  river  to 
Carson  valley.  This  proposition  had  no  other  effect 
than  to  stimulate  the  company  in  possession  of  the 
congressional  subsidy  to  greater  effort.  Their  road 
was  completed  to  and  beyond  the  Nevada  line  in 
December  1867,  and  to  Reno  in  May  1868.  On  the 
10th  of  May  1869,  the  Central  and  Union  Pacific 


234  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

lines  were  united  by  driving  a  golden  spike,  with 
elaborate  ceremonials,  about  fifty  miles  west  of 
Ogden,  in  Utah. 

Strange  as  it  may  appear,  the  legislature  of 
Nevada,  which  of  all  the  states  and  territories 
received  perhaps  the  most  benefit  from  the  construc 
tion  of  the  railroad,  failed  to  appreciate  the  patriotic 
arid  disinterested  motives  of  the  builders,  and  a  vio 
lent  opposition  early  appeared.  The  average  legisla 
tive  mind  is  unable  to  penetrate  far  beneath  the 
surface  of  things.  The  resources  of  the  directors,  no 
less  than  their  designs,  were  brought  in  question, 
and  a  leading  engineer  declared  before  the  Nevada 
legislature  that  it  could  not  be  completed  within 
twenty  years  though  its  promoters  had  at  their  com 
mand  all  the  gold  in  the  bank  of  England. 

In  a  letter  written  by  this  engineer  in  February 
1865,  in  answer  to  the  request  of  a  joint  committee 
on  railroads  of  the  Nevada  legislature,  he  says  :  "The 
celebrated  engineering  work  built  for  the  Austrian 
government — a  railway  crossing  the  Alps  from  Vienna 
to  Trieste — is  a  bagatelle  as  compared  with  the  pro 
jected  line  to  Dutch  Flat.  Comparing  the  estimated 
cost  of  the  Central  Pacific  with  the  actual  cost  of 
such  eastern  lines  as  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  and  the 
Boston  and  Worcester,  and  allowing  for  the  difference 
in  the  price  of  labor  and  materials,  and  for  the  greater 
physical  obstacles  to  be  overcome,  "  It  is  my  firm  con 
viction,"  he  writes,  "  that  the  Central  Pacific  will  cost 
$250,000  to  $300,000  per  mile  before  it  is  completed 
to  the  Truckee,  stocked  and  equipped  as  a  first-class 
railroad."  Now  while  a  few  miles  passing  through 
the  heart  of  the  Sierra  may  have  cost  perhaps  $300,- 
000  per  mile,  the  average  cost  to  that  point  was  less 
than  half  this  amount,  while  the  average  cost  of  the 
entire  road  was  little  more  than  $100,000  per  rnile. 

Not  least  among  the  opposing  elements  was  the 
hostility  of  the  owners  of  toll-roads  and  stage  lines 
across  the  Sierra,  all  of  whom  were  arrayed  against 


RAILROADS.  235 

a  project  which  would  absoro  their  profits  on  the  rich 
traffic  of  the  Nevada  mines.  To  supply  them  vast 
quantities  of  provisions  and  machinery  were  for 
warded  from  San  Francisco  and  other  distributing 
centres.  In  1862  no  less  than  3,000  teams  were 
employed  on  the  wagon-road  across  the  mountains  in 
El  Dorado  county,  the  tolls  for  that  year  amounting 
to  $693,000.  Connected  with  it  was  a  railway,  by 
which  the  competition  of  the  Central  Pacific  must 
be  keenly  felt.  From  Sacramento  to  Virginia  City 
freight  in  the  same  year  was  $120  per  ton,  and  the 
total  freight  money  amounted  to  nearly  $5,000,000. 
Many  other  enterprises,  individual  as  well  as  cor 
porate,  were  also  threatened  by  the  transcontinental 
line,  on  which  all  of  them  joined  in  making  war,  with 
a  persistency  worthy  of  a  better  cause. 

When  the  Central  Pacific  was  at  length  completed 
and  in  running  order,  it  was  complained  by  the  people 
of  Nevada  that  while  the  tariffs  were  low  enough  to 
discourage  former  methods  of  transportation,  they 
were  still  so  high  as  to  prohibit  a  free  use  of  the 
road,  and  that  discrimination  was  also  exercised  to 
the  disadvantage  of  her  business  community.  Thus 
the  company  charged  more  for  a  carload  of  goods 
forwarded  from  New  York  to  eastern  Nevada  than 
for  carrying  them  six  hundred  miles  farther  to  San 
Francisco.  In  answer  to  this  the  railroad  company 
claimed  that  the  line  with  its  equipments  and  land- 
grants  was  the  property  of  the  stockholders,  and  not 
of  the  state  or  nation  ;  that  it  belonged  to  them  as 
fully  and  completely  as  if  it  had  been  built  entirely 
at  their  own  expense.  The  subsidies  were  granted 
on  condition  that  they  should  build  a  road  to  be 
owned  by  themselves.  They  were  granted  at  a  time 
when  the  railroad  was  a  national  necessity,  and  one 
that  could  not  be  supplied  without  offering  such 
inducements  as  would  secure  the  services  of  able 
and  responsible  men.  It  is  from  this  standpoint  they 
claimed  that  the  charges  of  discrimination  and  of 


236  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

what  might  seem  to  be  excessive  rates  of  fare 
and  freight  should  be  considered.  The  railroad  man, 
they  said,  like  the  merchant,  is  compelled  by  the 
very  nature  of  his  business  to  discriminate  between 
his  several  classes  of  customers.  Just  as  the  mer 
chant  demands  less  for  his  wares  when  sold  by  the 
ton  than  by  the  pound,  demands  more  when  he 
knows  that  he  alone  can  supply  the  article  required, 
so  does  the  railroad  man  charge  a  lower  freight  for 
]arge  than  for  small  quantities,  and  less  for  points 
where  there  is  competition — as  by  steamer  and  sailing 
vessel — than  for  those  where  none  exists.  For  one 
carload  of  goods  shipped  from  New  York  to  the 
towns  of  eastern  Nevada  probably  a  hundred  are 
forwarded  to  San  Francisco,  and  no  one  will  dispute 
that  goods  can  be  conveyed  at  cheaper  rates  in  large 
quantities  than  in  small,  and  handled  more  readily  at 
terminal  points  than  at  intermediate  stations. 

Then  as  to  local  traffic  it  should  be  remembered 
that  the  portion  of  the  line  which  crosses  the  Sierra 
was  by  far  the  most  expensive  section  to  construct, 
and  is  perhaps  the  most  expensive  to  operate  of  any 
in  the  United  States.  Between  Sacramento  and 
Rocklin,  where  the  grades  are  moderate,  forty-five 
loaded  freight  cars  can  be  drawn  by  a  single  engine, 
while  from  Rocklin  to  Truckee,  a  distance  of  ninety- 
seven  miles,  only  nine  can  be  hauled  by  the  most 
powerful  locomotive.6  If  we  take  into  consideration 
also  the  extra  wear  and  tear  occasioned  by  heavy 
grades  and  curves,  it  will  be  found  that  the  cost  of 
maintenance  and  operation  on  this  division  is  probably 
seven  or  eight  times  as  much  as  for  the  same  distance 
on  level  ground. 

The  first,  second,  third,  and  fourth  franchises 
granted  for  the  construction  of  a  railroad  from  Vir 
ginia  City  to  the  Truckee  river  failed  of  their  purpose. 

6  From  Rocklin  to  the  summit  of  the  Sierra  the  rise  is  6,768  feet,  and  the 
work  to  be  overcome  equal  to  420  miles  of  a  level  road-bed. 


RAILROADS.  237 

Yet  it  was  'of  Vital  importance  to  connect  the  towns 
on  the  Comstock  lode  and  Carson  and  Washoe  valleys 
with  the  Central  Pacific  railroad.  At  length  a  com 
pany  was  formed  which  would  build  the  road  as 
desired,  provided  the  counties  of  Washoe  and  Ormsby 
would  take  $200,000  worth  of  stock  each.  At  the 
head  of  this  scheme  was  William  Sharon,  and  between 
him  and  Thomas  Sunderland,  and  the  commissioners 
of  the  two  counties  in  question,  an  agreement  to  this 
effect  was  made,  which,  however,  was  not  carried  out. 
The  Virginia  and  Truckee  Railroad  company  filed 
articles  of  incorporation  March  5,  1868,  the  survey 
was  completed  with  estimate  of  costs,  and  in  Decem 
ber  it  was  announced  that  Sharon  would  build  the 
road  from  Virginia  to  Carson  if  the  people  of  Ormsby 
county  would  donate  $200,000  and  the  people  of 
Storey  county  $300,000.  As  an  inducement  to  make 
this  present  to  the  company,  it  was  shown  that  the 
property  of  a  single  county,  Ormsby,  would  be  bene 
fited  $1,000,000.  The  people  caught  at  the  gilded 
fly,  and  asked  the  legislature  to  permit  them  to  give 
their  bonds  for  the  amount,  with  interest  at  seven  per 
cent,  permission  being  granted  at  the  following  ses 
sion.  With  this  Sharon  constructed  a  portion  of  the 
road,  and  by  mortgaging  the  whole  raised  money  to 
complete  it.7 

The  cost  of  the  Virginia  and  Truckee  railroad  for 
the  first  twenty-one  miles  to  Carson  was  set  down  at 
$83,333  per  mile  ;  but  the  total  cost  of  the  whole  to 
Reno,  and  equipment,  was  more  fairly  stated  after 
wards  at  $52,107  per  mile.  In  1880  the  company  in 
its  report  to  the  state  made  its  cost  per  mile,  to  Reno, 
52  20-100  miles,  $93,027.  It  had  received  in  gifts 
from  Ormsby  and  Storey  counties  and  the  Comstock 
mining  companies  $887,383.53,  equal  to  $17,065  per 
mile.  Instead  of  increasing  the  taxable  property  of 
the  county  of  Ormsby  $1,000,000,  the  property  of  the 


Laws,  1869,  43,  49;   Carson  Appeal,  Sept.  25,  1873;    WrigMs  Big 
Bonanza,  228. 


238  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

company  in  that  county  was  given  to  the  assessor  at 
$130,350.  In  order  to  induce  the  people  to  give 
their  bond  for  $200,000  the  company  had  promised  to 
permit  themselves  to  be  taxed  on  $40,000  per  mile. 
So  far  from  growing  any  richer  through  the  posses 
sion  of  a  railroad,  which  was  making  $12,000  a  day, 
the  total  tax  paid  to  the  county  by  the  company  in 
twelve  years  was  very  little  more  than  the  interest 
the  county  had  to  pay  to  the  company  on  its  bonds 
presented  to  the  company.  I  have  already  spoken  of 
the  struggle  of  Storey  county  writh  the  Virginia  and 
Truckee  railroad,  or  in  other  words  the  bank  of  Cali 
fornia.  That  Nevada  assessors,  sheriffs,  legislators, 
and  shareholders  have  assisted  these  railroads  to 
oppress  the  commonwealth  cannot  be  gainsaid.  The 
example  to  other  railroad  corporations,  which  are  in 
a  manner  compelled  by  the  larger  companies  to  adopt 
similar  tactics,  has  been  and  is  extremely  injurious  to 
the  best  interests  of  the  state,  by  defeating  the  true 
purpose  of  railroads,  which  is  cheap  as  well  as  rapid 
transportation. 

The  Nevada  Central,  narrow  gauge,  railroad  was 
projected  in  1874  by  M.  J.  Farrell  of  Austin,  and 
after  five  years  of  unceasing  effort  was  completed  in 
1880.  The  surveying  engineer  was  Lyman  Bridges 
of  Chicago ;  president,  W.  S.  Gage  of  San  Francisco  ; 
vice-president,  R.  L.  S.  Hall  of  New  York ;  treas 
urer,  A.  A.  Curtis  of  Austin  ;  secretary,  J.  D.  Negus 
of  Battle  Mountain  ;  directors,  D.  B.  Hatch  of  New 
York,  James  H.  Ledlie  of  Utica,  M.  J.  Farrell,  M. 

E.  Angel,  and  A.  Nichols;  assistant  superintendent, 

F.  W.  Dunn.    Governor  Bradley  vetoed  the  franchise 
bill  in   1875   on  account  of  a  subsidy  from   Lander 
county  of  $200,000   granted  by  the   legislature,   but 
the  bill  was  passed  over  the  veto.8 

The  road  extended  from  Battle  Mountain  south 
along  Reese  river  to  Ledlie,  two  miles  from  Austin. 

*Nev.  Jour,  Sen.,  1875,  app.  no.  J,  18-20;  Id,  Jour,,  15,  121. 


RAILROADS.  239 

From  Ledlie  to  Austin  and  the  Manhattan  company's 
mines,  a  distance  of  three  miles,  was  another  narrow 
gauge,  owned  by  the  Austin  City  company.  Another 
branch  was  the  Battle  mountain,  called  the  Battle 
mountain  and  Lewis  railroad,  running  from  Galena 
through  Lewis  and  Bullion  to  Quartz  mountain,  a 
distance  of  eleven  miles.9 

The  Eureka  and  Palisade,  narrow  gauge,  company 
was  organized  in  November  1873  to  construct  ninety 
miles  of  road  between  these  two  places.  The  incor- 
porators  were  Erastus  Woodruff,  William  H.  Ennor, 
Monroe  Salisbury,  John  T.  Gilmer,  C.  H.  Hempstead, 
and  J.  R.  Withington.  In  1874  the  franchise  passed 
to  a  company  of  Californians,  who  also  purchased  the 
Eureka  and  Ruby  Hill  railroad,  five  miles  long,  simi 
lar  to  the  Austin  City  road,  and  operated  both  with 
profit. 

The  Pioche  and  Bullionville  narrow  gauge,  was  in 
corporated  in  February  1872.  It  was  twenty-one 
miles  long,  and  completed  in  1873,  its  use  being  to 
transport  the  ores  of  that  region  to  the  mills  at  Bui 
lionville.  When  the  mines  were  exhausted  it  was  no 
longer  operated.  Another  short  road  was  eight  and 
three-fourths  miles,  constructed  to  carry  lumber  and 
cord  wood  from  Glenbrook  on  Lake  Tahoe  to  the 
eastern  summit  of  the  Sierra,  whence  it  was  conveyed 
in  a  flume  to  Carson  City.  It  was  built  by  H.  M. 
Yerrington  and  D.  L.  Bliss.  There  are  points  on  it 
remarkable  for  scenic  effect. 

The  Carson  and  Colorado  narrow  gauge  railroad 
was  incorporated  in  May  1880,  to  run  from  Mound 

9  Farrell,  the  projector  of  the  road,  was  a  native  of  Mount  Hope,  Morris 
co.,  N.  J.,  born  March  29,  1832,  of  Irish  parentage.  He  came  to  San  Fran 
cisco  in  May  1853,  going  to  the  mines  in  Nevada  co.,  Cal.  In  1863,  after  a 
varied  experience,  he  went  to  Reese  river,  Nev. ,  locating  himself  at  Austin, 
in  Lander  co.  He  was  at  one  time  part  owner  in  the  Eureka  Consolidated 
and  Richmond  mines,  but  sold  out  before  they  were  developed.  In  1867  he 
became  secretary  to  the  Manhattan  Mining  co.,  and  in  1872  was  elected 
clerk  of  Lander  co.  He  was  elected  to  the  state  senate  in  1878  and  reflected 
in  1880.  In  all  relations  to  society  he  was  a  public  spirited  and  high 
minded  citizen.  His  wife  was  Miss  L.  C.  Peterson  of  Austin. 


240  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

house,  on  the  Virginia  and  Truckee  railroad,  along 
the  Carson  river,  through  Mason  valley,  to  Walker 
river  and  lake  ;  thence  through  the  mineral  region  of 
Esmeralda  county,  the  borax  and  salt  fields  of  Rhodes 
Marsh,  to  Belleville  and  Candalaria;  and  thence 
over  the  White  mountains  into  Owens  river  valley, 
in  Colorada,  to  the  sink  of  Owens  river,  and  event 
ually  to  the  Colorado  river.10 

The  Nevada  and  Oregon  Narrow  Gauge  company 
was  organized  in  June  1880,  to  construct  a  road  from 
Aurora,  via  Bodie,  north  to  Carson  City,  and  Reno  ; 
thence  to  Honey  Lake  valley,  Madeline  plains,  Pit 
river,  and  Goose  lake ;  and  thence  to  the  Oregon  line, 
whence  it  was  expected  it  would  proceed  to  the 
Columbia  river.  The  directors  were  A.  J.  Hatch, 
George  L.  Woods,  James  McMechan,  C.  A.  Bragg, 
John  Sunderland,  R.  L.  Fulton,  and  C.  P.  Soule. 
Hatch  was  president,  Woods  vice-president,  Sunder 
land  treasurer,  T.  S.  Coffin  secretary,  H.  G.  Mc- 
Clellan  chief  engineer  of  construction,  and  Thomas 
Moore  of  New  Jersey  contractor.  Ground  was  broken 
at  Reno  in  December,  but  owing  to  mismanagement, 
no  material  progress  was  made,  and  in  April  1881  the 
franchise  was  transferred  to  a  New  York  company. 
Besides  the  railroads  actually  completed  and  in  prog 
ress  there  were  several  incorporated  companies  mak 
ing  surveys  in  different  parts  of  the  state,  and  per 
haps  no  better  proof  could  be  given  of  the  resources 
of  Nevada  than  this  investment  of  capital  in  railroads 
where  the  population  is  still  much  below  100,000. 

Transportation  by  water  is  impracticable  in  Nevada, 
except  upon  the  lakes  of  the  western  portion,  where 
small  steamers  may  be  employed  with  some  little 

19  Surveyor-GeneraCs  Rept,  1884,  27-8;  Candalaria  True  Fissure,  Sept.  25, 
1880;  Reno  State  Jour.,  May  6,  1880;  Carson  Times,  June  7,  1880;  Silver  City 
Times,  Aug.  28,  1880;  Sutro  Independent,  Sept.  13,  1880;  Eureka  Leader,  Oct. 
13,  and  Dec.  29,  1880;  White  Pine  News,  Jan.  21,  1881;  Esmeralda  Herald, 
May  28,  1881;  Tuscarora  Times  fieview  March  7,  1881;  Reno  Gazette,  April  4, 
1883. 


FISH  CULTURE.  241 

benefit  to  commerce.  Efforts  have  been  made  to 
navigate  the  Colorado,  which  bounds  the  state  on  the 
south-east,  but  without  much  success.  The  rivers  of 
Nevada  are  useful  for  irrigation,  and  future  genera 
tions  may  possibly  see  their  powers  utilized  in  manu 
factures,  and  other  branches  of  industry. 

In  January  and  April  1879  the  California  fish  com 
mission  placed  500,000  young  trout  and  75,000  young 
salmon  in  the  Truckee  river,  which  is  partly  in  that 
state,  and  in  May  1880  several  thousand  more  trout. 
In  March  100,000  white  fish  was  placed  by  the  same 
commission  in  Lake  Tahoe,  and  the  waters  of  Washoe 
lake,  Humboldt  river,  Walker  river,  Eureka  pond, 
Reese  river,  and  other  waters  in  different  parts  of  the 
state  stocked  with  catfish  and  salmon.  In  1880,  70,- 
000  pounds  of  trout  were  taken  from  Lake  Tahoe  in 
October.  This  result  was  encouraging.  Further 
experiments  followed  in  1881,  and  in  1882  a  hatchery 
for  eastern  brook-trout  was  established,  with  fish- 
spawn  from  Maine  and  Vermont.  These  were  planted 
in  presumably  the  best  locations,  and  with  flattering 
results.  In  1881  Truckee  trout  were  shipped  to  New 
York.  The  following  year  salmon  weighing  seven 
pounds  were  caught  in  the  Truckee,  and  it  is  said  that 
a  trout  taken  in  Lake  Tahoe  weighed  thirty  pounds. 
Considerable  shipments  of  trout  were  made  from  this 
lake,  and  canneries  were  established  at  Wadsworth, 
thus  opening  a  new  source  of  revenue  as  well  as  food 
supply. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  mountains  rich  in 
metals,  and  the  plains  abounding  in  those  minerals 
which  have  been  deposited  in  water — salt,  soda,  sul 
phur,  soap,  mica,  arsenic,  and  manganese. 

Coal  was  found  as  early  as  1860  in  Carson  valley, 
and  has  since  been  proved  to  exist  in  different  locali 
ties,  along  the  line  of  the  Central  Pacific  railroad,  on 
the  route  of  the  Nevada  and  Oregon  railroad,  near 
Tuscarora  and  Argenta  in  Elko  county,  and  in  El 

HIST.  NEV.    16 


242  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

Dorado  canon.  Immense  tracts  of  peat,  one  bed  cov 
ering  15,000  acres,  extend  along  the  Humboldt  river, 
valuable  for  fuel,  particularly  in  a  country  destitute  of 
timber  like  this  valley. 

Of  the  ores  of  metals  used  in  manufactures,  Nevada 
furnishes  many.  Iron,  although  known  to  exist  on 
the  Carson  river  as  early  as  1862,  on  Reese  river  in 
1865,  and  in  the  Peavine  district  of  Nye  county  in 
1865,  has  been  neglected.  Copper,  discovered  first  in 
Carson  valley  in  1856,  and  quarried  in  specimen  blocks 
a  few  years  later,  was  little  heeded  by  mining  men 
until  recently.  Copper  ore  is  found  on  Walker  river, 
in  Elko  county,  and  near  Soda  springs  in  Esmeralda 
county.  The  copper  mines  of  Elko  county  were  the 
first  to  be  developed.  Lead  production  has  increased 
so  rapidly  in  a  few  years  as  to  place  Eureka  at  the 
head  of  the  lead  producing  districts  of  the  United 
States.  Cinnabar  was  discovered  in  Washoe  and 
Nye  counties  in  1876.  It  is  found  in  a  crystalized 
state  and  also  in  amorphous  masses.  Nickel  mines 
exist  in  Humboldt  county,  the  discovery  being  made 
in  1882,  and  immediately  worked.  Ten  car-loads  of 
the  ore  were  shipped  within  a  month  after  it  was 
found.  Tin  ore  has  been  known  to  exist  in  Nevada 
since  1863,  but  it  has  never  been  worked  or  its  value 
determined.  Antimony  was  discovered  as  early  as 
1876,  but  does  not  appear  to  have  been  mined  until 
1882,  when  there  was  a  shipment  of  the  ore  from 
Elko  county.  Bismuth  is  another  metallic  product 
of  which  at  present  not  much  is  known. 

Notwithstanding  this  extraordinary  richness  of 
mineral  productions,  or  perhaps  because  of  it,  few 
specimens  of  precious  stones  have  been  found  in 
Nevada,  and  those  of  an  inferior  quality.  A  ruby 
from  the  Comstock  lode  weighing  one  carat,  after 
cutting,  was  discovered  in  1882,  and  occasionally, 
opals  and  turquoise  have  been  found,  of  little  value 
Of  the  distribution  of  the  precious  metals,  the  most 


MINERALS  AND  METALS.  243 

important  part  of  the  mineralogy  of  Nevada,  I  shall 
speak  in  giving  the  productions  of  counties.11 

Nevada  is  a  better  agricultural  country  than  at  first 
glance  one  might  expect  to  find.  Time  was  when  the 

11  On  the  subject  of  resources  and  physical  features  the  authorities  are  more 
numerous  than  for  most  new  political  divisions,  because  it  has  been  directly  in 
the  line  of  travel  during  the  whole  period  of  the  settlement  of  the  Pacific  coast 
by  Americans.  Of  these  Lieut  George M.  Wheelers  U,  S.  Survey  Report,  1877, 
upon  the  geology,  geography,  and  mineralogy  of  the  country,  must  be  consid 
ered  of  the  highest  value,  as  well  as  upon  other  branches  of  natural  science. 
Wheeler's  first  expedition  in  Nevada  was  in  1871,  and  began  in  the  extreme 
southern  part  of  the  state,  with  headquarters  at  Camp  Independence.  He 
was  assisted  by  Lieutenants  R.  L.  Hoxie  and  William  L.  Marshall  in  1873. 
The  last  published  report,  in  1878,  embraced  the  botany  of  Colorado,  New 
Mexico,  Utah,  Nevada,  and  Arizona.  The  reports  of  the  Geological  Explo 
ration  of  the  Fortieth  Parallel,  Clarence  King  director,  begun  in  1867,  bearing 
particularly  upon  the  subject  of  mining  and  minerals,  their  distribution  and 
relative  situation,  and  especially  the  features  of  the  Comstock  lode,  are  also 
of  great  importance  in  forming  an  estimate  of  the  resources  of  Nevada. 
George  F.  Becker,  geologist  in  charge,  devotes  an  entire  volume  to  the  Com 
stock;  and  James  1).  Hague,  another  geologist  and  mineralogist,  in  a  large 
volume  called  Mining  Industry,  considers  all  the  mining  districts  of  the  state 
in  a  minute  and  careful  manner.  The  Mines  and  Mining  Interests  of  the 
United  States,  by  William  Ralston  Balch,  1882,  is  a  compilation  of  articles 
upon  this  subject,  and  contains  a  vast  amount  of  information  in  its  1,200 
pages  of  quarto  size,  in  which  Neva  la  comes  in  for  its  shares.  L.  Simonin, 
the  French  author  of  La  Vie  Souterraine,  1867,  contrives  to  give  some  hints  of 
what  may  be  found  in  Nevada,  albeit,  it  is  nothing  of  more  importance  than 
that  the  natives  do  not  work  in  the  mines.  The  Great  West,  by  E.  V.  Hay- 
den,  formerly  U.  S.  geologist,  discusses  climate,  health,  husbandry,  educa 
tion,  the  Indian  question,  the  Chinese  question,  and  the  land  laws,  besides 
giving  descriptions  of  the  scenery,  geography,  and  geology  of  the  intramon- 
tane  states  and  territories,  of  which  Nevada  comes  in  for  its  share.  The 
West;  Census  of  1880,  by  Robert  P.  Porter,  whose  specialty  in  the  labor  of 
taking  the  census  was  upon  the  wealth,  debt,  taxation,  and  railroads,  assisted 
by  Henry  Gannett,  geographer  of  the  10th  census,  and  William  P.  Jones,  is 
a  reliable  authority  upon  the  material  development  of  Nevada.  The  Uiide- 
vdoped  West,  by  J.  H.  Beadle,  is  a  work  of  little  value;  and  the  same  may 
be  said  of  Where  to  Emigrate  and  Why,  by  Frederick  B.  Goddard.  Greater 
Britain,  1869,  by  Sir  Charles  Wentworth  Dilke,  an  Englishman,  follows  the 
stereotyped  rule  of  English  travellers,  and  instead  of  giving  discriminative 
observations  upon  real  things,  occupies  all  his  space,  22  pages  of  Nevada, 
with  absurd  and  exaggerated  pictures  of  American  life.  The  only  touch  of 
reality  in  it  is  a  description  of  Nevada  staging,  which  is  a  fair  account  of  pio 
neer  travel.  A  better  book,  because  containing  more  matter  of  a  useful  na 
ture,  is  that  of  another  Englishman,  Richard  F.  Burton,  The  City  of  the 
Saints,  meaning  Salt  Lake.  Burton,  however,  was  travelling  to  acquire  in 
formation,  and.  having  acquired  it,  imparted  such  as  he  had  gained  in  a  style 
honest  if  not  altogether  correct.  He  passed  through  Nevada  in  1860,  and 
gives  a  general  description.  Life  on  the  Plains  and  Among  the  Diggings,  by 
A.  Delano,  1861,  devotes  about  50  pages  to  the  incidents  of  immigrant  travel 
through  Nevada  in  1849.  The  book  is  a  history  of  a  journey  overland,  with 
its  hardships  and  sufferings,  familiar  to  thousands  before  this  book  was  writ 
ten.  An  Excursion  to  California,  over  the  Prairie,  Rocky  Mountains  and 
Great  Sierra  Nevada,  irith  a  Stroll  through  the  Diggings  and  Ranches  of  Tliat 
Country,  is  the  long  title  of  a  2-volume  book,  by  William  Kelly  of  England, 


244  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

whole  expanse  of  plain  at  the  eastern  base  of  the 
Rocky  mountains  was  represented  to  be  a  desert ;  yet 
out  of  that  desert  how  many  states  and  territories 
have  been  carved  whose  wealth  and  importance  are 
now  understood.  Eastern  Oregon  and  Nevada  have 
been  considered  little  better  than  deserts,  although  it 
was  known  that  the  Indians  pastured  large  herds 
upon  their  nutritious  grasses.  Wherever  the  pas 
turage  is  rich  the  soil  may  be  converted  to  the  growth 
of  cereals,  and  often  only  water  is  required  to  make 
the  driest  and  most  barren-looking  sections  fruitful 
fields.  The  overtopping  influence  of  the  mining 
interest  has  kept  back  the  agricultural.12 

and  sufficiently  describes  the  work  without  saying  more.  Heap's  Cen 
tral  Route  to  the  Pacific  from  the  Valley  of  the  Mississsippi  to  California:  Jour 
nal  of  the  Expedition  of  E.  F.  £eale,  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs  in 
California,  and  Gurin  Harris  Heap,  from,  Missouri  to  California,  in  1853. 
The  route  called  central  in  this  work  is  by  the  old  trail  from  Westport  to 
near  Bent's  fort;  thence  to  theHuerfano  river,  in  the  Sangre  de  Cristo  moun 
tains,  and  through  them  to  Fort  Massachusetts,  on  Utah  creek,  in  New  Mex 
ico.  Leaving  Fort  Massachusetts,  the  route  lay  up  the  San  Luis  valley  to 
the  Saguache  valley,  through  the  Cochetopa  pass  in  the  Saguache  moun 
tains,  and  down  the  River  Uncomphagre  to  the  Grand  river  fork  of  the  Col 
orado  in  Utah;  thence  across  the  Bunkarcl  river  and  the  Green  river  fork 
of  the  Colorado,  through  the  Mormon  settlements  near  Little  Salt  Lake  and 
the  Vegas  de  Santa  Clara;  thence  along  the  old  Spanish  trail  from  Abiquiu 
across  the  desert  to  the  Mohave  river,  into  the  Tulare  through  "Walker  pass 
in  the  Sierra  Nevada.  Except  that  the  route  was  an  unusual  one,  and  the 
Pah  Utes  were  found  to  be  the  worst  horse  thieves  on  the  continent,  there  is 
nothing  worthy  of  note  in  the  book.  California  and  its  Conditions  (Califor- 
nien  und  Seine  Verhaltnisse),  by  A.  F.  Oswald,  is  a  hand  book  containing  a 
sketch  of  the  history,  geography,  statistics,  climate,  soils,  commerce,  laws, 
modes,  and  routes  of  travel,  etc.,  with  a  map  of  the  United  States,  1849. 
The  references  to  Nevada  are  of  the  briefest.  Appletons  Hand  Bcok  cf 
Travel,  1861,  makes  a  brief  notice  of  Utah  territory,  without  mentioning 
the  separation  of  the  territory  of  Nevada  from  Utah.  The  traveller  could 
not  have  gained  much  information  from  Appleton.  The  Overland  Guide,  by 
Hosea  B.  Horn,  1852,  is  a  mere  road  book  from  Council  Bluffs  to  Sacramento, 
and  as  such  must  have  been  of  much  use  to  immigrants,  as  it  gave  all  the 
river  crossings,  camping  places,  etc.,  with  the  distances  between.  There  are 
some  striking  inaccuracies  in  the  distances,  however,  on  the  western  end  of 
the  route.  Albert  G.  Bracket,  in  the  Western  Monthly,  a  magazine,  Chicago, 
April,  1869,  has  an  article  on  Nevada  and  the  Silver  Mines,  which  contains  a 
very  particular  description  of  the  western  portion  of  the  state,  and  remarks 
upon  the  then  new  district  of  White  Pine,  made  from  personal  observation. 
There  might  be  mentioned  also  Remy  and  Brenchley,  i.  168,  ii.  382-49; 
Craw's  Top  Mem.,  in  U.  S.  H.  Doc.,  114;  1859;  Rossi's  Souvenirs  Voy.  en 
Oregon,  258-60;  Mayer's  Mexico;  Aztec,  Span.,  and  Rep.,  ii.  374-5;  Kneeland's 
Wonders  of  Yosemite,  23;  Hall's  Guide  to  the  Great  West,  55-60;  and  Victors 
Manifest  Destiny  in  the  West,  in  Overland  Maaazine,  Aug.  1 869. 

12  In  1860  Nevada  had  less  than  100  small  farms;  in  1870  there  were  over 


SOIL  AND  PRODUCTS.  245 

The  first  observed  earthquake  since  settlement  was 
in  1857.  On  the  29th  of  May,  1868,  there  were  four 
shocks  at  Carson  between  nine  and  'ten  o'clock  at 
night.  They  were  distinctly  felt  in  the  mines,  but 
did  no  damage,  though  they  displaced  bricks  at  the 
top  of  the  court-house.  On  the  night  of  December 
26,  1869,  a  series  of  severe  shocks  were  experienced, 
commencing  at  six  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  con 
tinuing  at  intervals  through  that  night  and  the  next 
day.  Some  buildings  were  injured,  and  at  Steam- 

1,000,  and  in  1879  nearly  1,500,  ranging  from  10  acres  to  1.000  or  more. 
That  there  are  farms  in  the  state  equal  to  the  best  anywhere  is  sufficient 
evidence  of  what  may  yet  be.  In  Nevada  Biography,  MS.,  4,  bv  William 
M.  Cradlebaugh,  brother  of  Judge  Cradlebaugh  of  Circleville,  Ohio,  who 
came  to  Cal.  in  1852,  and  to  Nevada  in  1859,  is  mention  of  his  farm  of 
between  400  and  500  acres  in  Carson  valley.  This  MS.  is  devoted  in  great 
part  to  the  history  of  early  times  and  Judge  Cradlebaugh 's  contest  with  the 
Mormon  authorities  in  relation  to  the  Mountain  Meadows  massacre.  In 
Nevi'la  Miscellany,  MS.,  containing  several  contributions  upon  the  physical 
features  of  the  country,  B.  H.  Reymers  of  Hanover,  Germany,  who  came 
to  Nevada  in  1870,  speaking  of  farming,  says  that  he  gets  4  tons  of  alfalfa 
to  the  acre  in  two  crops,  45  bushels  of  wheat,  30  to  40  bushels  of  barley,  and 
raises  some  blue  joint  grass,  2  tons  to  the  acre,  all  in  Mason  valley.  Accord 
ing  to  this  author  the  finest  draught  horses  in  the  state  are  raised  in  Lyon 
county,  which  will  yet  be  famed  for  its  production  of  English  Coach,  Clyde, 
and  Morgan  stock.  Richard  Kinnan  and  T.  B.  Rickey  of  Antelope  valley 
have  as  fine  farm  and  stock  raising  property  as  can  be  found  in  the  world. 
T.  B.  Smith  of  Smith  valley  in  Lyon  county,  born  in  Mass  in  1834,  came  to 
Cal.  in  1853,  and  to  Nevada  in  1859.  He  first  settled  the  valley  in  company 
with  11.  B.  Smith  and  C.  Smith,  whence  the  name.  According  to  his  state 
ment  wheat  yields  in  Smith  valley  30  to  60  bushels;  barley  25  to  40  bushels; 
oats  about  the  same.  Apples,  prunes,  pears,  currants,  etc.,  do  well.  T. 
Winters  of  Reese  river  in  1864  had  110  acres  in  barley,  75  in  oats,  30  in 
potatoes,  20  in  Hungarian  grass,  350  in  native  grasses,  and  10  in  vegetables. 
The  yield  is  not  given.  Austin  Reese  River  Reveille,  June  21,  1864.  Within  a 
radius  of  100  miles  of  Pioche,  excluding  the  Mormon  settlement  of  St 
George,  are  150  farms.  Pioche  Record,  Feb.  13,  1873.  Judge  Perley  of  Pioche 
purchased  640  acres  in  Steptoe  valley  for  the  purpose  of  raising  fruit,  grain, 
and  blooded  stock.  John  Guthrie  in  Humboldt  county,  brought  his  farm  of 
640  acres  to  be  one  of  the  most  valuable  on  the  coast.  Winnemucca  Silver 
Stit:>,  May  25,  1882.  This  data  was  gathered  for  me  by  Geo.  H.  Morrison. 

The  climate  is  dry  and  healthful.  Cloud  bursts  are  occasional.  There 
were  three  in  1872.  Overland  Monthly,  1873,  464-6.  The  most  remarkable 
one  occurred  in  1874,  on  the  18th  of  August.  A  mass  of  water  8  feet  in 
height  came  rolling  down  the  canon  where  Austin  was  located,  sweeping 
through  the  town  like  an  avalanche,  and  carrying  $100,000  worth  of  prop 
erty  before  it.  The  people  being  warned  by  a  swift  rider,  escaped  to  the 
hills.  Sacramento  Bee,  Aug.  19,  1874.  On  the  24th  of  July  a  similar  flood 
overtook  Eureka  without  warning.  Many  lives  were  lost  in  this  cloud  burst. 
JfarysviBe  Appeal,  Aug.  1,  1874;  Reno  State  Journal,  Aug.  1,  1874;  Amador 
Dispatch,  Aug.  1874.  A  flood  resulting  from  a  violent  rainstorm,  which 
probably  followed  a  cloud  burst  in  the  mountains,  destroyed  §100,000  worth 
of  property  at  Austin  in  August  1868. 


246  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

boat  springs  the  geysers  were  unusually  active.  The 
mines  were  not  at  all  affected  by  the  shocks,  although 
the  boilers  of  the  steam  hoisting-works  blew  off  steam 

O 

afc  each  vibration,  much  to  the  consternation  of  the 
engineers,  who  could  not  account  for  the  phenomenon. 
At  the  Savage  mine  the  engineer  stopped  the  large 
pumping  engine,  and  alarmed  the  miners  underground 
by  this  action  more  than  the  earthquake  had  done. 
In  March  1872  there  were  two  heavy  shocks  in  White 
Pine  county.  This  was  probably  what  is  known  as 
the  Inyo  earthquake,  which  was  felt  at  the  coast. 
On  November  5,  1873,  a  heavy  shock  was  felt  at 
Unionville  and  four  at  Virginia  City  between  9  A.  M. 
and  7  P.  M.  The  disturbance  continued  two  days, 
during  which  time  there  were  eight  distinct  shocks 
about  the  sink  of  the  Carson,  the  waters  of  which 
were  much  agitated.  In  August  1868  Mount  Butler, 
near  Virginia  City,  was  observed  to  be  given  signs  of 
volcanic  disturbance,  flames  breaking  out  in  a  cave, 
but  probably  from  the  ignition  of  gases. 

Of  the  indigenous  productions  of  the  soil  in 
Nevada,  the  timber  is  first  in  importance,  and  is 
found  in  the  mountains  exclusively.  First  on  the 
ranges  comes  a  belt  of  the  juniper  and  nut-pine ; 
next  above,  the  white  pine  and  balsam  fir ;  then  the 
Douglas  spruce,  and  on  Wheeler  peak  and  elsewhere 
the  Kocky  mountain  spruce.  Groves  of  aspen  occur 
at  a  height  of  9,500  feet  in  the  Troy  range,  the  height 
of  the  timber  belt  being  nearly  11,000  feet  in  central 
Nevada.  Occasional  cedars  and  cottonwoods,  with 
willows,  and  mountain  mahogany,  complete  the  list  of 
trees.  Their  size  relatively  to  those  of  the  same 
species  in  California  and  Oregon  is  inferior.  Trees 
fifty  feet  in  height,  and  twelve  to  fourteen  inches  in 
diameter  are  of  the  average  size  cut  for  milling. 
The  number  of  acres  of  timber,  including  woodland, 
was  reported  in  1879  at  1,426,410,  with  somecounties 
to  hear  from.  Congressionahand  state  legislation  has 
endeavored  to  protect  the  forestry,  which  with  j  udicious 


PLANTS  AND  ANIMALS.  247 

management  may  be  largely  preserved.  The  flora  of 
Nevada  is  much  more  extensive  than  at  first  sight 

O 

might  be  supposed,  there  being  over  1,200  plants  cata 
logued  without  completing  the  list.  The  obtrusive- 
ness  of  the  artemesia,  or  sage-brush,  obscures  every 
thing  more  modest. 

Wild  game  is  more  plentiful  now  than  thirty  years 
years  ago,  being  protected  by  game  laws,  and  not 
so  much  needed  by  the  Indians  for  food  as  formerly. 

It  would  be  erroneous  to  conclude  that  because  few 
animals  have  chosen  Nevada  for  their  home  that  there 
was  not  support  for  animal  life ;  for  next  in  import 
ance  to  its  mines  at  present  is  the  trade  in  cattle,  and 
stock  subsist  almost  entirely  upon  the  native  grasses. 
Their  low  hills  and  the  loftiest  summits  of  the  moun 
tains  furnish  bunch-grass,  of  which  there  are  two 
varieties,  that  growing  on  the  lower  hills  being  coarser 
and  more  thinly  set  than  that  which  grows  further 
up,  and  which  bears  an  oat- shaped  seed.  Native 
clover,  blue-joint,  red-top,  and  one  kind  of  bunch- 
grass  are  found  in  the  valleys.  On  all  the  creeks  of 
the  northern  part  of  the  state  are  extensive  patches 
of  rye-grass,  which  grows  often  six  feet  high,  and 
makes  excellent  hay.  The  number  of  acres  classified 
as  grazing  land  in  1878,  some  counties  not  being 
heard  from,  was  7,508, 060.13 

13  The  cattle  herded  upon  these  natural  pastures  make  the  best  of  beef, 
or  which  at  least  cannot  be  equalled  except  upon  similar  ranges  in  the 
bunch  grass  regions  of  eastern  Oregon,  Idaho,  and  Montana,  and  superior 
to  that  produced  with  careful  farming  in  the  eastern  states.  I  have  given 
so  full  particulars  of  stock  raising  for  market  in  my  History  of  Montana 
that  it  is  unnecessary  to  repeat  the  account  here,  except  to  say  that  Nevada 
is  vastly  superior  to  M  ontana  on  account  of  the  milder  winters.  The  fat)ts 
are  in  general  the  same,  and  the  profits  similar.  The  common  stock  of  the 
country  was  graded  somewhat  by  bulls  kept  by  immigrants,  but  has  been 
greatly  improved  more  recently  by  imported  animals.  The  average  weight 
of  cattle  has  been  increased  ten  per  cent,  and  the  Nevada  herds  in  1880 
were  about  half  thoroughbred.  Some  examples  may  not  be  out  of  place. 
W.  J.  Marsh  had  a  stock  farm  at  the  head  of  Carson  valley  of  high  bred 
cattle.  T.  D.  Parkinson  of  Kelly's  creek  imported  in  1881  six  car  loads  of 
improved  stock.  He  had  imported  several  lots  before.  Daniel  Murphy 
had  60,000  acres  of  land  in  Nevada,  from  which  he  shipped  6,000  head  of 
cattle  yearly.  Murphy  was  a  California  pioneer  of  1844,  and  the  largest 


248  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

The  number  of  sheep  in  Nevada  in  1884  was  300,- 
000.  The  wool  clip  of  Nevada  was  given  in  1876  at 
100,000  pounds.  In  1880  the  crop  in  Paradise  valley 
alone  was  84,000  pounds.  The  shipment  from  Battle 
Mountain  for  the  year  was  200,000  pounds,  a  falling 
off  from  previous  years,  owing  to  large  sales  of  sheep 

stock  owner  in  Nevada,  as  well  as  the  largest  land  owner  in  the  world.  He 
owned  4,000,000  acres  in  Mexico  and  23,000  in  California.  He  died  at  Elko 
Oct.  22,  1882.  The  combined  herds  of  Glenn  and  his  partners  aggregated 
about  30,000  head.  Todhunter  and  Devine  had  25,000  head,  and  shipped 
6,000  annually.  They  had  over  100,000  acres  of  land.  Riley  and  Hardin 
own  about  30,000  cattle.  Burns,  Stoffal  &  Co.  8,000.  E.  W.  Crutcher's 
stock  range  covered  all  the  meadow  land  and  water  on  a  section  of  country 
61  by  42  miles.  He  had  15,000  head  of  cattle  and  1,000  head  of  horses. 
Hardin  of  Humboldt  county  shipped  30  car  loads  of  beef  cattle  monthly  to 
California.  Wells  &  Co.  near  Rabbit  creek  were  the  heaviest  cattle  dealers 
in  that  vicinity.  Altogether  there  were  in  1885,  500  stock  raisers  in  Nevada, 
large  and  small.  Hanseris  Mining  About  Eureka,  MS.,  4. 

One  of  the  first  persons  to  discover  the  advantages  of  keeping  cattle  on 
the  Nevada  ranges  was  Harry  Gordier,  a  Frenchman,  who  was  killed  in 
1858  by  Edwards  and  Thorrington  that  they  might  get  possession  of  the 
eattle  he  had  driven  over  the  mountains  from  California,  and  was  fattening 
in  Carson  valley.  But  he  was  not  the  only  person  feeding  California  cattle 
on  Nevada  pastures,  for  as  early  as  1855  the  practice  of  driving  stock  over 
the  mountains  in  summer  was  well  known.  Huffakers  Early  Cattle  Trade, 
MS.,  1-2,  5-6.  G.  W.  Huffaker  bought  cattle  at  Salt  Lake  City,  and  drove 
them  to  the  Truckee  meadows  in  1856,  fattening  them  and  selling  beef  to 
the  miners  in  the  early  days  of  the  Comstock  excitement,  when  prices  ruled 
high.  Cattle  were  first  wintered  on  the  Humboldt  in  1859-60,  and  were  of 
the  common  Texas  species.  Long  Valley  in  White  Pine  county  was  first  oc 
cupied  for  herding  cattle  in  1869  by  Alvaro  Evans  and  Robert  Ross.  In  that 
year  several  thousand  head  were  driven  from  Texas  to  stock  the  Nevada 
ranges.  The  laws  of  Nevada  encourage  stock  raising,  and  shield  the  owners 
of  cattle  from  the  penalties  which  should  follow  injury  to  crops  through 
trespass  by  them.  No  act  having  been  passed  defining  a  lawful  fence,  the 
supreme  court  decided  in  1880  that  owners  of  stock  were  not  liable  for  dam 
age  done  to  crops  by  their  cattle  unless  the  land  was  so  fenced  as  to  exclude 
ordinary  animals.  This  decision  placed  the  burden  of  protecting  crops  en 
tirely  upon  the  agriculturalist,  and  saved  the  cattle  raiser  the  expense  of 
herdsmen.  Again,  cattte  must  be  taxed  at  the  owners'  residence,  and  not 
in  the  localities  where  they  were  grazed;  by  which  decision  the  county  was 
often  defrauded  of  its  proper  revenue.  The  law  of  1873  required  each 
owner  to  have  a  brand,  and  also  a  counter-brand  in  case  of  sale.  A  law  of 
1881  provides  for  an  inspector  of  hides,  who  may  enter  premises  and  search 
for  hides,  reporting  to  the  district  attorney  as  to  the  brands.  This  act  in 
sures  equal  justice  to  all.  The  number  of  cattle  in  Nevada  in  1884,  as  esti 
mated  by  stock  raisers,  was  about  700,000.  English  capital  was  being  used 
in  purchasing  ranges  to  a  large  amount. 

The  finest  draft  horses  in  the  state  in  1886  were  raised  in  Mason  valley. 
Fox's  Mason  Valley  Settkrs,  MS.,  1,  in  Nevada  Miscellany.  J.  J.  Fox,  born 
in  1834  in  Baden,  Germany,  immigrated  to  the  U.  S.  in  1854,  and  to  Vir 
ginia  City  in  1860.  In  1864  he  settled  east  of  Dayton,  but  the  following  year 
removed  to  Mason  valley,  and  raised  stock.  J.  A.  Perry  imported  Norman 
stallions  in  1880.  Scott  and  Hank  imported  3  English  stallions  of  the  Shire 
breed  in  1881.  J.  S.  Trask,  W.  W.  Williams,  and  W.  L.  Pritchard  raised 


LIVE   STOCK.  249 

to  Montana.  From  Winnemucca  the  shipment  for 
1880  was  140,000  pounds  instead  of  the  usual  amount 
of  250,000  or  300,000  pounds.  These  figures  give 
some  idea  of  where  the  sheep  pastures  are  to  be  found. 
The  total  shipment  by  railroad  in  1882  was  349,585 
pounds,  the  bulk  of  which  was  sold  to  eastern  dealers 
at  from  sixteen  to  twenty  cents  per  pound.  Angora 
goats  were  increasing  rapidly  in  Nevada.  In  1869 
there  were  25  of  these  animals  reported  to  be  in  the 
state.  In  1879  there  were  several  bands  of  several 
thousand  each.  The  sage  brush  land  was  found  well 
adapted  to  pasturing  these  hardy  creatures— the 
one  animal  which  thrives  upon  this  coarse  diet. 
The  long  silky  wool  finds  a  ready  market,  and  the 
hides  are  sold  to  the  Angora  Glove  company  of 
California. 

In  1861  an  attempt  was  made  to  domesticate  the 
camel.  A  band  of  a  dozen  was  first  employed  in  this 
year  to  bring  salt  from  Teel's  marsh,  in  Esrneralda 
county,  to  the  Washoe  silver  mill,  a  distance  of  200 
miles.  They  proved  well  suited  to  the  labor,  but  on 
the  discovery  of  a  nearer  salt  deposit,  wagons  were 
used,  and  the  camels  turned  loose  to  take  care  of 
themselves.  This  they  did,  increasing  in  number  and 
condition.  The  camels  taken  to  Nevada  in  1861  were 
part  of  a  herd  of  thirty-four  which  was  sold  at 
Benicia,  California,  by  the  government  to  Samuel 
McLaughlin,  who  had  been  intrusted  with  the  care  of 
them.  They  were  brought  to  the  United  States  for 
use  on  the  plains,  and  increased  after  their  arrival. 
In  1876  the  band  was  taken  to  Arizona,  with  the  ex 
ception  of  a  pair  placed  on  a  rancho  in  Carson  valley, 
where  they  increased  to  twenty-six  in  a  few  years. 
But  it  was  found  impracticable  to  use  them  on  the 

blooded  horses.  In  1882  the  latter  shipped  8  thoroughbreds  to  Cal.  This 
year  300  horses  were  sold  to  go  east.  J.  W.  Dean  of  Eureka  county  was 
the  largest  horse  raiser  in  the  east  range  of  Cortez  mountains.  In  1881  a 
car  load  of  jacks  and  jennies  was  imported  from  the  western  states  by 
William  Billups;  mule  raising  having  become  a  considerable  branch  of  stock 
farming. 


250  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

highways,  horses  being  frightened  by  them,  and  suits 
for  damages  following,  for  which  reason  the  legisla 
ture  in  1875  prohibited  their  running  at  large  or 
being  upon  the  public  roads.  A  part  of  the  herd 
was  disposed  of  to  the  Philadelphia  zoological 
gardens. 

An  experiment  in  ostrich  farming  was  made  in  1879 
by  Theodore  Glancy,  whose  land  was  southwest  of 
the  Bismark  range,  near  the  old  route  from  Carson 
to  Bodie.  Failing  to  hatch  the  eggs  in  sand  by  solar 
heat,  he  obtained  a  pair  of  birds  from  which,  in  1881, 
he  raised  ten  others.  The  use  intended  to  be  made 
of  the  birds,  was  in  transporting  provisions  and  other 
parcels.  Their  plumage  alone  would  make  them 
valuable. 

Hog  raising  proved  profitable.  H.  C.  Emmons  in 
1882  had  400  at  the  sink  of  the  Humboldt,  which  was 
the  largest  herd  in  the  state.  There  were  several 
others  near  Lovelocks,  and  James  Guthrie  near  Win- 
nemucea  was  raising  Berkshires  extensively.  Poultry 
raising  likewise  prospered,  George  W.  Chedec,  at 
Carson  City,  having  in  1882  twenty-six  different 
breeds  on  his  poultry  farm.  From  these  beginnings, 
small  when  compared  with  the  area  of  the  state, 
enough  may  be  learned  to  remove  the  impression  that 
only  metals  and  minerals  can  be  produced  in 
Nevada. 

Something  should  be  said  here  of  the  public  sur 
veys  and  land  laws.  I  have  already  mentioned  that 
John  W.  North  was  the  first  surveyor-general  ap 
pointed.  Acts  of  March  14  and  May  30,  1862,  united 
Nevada  to  the  California  surveying  service,  to  take 
effect  July  1,  1862.  On  the  2d  of  July  congress  es 
tablished  the  land  district  of  Nevada,  and  authorized 
the  appointment  of  a  register  and  receiver.  A  joint 
resolution  of  the  Nevada  legislature  protjsted  against 
being  united  to  California,  and  asked  to  have  the 
office  of  surveyor-general  restored,  with  an  ap- 


LANDS.  251 

propnation  for  the  survey  of  the  public  lands. 
An  act  of  congress  approved  July  2,  1864,  at 
tached  Nevada  to  Colorado  for  surveying  pur 
poses.  Another  act,  on  March  2,  1865,  attached 
Nevada  once  more  to  the  California  surveying  dis 
trict.  It  was  not  until  July  4,  1866,  that  a  United 
Stated  surveyor-general  of  Nevada  was  again  author 
ized  by  congress  with  a  salary  of  $3,000.  The  con 
stitution  of  Nevada,  adopted  in  1864,  provided  for  the 
election  of  a  surveyor-general  with  a  salary  of  $1,000. 
S.  H.  Marlette  was  chosen  at  the  first  state  election 
to  hold  office,  according  to  the  constitution,  for  four 
years.  By  a  special  law  of  March  9,  1866,  it  was 
enacted  that  the  state  officers  should  be  chosen  at  the 
general  election  for  that  year,  and  on  every  fourth 
year  thereafter.  Marlette  was  reflected.  The  du 
ties  of  the  state  surveyor-general  were  to  select  and 
dispose  of  the  lands  granted  to  the  state,  and  act  as 
ex-officio  register.  The  same  law  fixed  the  minimum 
price  of  the  lands  belonging  to  the  state,  except  the 
lands  embraced  within  the  twenty  mile  limit  of  the 
Central  Pacific  Railroad,  at  $1.25  per  acre,  and  the 
minimum  price  of  all  lands  falling  within  that  limit  at 
$2.50;  but  the  board  of  regents  of  the  state  had  the 
power  to  fix  a  higher  price  upon  any  unsettled  lands 
not  already  applied  for.  By  an  act  of  congress  ap 
proved  June  8,  1868,  Nevada  was  authorized  to  select 
from  the  alternate  even  numbered  sections  within  the 
limits  of  any  railroad  grant,  lands  in  satisfaction  of 
the  several  grants  to  the  state  made  in  the  organic 
act,  the  act  of  admission,  and  the  act  of  July  4,  1866, 
granting  university  lands  and  agricultural  college 
lands.  The  public  lands  of  Nevada  were  not  subject 
to  entry,  sale,  or  location  under  any  laws  of  the 
United  States,  except  the  Homestead  act  of  May  20, 
1862,  and  preemption  law,  until  after  the  state  should 
have  received  her  full  quota  of  lands ;  and  she  should 
have  two  years  after  the  survey  should  have  been 
made  in  which  to  make  her  selection,  in  tracts  of  not 


252  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

less  than  forty  acres,  but  could  not  sell  in  tracts  of 
more  than  320,  and  to  actual  settlers. 

The  state  had  selected  all  the  land  granted  by  the 
government  in  1877,  except  the  sixteenth  and  thirty- 
sixth  sections,  or  common-school  lands.  In  these 
sections  was  included  a  large  amount  of  desert,  alkali, 
and  mountain  land  which  the  public  surveyors  pro 
nounced  unfit  for  cultivation,  and  therefore  left  un- 
surveyed.  In  1877,  780  townships  only  had  been 
surveyed,  and  the  available  area  out  of  17,971.200 
acres  was  10,762,237  acres.  The  state  in  consequence 
lost  7,208,963  acres,  which  were  pronounced  unfit  for 
cultivation,  and  the  school  fund  in  proportion.  Out 
of  the  10,762,237  acres  of  land  surveyed  as  cultivable, 
the  sixteenth  and  thirty-sixth  sections  contained 
608,307  acres.  Of  this  amount  only  64,528  acres  had 
been  sold  in  1877. 

The  whole  state  of  Nevada  contained  3,113^  town 
ships,  or  an  area  of  71,737,741  acres,  which  upon  the 
above  basis  would  afford  of  available  land  42,960,889 
acres,  and  of  school  lands  2,428,252  acres,  instead  of 
3,984,640  acres,  which,  if  the  whole  were  available, 
would  belong  to  the  school  land.  At  the  rate  at 
which  the  sixteenth  and  thirty-sixth  sections  were 
selling,  it  was  evident  that  not  more  than  257,581 
acres  would  have  been  sold  within  the  time  allotted 
for  reserving  the  public  lands  for  selection  by  the 
state,  when  the  opportunity  of  securing  indemnity 
lands  would  be  lost.  State  surveyor-general  Charles 
S.  Preble  recommended  to  the  legislature  to  take 
some  action  to  secure  a  grant  of  land  in  lieu  of  the 
sixteenth  and  thirty-sixth  sections  for  school  purposes. 
This  advice  was  acted  upon,  and  congress  granted 
2,000,000  acres  of  land  to  be  selected  by  the  state  in 
place  of  those  sections.  For  this  service  the  state 
owes  Mr  Preble  a  lasting  recognition  of  his  talents. 
This  grant  placed  the  state  as  well  as  the  school  fund 
upon  a  better  basis,  no  waste  land  being  chosen,  and 
sales  being  much  more  numerous.  From  July  1, 


COUNTIES.  253 

1830,  to  January  1,  1883,  1,031  applications  were 
filed,  covering  166,800  acres  of  school  lands. 

The  meridian  and  base  of  Mount  Diablo  were  used 
for  the  standard  in  the  survey  of  Nevada.  Guide 
meridians  were  established  in  all  the  principal  centres 
of  population.  The  first  land  district  was  that  of 
Carson.  The  second  land-office  was  located  at  Aus 
tin  in  1867;  the  third  at  Aurora  in  a  district  includ 
ing  the  counties  of  Esmeralda,  Nevada,  and  Mono 
and  Inyo,  California,  in  1868  ;  the  fourth  at  Belmont, 
in  1869,  removed  to  Pioche  in  1874;  the  fifth  at  Eu 
reka,  in  1873,  removed  from  Austin;  there  being  but 
four  local  land-offices  in  the  state.  In  March  1872 
the  Elko  land  district  was  established. 

The  amount  of  mineral  land  in  the  state  was  ap 
proximately  given,  from  the  incomplete  returns  of 
counties  in  1876,  as  being  1,679  acres.  The  total 
amount  of  salt,  soda,  and  borate  of  lime  lands  was  re 
ported  in  1871  at  52,000  acres.  The  legislature  of 
1873  asked  congress  to  permit  Nevada  to  select  saline 
lands  under  previous  acts,  and  subsequently  fixed  the 
value  of  salt  and  borax  lands  at  five  dollars  per  acre, 
maximum.  An  act  of  congress  concerning  desert 
lands,  passed  in  1877,  provides  that  a  settler  may 
acquire  title  to  six  hundred  and  forty  acres  by  irri 
gating  the  tract  for  three  years,  and  paying  $1.25  per 
acre.  Capitalists  were  quick  to  see  the  advantages 
of  this  law  to  acquire  large  tracts  of  country,  which 
by  the  simple  cost  of  irrigating  canals  became  of  great 
value.  In  1879  an  act  of  congress  provided  for  a 
public  lands  commission,  to  consist  of  the  commissioner 
of  the  general  land  office,  the  director  of  the  geological 
survey,  and  three  civilians,  to  report  to  congress  a 
system  of  classification  of  public  lands,  and  a  codifica 
tion  of  existing  laws  relating  to  such  lands. 

The  territory  of  Nevada  established  by  a  legisla 
tive  act,  on  the  25th  of  November,  1861,  nine  coun 
ties,  and  on  the  29th  fixed  their  capitals.  Douglas, 


254  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

with  the  county  seat  at  Genoa,  contained  the  oldest 
settlements,  and  is  therefore  entitled  to  the  first  place 
on  the  list.  Extending  on  the  west  to  the  eastern 
summit  of  the  Sierra,  it  includes  50,000  acres  of  tim 
ber  and  wood  lands,  from  which  have  been  drawn 
vast  quantities  of  wood  and  lumber  by  means  of  flumes 
constructed  at  great  expense  for  this  purpose.  Glen- 
brook,  situated  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Lake  Tahoe, 
is  the  principal  lumber  manufacturing  point  in  the 
state.  It  was  first  settled  in  1860  by  G.  W.  Warren, 
N.  E.  Murdock,  and  R  Walton.  In  1861  A.  W. 
Pray  .erected  a  saw-mill,  which  was  run  by  water 
conducted  half  a  mile  through  a  flume  and  ditch, 
which  served  until  1864,  when  a  steam-mill  was 
erected.  Pray's  mill  was  the  second  one  built  at 
Lake  Tahoe,  the  first  being  on  the  California  side,  in 
1860.  Other  mills  followed,  and  in  1873  the  firm  of 
Yerino'ton  and  Bliss  began  the  lumber  business  at 

O  O 

Glenbrook,  and  threaded  the  entire  timber  belt  of 
Lake  Tahoe  and  the  surrounding  slopes  with  flumes 
and  chutes,  conveying  wood  and  lumber  to  the  towns 
about.  The  lumber  product  of  Douglas  county  was 
about  12,000,000  feet  annually.  It  cannot  be  classed 
with  the  mining  counties,  although  some  mining  en 
terprises  have  been  attempted  there.  Agriculturally 
it  is  one  of  the  foremost  sections  of  the  state,  pro 
ducing  grains,  fruits,  and  vegetables  in  variety  and 
abundance,  and  having  about  40,000  acres  of  arable 
land,  200,000  acres  of  grazing  land,  and  100,000  of 
reclaimable  desert  lands.  In  1885  the  county  had 
six  saw-mills,  two  hundred  miles  of  irrigating  ditches, 
made  forty  thousand  pounds  of  butter  annually,  and 
had  farms  to  the  value  of  over  half  a  million.  <Genoa 
was  made  the  county  seat.  The  extraordinary  snows 
of  1882  caused  an  avalanche  which  came  near  destroy 
ing  the  town  of  Genoa.  The  towns  and  settlements 
not  before  mentioned  are  Bridge  House,  Carter,  Car 
son  Valley,  Cradlebaugh's  bridge,  Double  Spring, 
Hot  Springs,  Hoyes'  Store,  Job,  Mollville,  Mammoth, 


DOUGLAS,   ORMSBY,   AND  WASHOE  COUNTIES.  255 

Mottville,  Mountain  House,  Sheridan,  Spooner  Sta 
tion,  Sprague,  Summit  Camp,  Thornton,  Tisdell, 
Twelve-mile  House,  Valley  View,  Van  Sickle's, 
Walker  River,  and  Warren's. 

Ormsby  county,  a  small  shire  sandwiched  between 
Douglas  and  Washoe,  but  of  an  importance  not  pro 
portioned  to  its  size,  contains  about  ten  thousand  acres 
of  arable  land,  half  of  which  was  under  cultivation  in 
1885,  and  excellent  grazing  lands.  It  shared  largely 
in  the  lumber  and  wood  trade,  was  the  seat  of  numer 
ous  quartz-mills,  contained  the  capitol  of  the  state, 
the  penitentiary,  mint,  and  other  public  institutions, 
and  in  1876  paid  taxes  on  $2,673,066.  Carson  City, 
incorporated  in  1875,  is  both  the  county  seat  and 
state  capital,  and  is  pleasantly  situated,  with  wide 
streets  which  are  bordered  with  trees.  It  has,  besides 
the  public  buildings,  a  number  of  fine  structures  for 
business  purposes,  half  a  dozen  churches,  and  many 
handsome  residences.  Its  water- works  were  erected 
in  1860.  The  towns  and  settlements  not  named  are 
Brunswick,  Clear  Creek,  Empire  City,  Lookout,  Mc- 
Raey,  Merrimac,  Mexican,  Mill  Station,  Santiago 
Mill,  Swift's  Springs,  and  Vivian  Mill. 

Washoe  county,  also  one  of  the  first  subdivisions  of 
Carson  county,  contains  75,000  acres  of  agricultural, 
400,000  of  grazing,  80,000  of  timbered,  and  20,000  of 
mineral  lands,  and  pays  taxes  on  $4,165,210  of  real 
and  personal  property.  One  of  the  farm  products  in 
which  Washoe  excelled  was  honey.  The  crop  in 
1884  was  not  less  than  37,000  pounds.  Hops  also 
did  well  in  this  county,  which  produced  40,000  pounds 
the  same  year.  The  first  county  seat  was  at  Washoe 
City,  but  was  removed  to  Reno  by  vote  of  the  people 
in  1870,  and  an  act  of  the  legislature  in  1871.  Reno 
was  founded  by  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad  company 
in  1868,  in  the  Truckee  valley,  and  nimed  in  honor 
of  General  Reno,  who  fell  at  the  battle  of  South 
Mountain.  It  has  been  twice  nearly  destroyed  by 
fire,  once  in  1873,  and  ao-ain  in  1879.  A  court-house 


256  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

was  erected  of  brick  in  1872-3.  A  poor-farm  and 
hospital  were  provided  by  the  county  commissioners  in 
1875,  who  purchased  forty  acres  for  the  purpose  on 
the  south  side  of  the  Truckee,  one  mile  east  of  Reno, 
with  water  for  irrigating  purposes.  A  free  iron 
bridge  was  constructed  across  the  river  in  1877  in 
place  of  a  toll-bridge,  which  had  been  in  use  since 
1863.  An  asylum  for  the  insane  is  located  a  short 
distance  from  the  town  ;  also  the  state  board  of  agri 
culture,  the  state  university,  and  a  fine  school  for 
girls  under  the  management  of  the  episcopal  church, 
named  after  Bishop  Whittaker,  who  founded  it.  The 
Truckee  river,  which  is  near  the  town,  will  some 
day,  no  doubt,  invite  manufactures.  The  first  settle 
ment  on  the  site  of  Reno  was  made  by  C.  W.  Fuller 
in  1859,  who  kept  a  hotel,  and  built  the  first  bridge 
across  the  Truckee  at  this  place  in  1860.  Fuller 
also  owned  a  toll-road,  and  sold  the  whole  of  the 
property  to  M.  C.  Lake,  from  whom  the  place  took 
the  name  of  Lake's  crossing.  The  name  still  sur 
vives  in  Lake  house,  a  hotel  on  the  original  location 
of  Fuller.  Among  the  prosperous  stock-raisers  may 
be  mentioned  Jacob  Stiner,  a  native  of  Ohio,  who 
came  to  California  by  sea  in  1853,  mined  on  the  Yuba 
at  Park's  bar,  subsequently  settled  in  S utter  county 
on  the  Sacramento  river,  giving  the  name  of  Stiner's 
bend  to  that  portion  of  the  stream.  The  towns  and 
settlements  of  Washoe  county  not  named  above  are 
Anderson's,  Brown's,  Clark's,  Crystal  Peak,  Essex, 
Galena,  Glendale,  Huffaker's,  Lake  View,  Little  Val 
ley,  Long  Valley,  Mayburg  Store,  Mud  Lake,  Ophir, 
Pleasant  Valley,  Poeville,  Salvia,  Steamboat,  Three- 
mile  Station,  Two-mile  Station,  Vista,  Verdi,  Wads- 
worth,  and  Winnemucca  valley. 

Storey  county,  named  in  honor  of  Edward  Faris 
Storey,  who  was  killed  in  an  attack  on  the  Pah  Ute 
camp  in  1860,  has  been  the  theatre  of  the  most  stir 
ring  events  of  mining  life  in  Nevada,  and  still  main 
tains  much  of  the  prestige  acquired  when  the  Coinstock 


STOREY  ANIH  INYO  /COUNTIES.  257 


was  at  its  highest  point  of  development.  It  was  or 
ganized  in  1861,  and  contains  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
acres  only  of  farming  land,  twenty  thousand  acres  of 
grazing  land,  the  remainder  being  classed  with  min 
eral  lands.  Much  of  its  history  has  already  been  given. 
Virginia  City,  the  county  seat,  being  6,205  feet 
above  sea-level,  and  2,000  feet  above  the  Humboldt 
plains,  perched  on  the  eastern  slope  of  an  isolated 
mountain,  whose  altitude  is  7,827  feet,  the  only  water 
supply  of  the  city  came  at  first  from  natural  springs, 
A  few  wells  were  added  as  the  town  increased  in  size. 
At  length  a  company  was  formed,  which  collected  in 
wooden  tanks  the  water  flowing  from  mining  tunnels, 
and  distributed  it  by  means  of  pipes  through  the 
town.  But  in  time  the  tunnels  ran  dry,  and  it  became 
necessary  to  pierce  the  hills  for  new  water  deposits, 
which  in  turn  became  exhausted,  until  the  town  waa 
threatened  with  a  water  famine.  Prospecting  for 
water  brought  out  the  fact  in  topography  that  it  waa 
in  the  flat-topped  hills  it  would  be  found,  rather  than 
in  the  conical  ones.  Miles  of  tunnelling  were  done 

O 

with  no  other  object  than  to  find  water,  and  many 
thousands  of  dollars  were  expended  in  this  work,  and 
in  dams  and  bulkheads  to  hold  the  water  formed  by 
meltingsnow.14 

All  the  institutions  of  Virginia  City  were  cosmo 
politan  compared  to  other  towns.  The  hotels,  banksB 
churches,  school  houses,  theatre,  opera  house,  court 
house,  city  hall,  odd  fellows'  hall,  hospital,  stores,  and 
business  places  and  residences  still  give  evidence  of 
the  enterprise  and  money  which  have  been  expended 
there.  "After  the  discovery  of  silver  mines,"  say  a 
Clarke,  "  two  enterprising  men  of  San  Francisco  took 
advantage  of  the  excitement,  surveyed  and  staked  out 

14  In  1872  the  Virginia  and  Gold  Hill  Water  company  employed  H, 
Schussler,  engineer  of  the  S.  F.  water-works,  to  make  a  survey  of  the  coun 
try  to  the  first  available  streams  in  the  Sierra  Nevada,  twenty -five  mile& 
west  of  Virginia  City.  Athwart  the  route  lay  the  Washoe  valley,  an  obstzu 
cle  requiring  unmistakable  skill  to  conquer.  The  works  were  completed  in 
1873  at  an  estimated  cost  of  $2,000,000. 
HIST.  NEV.  17. 


258  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

all  the  unoccupied  land  where  Virginia  City  now  stands 
and  sold  off  the  lots  as  mining  claims,  though  no  mine 
existed  there,  nor  any  symptoms  of  it.  They  actually 
sold  off  $25,000  worth  of  stock"  It  was  built 
upon  ground  with  such  a  pitch  that  what  was  the 
second  story  of  a  house  in  front  became  the  first  at 
the  back.  The  assessed  valuation  of  the  whole 
county  of  Storey,  given  in  1884,  was  $2,885,356,  be 
ing  less  than  that  of  Washoe,  but  its  finances  were  in 
a  healthy  condition,  without  debt  of  any  kind.  The 
towns  and  settlements  in  Storey  county,  aside  from 
Virginia  and  Gold  Hill,  are  American  Flat,  Baltic, 
Bonanza  City,  Gold  Canon,  Louisetown,  Mound 
linns.-,  Washington,  and  Valley  Wells. 

LvonVounty  was  organized  in  1861,  but  had  its 
boundaries  changed  in  isr>4.  It  has  128,000  acres  of 
agricultural,  100,000  of  grazing,  5,000  of  mineral,  and 
2,000  of  timbered  lands.  It  has  200  miles  of  irrigat 
ing  ditches,  which  water  17,500  acres.  Its  property 
valuation  in  1884  was  $1,336,659.  The  general  sur 
face  of  the  county  is  mountainous,  all  the  arable  land 
being  upon  the  Carson  river,  except  about  eight  miles 
of  Mason  valley  in  the  southeast  corner.  Dayton, 
the  county  seat,  is  one  of  the  oldest  towns  in  Nevada. 
Being  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  canon  leading  to 
the  Comstock  mines,  it  became  the  site  of  numerous 
quartz  mills,  and  shared  in  the  general  prosperity  of 
that  lode.  In  the  mineral  district  of  Palmyra,  south 
east  from  Dayton  about  ten  miles,  in  an  elevated  val 
ley,  in  1863-4,  was  the  mining  town  of  Como  and  its 
sister  Palmyra.  Como  grew  rapidly,  its  hopes  being 
based  on  the  supposed  richness  of  its  mines.  It  was 
made  the  county  seat  of  Lyon  county,  and  had  a 
quartz  mill  and  a  newspaper,  the  Como  Sentinel. 
Gradually  the  town  was  abandoned  by  every  inhabi 
tant  except  one,  G.  W.  Walton.  On  the  22d  of  No 
vember,  1873,  the  last  inhabitant  perished  in  the 
flames  of  his  solitary  residence.  The  deserted  houses, 
haunted  by  the  ghosts  of  dead  hopes,  open  to  the 


ESMERALDA  COUNTY.  259 

winds  of  summer,  and  buried  under  the  snow  drifts  of 
winter,  offer  a  sad  commentary  on  human  expecta 
tions.  Silver  City,  settled  before  Virginia  City,  was 
incorporated  in  1877.  There  were,  in  1885,  four 
quartz  mills,  six  tailings  mills,  two  arastras,  and  one 
smelting  furnace  in  the  county,  and  seven  miles  of 
mining  ditches.  The  towns  or  settlements  not  men- 

O 

tioned  above  in  Lyon  county  are  Buckland's,  Cleaver, 
Eureka,  Fort  Churchill,  Hayward's,  Hot  Spring, 
Johnstown,  Mound  House,  Mountain,  Palmyra,  and 
Wabuska. 

Esmeralda  county,  organized  in  1861,  has,  approxi 
mately,  100.000  acres  of  agricultural,  150,000  of  graz 
ing,  150,000  of  timbered,  and  300,000  of  mineral 
lands.  The  value  of  its  real  and  personal  property  in 
1884  was  given  in  by  the  assessor  at  §1,158,365,  or 
nearly  $200,000  less  than  the  previous  year.  Mining 
began  early,  Esmeralda  mining  district,  about  the 
present  town  of  Aurora,  being  organized  in  August 
1860.  No  less  than  seventeen  quartz  mills,  costing 
over  $1,000,000  were  erected  at  Aurora,  and  bullion 
to  the  amount  of  $16,000,000  has  been  produced  in 
this  district.  Aurora,  for  twenty  years  the  county 
seat,  was  first  settled  by  J.  M.  Carey,  James  M. 
Brady,  and  E.  R.  Hicks  in  1860.  The  value  of  its 
taxable  property  in  1880  was  $200,000.  One  news 
paper,  the  Estneralda  Herald,  was  published  there. 
Hawthorne,  a  new  town,  twenty-eight  miles  distant 
on  the  Carson  and  Colorado  railroad,  was  made  the 
county  seat  in  1883.  Belleville,  situated  at  an  alti 
tude  of  5,000  feet,  on  the  slope  of  the  Monte  Christo 
mountains,  was  founded  in  1873.  Marietta,  another 
mining  camp,  lies  ten  miles  northwest  of  Belleville. 
Candelaria,  the  railroad  terminus,  had,  in  1885,  a 
school  house,  church,  hotel,  stores,  and  other  places 
of  business.  It  was  named  after  a  mine  discovered 
in  1865  by  Spanish  prospectors,  and  was  surveyed  for 
a  town  in  1876  by  J.  B.  Hiskey.  The  White  "Moun 
tain  Water  company  of  Nevada  was  organized  under 


260  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

the  laws  of  New  York  to  do  business  in  Nevada, 
Henry  A.  Gildersleeve  president,  James  A.  Prit- 
cliard  secretary,  John  Aandroth  treasurer.  The  dis 
tance  to  the  springs  was  twenty-one  miles.  The  Can- 
delaria  True  Fissure  newspaper  was  first  published 
June  5,  1880,  by  John  Dormer.  Columbus  was  set 
tled  in  1765,  and  a  quartz  mill  erected.  In  1872  the 
Pacific  Borax  company  commenced  operations  on  the 
Columbus  marsh,  and  in  Fish  Lake  valley  in  1875. 
This  company  suspended  work  on  the  borax  marshes  ; 
but  the  Teel  salt  marsh  was  worked  by  Smith  Broth 
ers,  and  Rhoades  salt  marsh  by  A.  J.  Rhoades. 
Walker  lake,  with  a  part  of  the  Pah  Ute  reservation, 
is  in  Esmeralda  county.  The  only  agricultural  town 
in  the  county  is  Greenfield,  or  Mason  valley,  in  the 
bend  of  Walker  river.  It  was  first  settled  by  W.  R. 
Lee  in  1869.  Its  growth  has  been  permanent  and 
healthy,  with  church,  school,  and  mail  privileges. 
The  settlements  not  above  mentioned  in  Esmeralda 
county  are  Birch  Agency,  Alida  Valley,  Alum  Creek, 
Black  Mountain  District,  Cambridge,  Chase,  Cory- 
ville,  Coal  Valley,  Cottonwood  Well,  Dead  Horse 
Well,  Durant's  Mill,  East  Walker,  Elbow,  Fish  Lake, 
Five  Mile  Station,  Gillis  Mountain,  Gold  Net,  Hog's 
Back,  Hot  Spring,  Hulche  Canon,  Johnson,  Lida, 
Lobdell,  McGeer,  Mammoth  Ledge,  Marietta,  Me 
tallic,  Military  Station,  Miller,  Montezuma,  Mount 
Grant,  New  Boston,  Nine  Mile  House,  Palmetto, 
Pick  Handle,  Pine  Grove,  Rockland,  Sand  Spring, 
Santa  Fe,  Silver  Peak,  Soda  Springs,  Sweetwater, 
Sylvania,  Virginia,  Volcano,  Walker  River,  Washing 
ton,  Wellington,  Wheeler,  Whiskey  Springs,  Wildes. 
Gold  Mountain  is  a  new  town  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  county,  which  took  its  birth  and  growth  from  the 
recent  development  of  an  old  gold  discovery  called 
the  State  Lime  mine,  remarkable  for  the  richness 
and  extent  of  the  fissure  on  which  it  is  located.  This 
lode  was  discovered  in  1864  by  Thomas  J.  Shaw,  who 
abandoned  it  on  account  of  the  distance  from  water 


ROOP  AND  HUMBOLDT.  261 

or  mills.     It  was  relocated  in  1865,  and  sold  to  Jog 
gles  Wright,  who  worked  it  for  some  time,  with  only 
partial  success,  and  it  was  neglected  until  recently. 
Churchill    county,   created    by    the    legislature    of 

1861,  with  the  county  seat  at  Buckland,  was  attached 
to  Lyon  for  judicial  purposes.     Before  it  was  organ 
ized  it  lost  a  portion  of  its  area  by  the  creation  of 
Lander  county,  and  only  came  to   be  an  independent 
district  in  1864.     It  lost  another  part  of  its  territory 
in  1869  to  Nye  county.     What  is  left  is  largely  desert, 
marsh  land,  and  alkaline  lakes,  but  contains  25,000 
acres    of   excellent   hay    land,  and    20,000    acres    of 
arable  land,  of  which  there  are  perhaps  5,000  acres 
under  cultivation,  on  Carson  slough.     The  first  flour 
mill    in   the  country  was  erected    in    1881   by  J.  T. 
Walker  &  Co.     The  first  farm  was  started  by  Asa  L. 
Kenyon  in  1854,  who  settled  on  the  Carson  at  Rag- 
town.     The  principal  resources  of  Churchill  county 
are  salt,  soda,  sulphur,  and  stock-raising.     Its  asses 
sable   property  is  reported  as  less  than  that  of  any 
other  county  in  the   state,   being   only   $486,432    in 
1883. 

La  Plata,  a  mining  town  on  the  eastern  confines  of 
the  county,  was  the  first  county  seat  after  organiza 
tion,  but  having  become  deserted  by  its  inhabitants 
about  18^6,  the  county  seat  was  removed  to  Still- 
water,  in  the  farming  region,  in  1868.  The  founder 
of  Stillwater  was  J.  C.  Scott,  who  settled  there  in 

1862.  Wadsworth,  on  the  Central  Pacific  railroad, 
was  the  shipping  point   for  the  agricultural  region  of 
Carson   slough.     The  wood   supply  was  obtained  in 
the  Silver  Hill  range,  from  twelve  to  twenty  miles 
distant.      In  1863-5  considerable  gold  and  silver  min 
ing  was  done  in  the  mountains  of  the  east  part  of  the 
county,  but  on  the   discovery  of  White  Pine  these 
mines  were  abandoned.     They  never  paid  higher  than 
twelve  or  fifteen  dollars  to  the  ton.     The  settlements 
besides  those  mentioned  are  Alan,  Clan  Alpine  Mill, 
Coates   Wells,    Cold    Spring,    Desert,    Desert  Well, 


262         MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

Eagle  Salt  Works,  East  Gate,  Hill's  station,  Hot 
Springs,  La  Plata,  Mirage,  Mountain  Well,  Murphy 
Station,  Ragtown,  Salinas,  Shoshones  Spring,  Sink 
Station,  Soda  Lake,  Soldiers'  Spring,  St  Clair,  West 
Gate,  White  Plains,  and  White  Rock  House. 

Roop  county  has  no  separate  existence,  but  is 
attached  to  Washoe  for  judicial  and  revenue  purposes. 
It  has  thousands  of  acres  of  land  valuable  for  farm 
ing  could  water  be  brought  to  it.  At  present  its 
valleys  are  used  for  the  pasturage  of  stock,  of  which 
20,000  head  are  herded  in  the  county.  The  settle 
ments  in  Roop  are  Buffalo  Meadows,  Chalk  Hill, 
Church's  Camp,  Duck  Flat,  Fish  Springs,  Lewis 
Rancho,  Millers,  Sheep  Head,  and  Smoke  Creek 
Depot.  Several  land  claims  were  taken  on  Duck 
Flat,  at  Dry  Lake,  Dry  Valley,  Little  Winnemucca, 
and  Winnemucca  valley  proper,  and  at  Murphy's 
Salt  Marsh.  Grain  is  raised  and  dairy-farming  car 
ried  on  in  the  last-named  valleys. 

Humboldt,  the  last  of  the  original  nine  counties,  is 
of  great  extent  and  varied  resources.  It  contains 
30,000  acres  of  agricultural,  50,000  of  grazing,  8,000 
of  timbered,  and  508,000  acres  of  mineral  lands.  It 
has  10  miles  of  mining  and  400  miles  of  irrigating 
ditches.  The  largest  single  enterprise  of  this  kind 
was  the  Humboldt  canal,  projected  in  1862  by  J. 
Giuacca,  an  Italian,  the  founder  of  the  town  of  Win 
nemucca.  He  formed  a  company  in  San  Francisco. 
The  first  28  miles  cost  $100,000,  and  there  was  no 
more  money  forthcoming.  Humboldt  county  had  in 
1885  10  quartz  mills  and  2  smelting-furriaces,  3  steam 
grist-mills,  and  2  water-power  mills.  It  had  in  1884 
of  stock  cattle  28,000  head,  besides  work  oxen,  57,000 
heeps,  866  hogs,  a  few  cashmere  and  angora  goats, 
5,600  horses,  200  mules,  10  asses,  300  milch  cows, 
4,500  calves  on  the  ranges,  and  1,348  beef-cattle. 
The  amount  of  land  actually  cultivated  in  1884  was 
9,218  acres.  The  wheat  raised  was  86,000  bushels; 
of  barley,  125,000;  of  oats,  5,230;  of  corn,  40  bush- 


LANDER  COUNTY  263 

els.  There  were  raised  also  8,170  bushels  of  potatoes, 
and  of  hay,  21,175  tons  were  cut.  The  product  of 
the  dairy  was  1,800  pounds  of  butter.  The  wool  crop 
was  240,000  pounds.  There  were  growing  5,000 
apple,  2,500  peach,  250  pear,  200  plum,  50  cherry,  10 
nectarine,  40  quince,  20  apricot,  and  20  prune  trees. 
Of  shade  or  transplanted  trees  there  were  6,020.  Of 
the  small  fruits  there  were  7,000  bushels;  grapes,  200 
vines.  Thousands  of  acres  of  wild  sugar-cane  grow 
about  the  sink  of  the  Humboldt ;  and  a  textile  called 
hemp,  but  of  a  stronger  fibre  and  longer  staple,  is 
abundant  in  the  Humboldt  valley.  In  fruit  and 
transplanted  trees  the  county  of  Washoe  alone  sur 
passes  Humboldt.  The  assessed  valuation  of  the 
county,  real  and  personal,  for  1884,  was  $3,152,692, 
which  is  a  good  showing  for  the  population.  The 
mining  property  of  Humboldt  county  is  of  much  less 
value  than  its  farm  property,  a  fact  which  I  have 
endeavored  to  show  in  detail.  Yet  there  are  good 
mining  districts,  one  of  which,  the  Buena  Vista,  has 
yielded  its  millions  in  bullion  la 

Unionville,  which  owes  its  existence  to  mining 
prospectors  of  1861,  was  the  first  county-seat.  A 
majority  of  its  founders  being  confederates,  it  was 
originally  called  Dixie,  but  as  union  men  became 
prominent,  the  name  was  changed.  In  1873  the 

15  John  H.  Hoppin,  engaged  in  cattle  raising  in  Humboldt  co. ,  was  born 
in  Lanesboro',  Berkshire  co.,  Mass.,  Feb.  9,  1821,  and  brought  up  on  a  farm 
in  the  town  of  Eldridge,  Onandaga  co.,  N.  Y.  He  was  educated  at  Monroe 
acdaemy,  and  taught  school  for  a  while  after  completing  his  studies.  In 
1844  his  lather  and  all  his  family  removed  to  Niles,  Michigan,  where  they 
resided  until  1849,  when  John  H.  Hoppin  set  out  for  Cal.,  overland,  and 
reached  the  Yuba  diggings  in  the  autumn,  mining  during  the  winter  at  a 
place  now  called  Washington.  The  following  year  he  started  in  merchandis 
ing  on  the  North  Yuba  at  Goodyear 's  bar,  in  connection  with  Woodruff, 
Duncan  &  Co.  Later  he  was  joined  by  his  brother  Charles  R.,  and  they 
purchased  400  head  of  cattle  from  the  immigration,  which  they  fattened  and 
sold.  Ths  brothers  purchased  a  6-league  grant  at  Yolo,  where  they  were 
joined  by  two  more  of  their  brothers,  Henry  L.,  and  Thaddeus  C.,  John  and 
Charles  going  to  Texas  in  1870  to  buy  cattle  to  stock  grazing  land  in  Nevada. 
They  own  15,000  acres  in  Humboldt  co.,  on  which  are  from  12,000  to  15,- 
000  sheep,  and  from  2,500  to  3,000  head  of  cattle.  In  1872  John  H.  was 
elected  to  the  legislature  on  the  republican  ticket,  and  helped  to  elect  John 
P.  Jones  for  U.  S.  senator.  He  is  laboring  for  the  plan  of  storing  water  for 
use  in  farming,  and  believes  Nevada  will  yet  be  a  wheat  growing  state, 


264  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

county  seat  was  removed  to  Winnemucca,  wnich  until 
1868  was  known  only  as  French  Bridge  or  Ford.  In 
that  year  it  was  named  to  commemorate  the  Pah  Ute 
chief  by  C.  B.  O.  Bannon,  a  nephew  of  the  secretary 
of  the  interior. 

The  other  towns  and  settlements  in  Humboldt 
county  are  Adobe,  Barbersville,  Bartlett  Creek,  Bata- 
via  City,  Brown's,  Buffalo  Station,  Cane  Spring, 
Canon  Station,  Centreville,  Clark's,  Coin,  Cumber 
land,  Derby's  Dun  Glen,  Fairview,  Fort  McDermit, 
Gem  City.  Granite  Creek,  Grass  A7 alley,  Griggsville, 
Hardin's  Ranch,  Hillyer,  Humboldt  City,  Indian 
Creek,  Iron  Point,  Isabella,  Jersey  City,  Junction, 
King  River  Valley,  Lancaster,  Little  Humboldt, 
Lovelock,  McCulley,  Mason,  Mill  City,  Mountain 
Spring,  O'Connor  Station,  Oreana,  Panther  Canon, 
Paradise  Hill,  Paradise  Valley,  Pine  Forest,  Pleasant 
Valley,  Queen  City,  Queen  River  Valley,  Raspberry 
Creek,  Rock  Spring,  Rockwell  Station,  Rocky  Canon, 
Ross  Creek,  Rye  Patch,  Santa  Clara,  Scottsville. 
Smith  Ford,  Spring  City,  St  Mary,  Star  City,  Trin 
ity,  Tule,  Vandewater,  Varyville,  Ward,  Willow 
Creek,  Willow  Point,  and  Winnemucca  Spring. 

Lander  county,  created  December  19,  1862,  was 
cut  off  from  the  eastern  portion  of  Humboldt  and 
Churchill  counties  in  obedience  to  the  demand  of  a 
small  army  of  miners,  who,  according  to  their  tradi 
tions,  made  a  rush  in  the  previous  May  for  Reese 
river,  hitherto  unknown  except  to  the  Indians,  the 
military,  and  the  overland-stage  and  pony-express 
companies.  The  road  crossed  Reese  river  at  Jacob 
station.  Almost  directly  east  of  the  station  was  a 
pass  known  as  Pony  Canon,  because  the  riders  of  this 
express  often  shortened  their  route  by  taken  it  instead 
of  the  usual  pass  through  the  Toiyabe  range.  Wil 
liam  M.  Talcott,  who  had  been  a  pony-express  rider, 
being  in  this  canon  May  2,  1862,  discovered  a  quartz 
vein,  some  ore  from  which  was  sent  to  Virginia  City 
to  be  assayed.  Reese  river  mining  district  was  inline- 


LANDER  COUNTY,  265 

diately  organized,  and  in  the  following  December  a 
county  was  also  created,  and  named  after  F.  W. 
Lander,  in  acknowledgment  of  his  services  to  the 

o 

government  and  the  territory.  From  Lander  county, 
which  was  enlarged  by  the  change  of  boundary 
between  Utah  and  Nevada,  so  many  districts  have 
been  carved  that  it  has  been  called  the  mother  of 
counties. 

The  amount  of  surveyed  land  in  Lander  county  is 
small,  whence  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  agricultural 
interest  is  small  accordingly.  It  is,  indeed,  princi 
pally  as  a  mineral  region  that  it  is  known,  its  wealth 
having  been  dug  out  of  its  quartz  mines,  which,  unlike 
those  of  some  other  portions  of  the  state,  remain 
productive.  Its  total  valuation  in  1879  was  given  at 
§1.038,373,  and  its  population  at  3,624.  The  great 
cost  of  living,  and  of  working  mines  so  far  in  the 
interior  has  been  the  main  difficulty  to  be  o\  ercome 
in  Lander  county,  which,  until  1880,  when  the 
Nevada  Central  railroad  was  completed  to  Austin, 
remained  unchanged.  During  the  eighteen  years 
while  freight- wagons  drawn  by  horse  or  mule  teams 
performed  all  the  transportation  to  the  mines  of  the 
Toiyabe  range,  quartz  ledges  that  yielded  no  more 
than  $100  per  ton  were  almost  worthless,  the  cost  of 
extracting  the  bullion  being  equal  to  that  for  the  first 
few  years,  and  never  having  come  down  to  the  rates 
at  which  the  Comstock  mines  were  worked.  With 
all  these  disadvantages,  the  Reese  river  mines  have 
paid  for  working.  Battle  Mountain  district  furnishes 
galena  ores  assaying  $400  per  ton  in  silver  and  70  per 
cent  of  lead.  The  average  yield  is  $150  per  ton  silver 
and  50  per  cent  of  lead.  It  has  been  found  in  some 
combinations  to  contain  from  $3,000  to  $4,000  in 
silver.  The  copper  ores  of  this  district  are  also  of  a 
high  grade.  The  same  may  be  said  of  Jersey  district, 
south-west  of  Battle  Mountain  station.  The  ores 
from  these  districts  were  concentrated  and  shipped 
east  for  reduction.  Lewis  district;  distant  16  miles 


?66  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT 

from  Battle  Mountain,  was  connected  by  rail  with  the 
Nevada  Central  and  Central  Pacific  railroads. 

Reese  river  district  was  the  principal  as  it  was  the 
first  organized  in  the  county.  Since  it  creation  two 
other  districts  have  been  consolidated  with  it,  Amador 
and  Yankee  Blade.  The  number  of  locations  re 
corded  was  over  8,000.  The  veins  were  contained  in 
gneiss  of  granite,  and  run  northwest  and  southeast, 
dipping  northeast  35°.  The  ores  were  silver  bearing, 
although  a  small  percentage  of  gold  was  found  in 
some  mines ;  also  galena,  antimony,  copper,  iron,  and 
zinc.  The  chief  mines  of  this  district  were  King 
Alfred,  Chase,  New  Pacific,  Magnolia,  Morris  anid 
Caple,  Patriot,  and  the  Manhattan  company's  claims. 
The  King  Alfred  mines  were  owned  by  an  English 
company.  An  English  company  also  owned  a  copper 
mine  in  Battle  Mountain  district.  The  first  mine  lo 
cated  was  the  Pony.  The  deepest  shaft  in  1884  was 
700  feet,  and  was  on  the  Oregon,  one  of  the  Manhat 
tan  company's  mines.  The  veins  of  this  district  were 
narrow  but  rich,  two  and  a  half  feet  being  the  widest, 
and  all  require  chlorination.  The  gross  bullion  yield 
of  this  district,  from  its  discovery  to  1865,  is  estimated 
at  $2,000,000,  since  which  time  it  has  yielded  $19,- 
591,551.18.  ranking  third  in  the  state  for  productive 


ness.16 


The  amount  of  land  cultivated  in  Lander  county  in 
1880  was  2,700.  The  productions  were  1,080  bush 
els  of  wheat,  43,000  of  barley,  775  of  oats,  62,000  of 

16  The  Marysville  mines  in  Lander  co.  were  discovered  by  William  Stanage 
Wilson,  who,  with  his  sons,  owns  the  group.  Mr  Wilson  is  of  Scotch 
descent,  his  grandfather  arriving  in  America  about  1775,  and  helping  to  fight 
the  battles  of  the  revolution.  Mr  Wilson  was  born  in  Logan  co.,  Ohio,  Dec. 
30,  1821,  but  at  the  age  of  11  years  removed  to  Elkhart  co.,  Ind.  In  1848 
he  volunteered  for  the  Mexican  war,  but  peace  being  soon  after  declared,  he 
was  discharged.  Ha  came  to  the  Pacific  coast  in  1852  along  with  the  immi 
gration  to  Oregon,  residing  in  that  state  until  1874,  when  he  removed  to 
Carico  valley,  Lander  co.,  about  60  miles  from  Austin.  Having  made  a  com 
fortable  fortune  in  mining  and  cattle  raising,  he  left  the  care  of  the  large 
Carico  farm  to  his  sons,  and  devoted  himself  to  prospecting,  which  he  fol 
lowed  for  eight  years  before  he  found  what  satisfied  him.  He  later  became 
a  resident  of  Reno,  his  large  family  being  provided  for,  and  all  the  result 
of  his  indomitable  energy  and  sagacity. 


TOWN   SITES.  267 

potatoes,  9,500  tons  of  hay,  and  a  few  hundred  fruit 
trees.  Of  live  stock,  it  owned  2,100  horses,  400 
mules,  4,624  cattle,  23,000  sheep,  and  some  other 
farm  stock.  The  first  town  and  county  seat  was 
Jacobsville,  at  the  overland  stage  station.  But  Austin 
in  1863  superseded  it.  In  December  1862  two  men, 
named  Marshall  and  Cole,  were  the  sole  occupants  of 
the  site,  being  engaged  in  running  a  tunnel  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Pony  canon,  on  the  Highland  Mary 
claim,  near  the  centre  of  the  present  town.  In  that 
same  month  John  Frost,  "  Felix  O'Neil,  J.  Q.  C.  Van- 
derbosch,  and  George  Buffet  located  the  Oregon,  North 
Star,  and  Southern  Light  mines  in  the  same  lo 
cality,  and  in  the  following  spring  erected  a  log 
cabin.15 

A  survey  was  made  of  a  town  site,  which  was  in 
tended  to  secure  the  water  and  mill  rights,  but  the 
property  was  sold  in  1865  to  a  New  York  company, 
under  the  name  of  Manhattan,  Frost  being  retained 
as  superintendent,  and  having  charge  of  all  the  ma 
chinery  put  up  on  Lander  Hill  for  many  years.  Mar 
shall  also  located  a  town  site,  and  another  was  taken 
up  by  D.  E.  Buell,  W.  C.  Harrington,  E.  Wei  ton, 
and  I.  C.  Bateman.  The  citizens  united  to  construct 
a  graded  road  from  the  lower  town,  or  Clifton,  to  the 
upper  town,  or  Austin,  and  soon  the  majority  of  the 
population  was  at  the  higher  point,  and  practically 
there  was  but  one  town,  which  was  Austin.  In  April 
1863  a  hotel,  newspaper,  and  post  office  were  added 
to  the  new  city.  A  pony  express  was  started  by  G. 
L.  Turner  to  the  various  mines,  and  Wells,  Fargo  & 

17  John  Frost,  born  in  Monroe  co.,  N.  Y.,  in  1829,  and  educated  at  the 
common  schools,  came  to  Cal.  in  1846  in  a  whaler,  touching  at  Valparaiso 
and  Monterey.  He  was  2  years  before  the  mast,  and  2  years  3d  mate  of 
the  vessel,  the  voyage  lasting  4  years  and  8  months.  In  1851  he  made  an 
other  voyage  to  Cal.,  and  arrived,  for  the  third  time,  in  Dec.  1852,  in  the 
clipper  ship  Thomas  Watson,  when  he  went  to  the  mines  on  Yuba  river,  re 
maining  there  until  1860.  In  that  year  he  erected  a  hotel  in  the  Henness 
pass  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  but  removed  to  Pony,  now  Austin,  in  1862,  in 
company  with  Vanderbosch,  O'Neil,  and  Buffet.  This  company,  known  as 
the  Oregon  Mill  and  Mining  co.,  erected  a  ten-stamp  mill,  which  ran  for  two 
years. 


268  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

Co.  established  an  express  office.  Being  directly  upon 
the  overland  route,  Austin  had  stage  communication 
with  the  east  and  west,  besides  which  special  lines 
were  established.  The  passenger  traffic  for  1865  was 
estimated  at  6,000  fares  between  Virginia  City  and 
Austin,  at  $40  a  fare.  The  freight  carried  over  the 
road  cost  $1,381,800  for  transportation  from  this  di 
rection  alone,  besides  what  came  from  Salt  Lake. 
Lumber  transported  from  the  mills  of  the  Sierra  cost 
$250  per  thousand  feet,  and  that  sawed  out  of  the  na 
tive  pinon,  $125  per  thousand.  Brick  manufactured 
at  Reese  river  cost  $12  to  $18  per  thousand,  and  other 
things  in  proportion.  The  treasure  carried  by  the 
express  company  that  year  aggregated  $6,000,000. 
Three  banking  houses  were  in  operation.  Men  of 
the  learned  professions  flocked  there,  and  Austin  was 
that  anomaly  of  modern  times,  a  city  in  the  midst  of 
a  wilderness,  grown  up  like  a  mushroom,  in  a  night. 
It  was  incorporated  in  1875,  and  disincorporated  in 
1881. 

Battle  Mountain,  the  town  next  in  importance  to 
Austin,  is  simply  a  shipping  point  on  the  Central  Pa 
cific  railroad,  and  the  northern  terminus  of  the  Ne 
vada  Central.  Its  position  with  reference  to  the 
Humboldt  valley  is  favorable  to  its  growth.  Irriga 
tion  is  converting  the  desert  lands  in  its  vicinity  into 
fertile  fields.18 

18  John  Ansel  Blossom,  the  first  settler  of  Battle  Mountain,  was  born  in 
Ohio  in  1836,  went  to  St  Louis  in  1857,  and  remained  there  until  1860,  when 
he  came  to  Cal.  In  1862  he  went  to  Nevada  with  barley  and  hay,  starting  a 
livery-stable  at  Star  city.  In  1867  he  removed  to  Dun  Glen,  whero  he 
mined,  and  went  next  year  to  French  bridge,  now  Winnemucca.  This  bridge, 
the  first  on  the  Humboldt,  was  erected  by  the  Lay  Brothers,  and  a  French 
man  named  Frank  Band.  Burned  out  at  Winnemucca,  in  1869,  he  went  to 
Battle  mountain,  Nathan  Levi,  a  merchant  of  Winnemncca,  assisting  him  to 
start  anew.  His  house  was  the  first  in  Battle  Mountain,  after  the  railroad 
buildings;  and  the  town  received  its  name  from  Robert  Macbeth,  a  pioneer 
who  was  conversant  with  the  early  history  of  the  spot.  In  1871  Blossom  be 
gan  stock  raising  on  an  extensive  scale.  He  was  the  contractor  who  built 
the  Nevada  Central  railroad  from  Battle  Mountain  to  Austin. 

Another  early  settler  of  Battle  Mountain  was  John  W.  McWilliams,  born 
in  Ohio  in  1835,  and  in  1854  came  to  California,  and  in  1863  to  Nevada,  set 
tling  first  at  Unionville,  where  he  was  county  recorder.  In  1870  he  located 
himself  at  Battle  Mountain,  where  J.  A.  Blossom  had  a  tent,  and  Thomas 


NYE  COUNTY.  269 

The  settlements  in  Lander  county,  otherwise  than 
those  mentioned,  are  Addington,  Amador,  Anson ia, 
Argenta,  Artesian,  Bailey,  Campbell,  Canon  City, 
Canton's,  Cooper's  Canon,  Curtis,  Deep  Creek  Sta 
tion,  Dodge ville,  Empire,  Galena,  Geneva,  Grass 
Valley,  Hallsvale,  Helena,  Lander,  Ledlie,  Lewis, 
Piute,  Ravenswood,  Reese  River,  Santa  Fe,  Skunk- 
town,  Smoky  Valley,  Stoneberger's.  Lewis  has  re 
cently  become  a  well-known  mining  town.19 

Nye  county,  organized  in  1864  out  of  Esmeralda 
county,  and  named  in  honor  of  Governor  J.  W.  Nye, 
occupied  at  that  time  all  that  portion  of  Nevada  south 
of  the  thirty-ninth  parallel  not  remaining  in  Esmer 
alda,  a  large  and  almost  unknown  area.  Its  bounda 
ries  have  been  several  times  changed,  and  it  remains 
a  large  county  still,  its  present  area  being  18,432 
square  miles.  The  discovery  of  a  new  mining  district, 
sixty  miles  south  of  Austin,  in  the  Shoshone  range, 
was  the  occasion  of  the  subdivision,  and  the  town  of 
lone,  in  Union  district,  became  the  county  seat,  which 
honor  it  enjoyed  for  three  years,  when  the  county 
records  were  removed  to  Belmont,  a  town  founded  in 

W.  Rule  a  small  shop.  E.  T.  George,  J.  H.  Green,  and  a  few  others,  had 
taken  land  claims.  In  1872  he  was  elected  county  commissioner.  J.  C.  Fall, 
with  whom  Me  Williams  had  been  associated  in  business  at  Dun  Glen,  had 
presented  his  interest  in  the  firm  to  his  son-in-law,  J.  H.  Kinkead,  which 
interest  was  purchased  from  the  latter  in  1873,  and  the  concern  carried  on  by 
McWilliams  until  1880,  when  he  sold  to  A.  D.  Lemaire,  and  retired. 

lyB.  F.  Wilson,  born  in  Canada  in  1832,  came  to  Cal.  in  1854,  and  in 
18GS  to  Nevada,  settling  at  Galena  and  looking  for  mines,  in  which  he  was 
successful,  opening  up  some  good  prospects.  On  the  Hamburg  mine  he 
erected  in  1885  a  mill  with  a  capacity  of  15  tons  per  day,  running  by  steam 
power. 

Thomas  G.  Morgan,  locator  of  the  Pittsburg  Consolidated  and  other 
mining  properties  in  Lander  co.,  was  born  in  Wales  in  1845,  and  came  to 
the  U.  S.  in  childhood,  residing  at  Massillon,  Ohio,  from  which  state  he  came 
to  Virginia,  Nevada,  in  1873.  Subsequently  he  removed  to  Galena  in 
Lander  co.,  and  engaged  in  mining,  beginning  operations  in  1880,  and  being 
associated  with  several  others.  He  purchased  the  interests  of  his  associates 
excepting  that  of  J.  A.  Blossom,  who  sold  the  Pittsburg  to  a  London  com 
pany  for  8160,000,  and  had  left  the  Evening  Star,  Cumberland,  Ida  Hen 
rietta,  and  Lady  Carrie.  These  claims  are  gold  bearing.  In  18S3  Mi- 
Morgan  married  Miss  Carrie  Bertrand,  whose  brother  discovered  the  Geddes 
Bertrand,  near  Eureka.  He  has  faith  in  the  resources  of  Nevada,  both  min 
eral  and  agricultural,  he  has  many  important  and  valuable  mining  claims  in 
the  Lewis  district,  and  steps  are  now  being  taken  to  work  them. 


270  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

1865,  by  Antonio  Bozquez,  the  first  settler,  and  A. 
Billman,  H.  G.  C.  Schmidt,  J.  M.  Eeed,  C.  L. 
Straight,  E.  Kelley,  D.  R.  Dean,  L.  Martin,  O. 
Brown,  S.  Tallman,  J.  Grover,  D.  E.  Buel,  William 
Geller,  Charles  St  Louis,  J.  W.  Gashwiler,  S.  M. 
Burk,  and  others.  The  situation  was  upon  a  plateau 
of  the  Toiyaba  range,  at  an  altitude  of  8,000  feet, 
where  wood  and  water  were  abundant,  and  the  scenery 
picturesque. 

There  are  several  good  mining  districts  in  the 
county,  which  has  produced  $8,000,000  in  bullion, 
and  has  a  permanent  population  of  two  thousand, 
with  an  economical  and  healthy  county  administration, 
yet  owing  to  its  want  of  transportation  the  progress 
of  any  kind  of  enterprise  has  been  slow. 

The  number  of  acres  under  cultivation  in  1880  was 
2,300;  of  bushels  of  wheat  raised,  4,328;  of  barley, 
33,212;  oats,  5,000;  potatoes,  18,000.  It  had  com 
paratively  little  stock,  about  ten  thousand  head  hav 
ing  been  driven  away  in  the  two  previous  years,  owing 
to  a  failure  of  grass  from  over-feeding.  Fruit  does 
well  in  this  region,  and  is  extensively  cultivated.  The 
total  assessed  valuation  of  real  and  personal  property 
in  Nye  county  in  1880  was  not  much  over  $1,000,000, 
the  decrease  being  in  personal  property,  which,  being 
largely  mining  property,  has  failed  to  hold  its  own, 
while  farming  property  has  not  declined.  The  gross 
yield  of  the  mines  for  the  last  half  of  1880  and  the 
first  half  of  1881  was  respectively  $273,881  and 
$188,908. 

Mining  having  reached  a  depth  at  which  capital 
and  improved  methods  must  be  applied,  a  temporary 
abandonment  followed,  this  being  the  history  of  the 
great  majority  of  mining  districts,  just  as  hydraulic 
mining  not  being  known  or  applied,  the  placer  gold 
mines  were  deserted  when  the  bars  had  been  washed 
off.  The  settlements  in  Nye  county  to  be  named  are 
Argenta,  Barcelona,  Blue  Eagle,  Centennial  City, 
Central  City,  Cherry  Creek,  Cloverdale,  Danville, 


LINCOLN  COUNTY.  271 

Doyle,  Backwater,  Dutch  Flat,  East  Belmont,  Ells 
worth,  Grant,  Grantville,  Jett,  Junction,  Kiney, 
King's  House,  Knickerbocker,  Lodi,  Logan,  Milton, 
Morey,  New  Philadelphia,  Northumberland,  Peavine, 
Rattlesnake,  Reese  River,  Reveille,  Sacramento,  San 
Antonio,  San  Augustine,  San  Juan,  Seymour,  Spauld- 
ing,  Toyah,  Troy,  Tucker's  Station,  Tybo,  Union, 
Ural  Canon,  Washington,  and  Yokum. 

Lincoln  county,  cut  off  from  Nye  February  26, 
1866,  is  a  mining  county  of  much  historic  interest, 
having  been  first  traversed  by  the  white  race  when 
the  Spaniards,  between  1540  and  1775,  made  explora 
tions  through  the  interior  of  the  continent.  In  1863— 

O 

4,  an  Indian  brought  to  William  Hamlin,  in  Meadow 
valley,  a  specimen  of  silver  ore,  which  on  being  sent 
to  Salt  Lake  caused  several  expeditions  to  visit  that 
region,  the  first  of  which,  under  J.  M.  Yandermark 
and  Stephen  Sherwood,  organized  the  Meadow  valley 
mining  district  in  April  1864,  Not  to  be  dispossessed 
by  Gentiles,  Brigham  Young  ordered  Erastus  Snow 
from  St  George  to  Meadow  valley  with  a  company  of 
men,  who  in  the  temporary  absence  of  the  mining 
recorder,  organized  a  new  district  with  new  rules.  A 
third  company,  consisting  chiefly  of  men  from  the 
Califorrr.a  volunteers,  followed,  and  the  former  rules 
were  ultimately  restored  ;  but  the  presence  of  so  many 
Mormons  making  the .  place  distasteful,  the  district 
was  abandoned  by  the  gentiles  after  some  work  had 
been  done  on  the  Panaca,  the  original  discovery  ledge, 
and  on  the  Mammoth. 

Pahranagat  district  was  next  organized,  in  1865, 
hundreds  of  locations  made,  and  one  million  feet  of 
ground  sold  to  W.  H.  Raymond  for  eastern  capital 
ists.  The  legislature  having  created  the  county  of 
Lincoln,  Governor  Blasdel  and  suite  proceeded  to 
Pahranagat  to  complete  the  organization.  On  the 
way,  having  taken  a  roundabout  course  through 
Death  valley,  and  become  involved  in  barren  wastes 
without  food  or  water,  they  narrowly  escaped  destruc- 


272  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

tion.  As  it  was,  one  life  was  lost,  and  much  suffer 
ing  endured  by  the  party.  The  governor  found  that 
there  was  not  the  number  of  legal  voters  required  in 
the  county,  which  after  all  this  trouble  was  not  or 
ganized  until  the  following  year.  Its  original  boun 
daries  were  twice  changed,  in  March  1867,  when  a 
strip  ten  miles  wide  was  ceded  to  Nye  on  the  west, 
and  in  1875,  when  it  received  some  territory  from 
Nye  on  the  north.  The  county  seat  was  first  decreed 
to  be  at  Crystal  Springs,  but  in  1867  was  changed  to 
Hiko  in  the  same  district,  and  ultimately  to  Pioche. 
This  town  was  situated  on  a  spur  of  the  Ely  moun 
tains,  and  faced  north.  It  was  first  settled  by  Joseph 
Grange  and  E.  M.  Chubard,  who  in  1868  erected  a 
small  furnace  for  the  reduction  of  ore,  but  failing  in 
their  expectations,  abandoned  the  location.  In  1869 
the  Meadow  valley  district  was  reorganized  and  named 
Ely  district,  in  honor  of  John  H.  Ely,  who  with  W. 
II.  Raymond,  placed  a  five-stamp  quartz  mill,  rented 
from  a  New  York  company,  in  Meadow  valley,  at 
the  site  of  Bui  lion  ville,  the  nearest  point  where  suffi 
cient  water  could  be  obtained.  A  company  consisting 
of  P.  McCannon,  L.  Lacour,  and  A.  M.  Bush  laid 
out  the  town  in  the  same  year,  which  was  surveyed 
by  E.  L.  Mason,  a  civil  engineer,  and  named  by  Mrs 
Carmichael  Williamson  after  F.  L.  A.  Pioche  of  San 
Francisco,  who  owned  largely  in  the  mines.  In 
1870-1  it  was  the  most  active  town  in  Nevada,  and 
consequently  infested  by  the  criminal  element,  which 
ever  followed  in  the  wake  of  honest  enterprise  in  the 
mining  districts.  On  the  15th  of  September,  1871, 
it  was  ravaged  by  fire,  and  $500,000  worth  of  prop 
erty  destroyed.  An  explosion  of  three  hundred 
pounds  of  blasting  powder  killed  thirteen  men,  and 
wounded  forty-seven  others.  But  the  town  was 
quickly  rebuilt  in  a  more  substantial  manner,  only  to 
lose  another  $50,000  by  the  same  terrible  agency  in 
May  1872.  On  the  22d  of  August,  1873,  a  rain 
flood  caused  a  loss  of  $10,000,  and  in  1876  a  fire  again 


27  3 


destroyed  $40,000  worth  of  property.  Pioche  reached 
the  height  of  its  prosperity  in  1872-3,  when  the  pop 
ulation  was  estimated  at  six  thousand,  and  there  were 
one  hundred  and  ten  stamps  crushing  ore  in  the  dis 
trict,  with  a  narrow-gauge  railroad  to  Bullion  ville,  to 
carry  ore  to  the  mills.  Bullionville  itself  had  a  pop 
ulation  of  five  hundred,  but  it  declined  when,  on  the 
completion  of  the  water-works,  Pioche  was  liberally 
supplied  with  water,  and  the  mills  were  removed  to 
that  place.  A  revival  began  in  1880,  when  new 
smelting  and  concentrating  works  were  erected  air, 
Bullionville  to  work  the  tailings  deposited  by  the 
mills.  The  nearest  railroad  station  where  goods  are 
received  or  bullion  shipped  is  Milford,  on  the  Utah 
Southern,  which  renders  Lincoln  county  a  dependency 
of  Chicago  chiefly,  though  some  trade  is  carried  on 
with  San  Francisco.  After  producing  $20-000,000 
of  bullion,  the  Ely  district  was  almost  deserted, 
Pioche  having  not  more  than  eight  hundred  inhabi 
tants  in  1880.  The  Pahranagat,  Colorado,  Freyburg, 
Pennsylvania,  Silver  Springs,  Silver  King,  Groom, 
St  Thomas,  Timber  Mountain,  Pah  Ute,  Wheeler, 
Southeastern,  and  Yellow  Pine  districts  all  contain 
good  mines,  which  may  yet  be  developed.  Pahrana 
gat,  which  means  watermelon,  has  been  the  most 
noted  of  these,  but  is  at  present  nearly  deserted.19 

The  population  of  the  county  in  1884  was  2,200,  an 
increase  of  four  hundred  over  1883,  and  the  assessed 
valuation  of  real  and  personal  property  $488,004. 
The  affairs  of  the  county  have  been  extravagantly 
managed,  and  the  indebtedness  in  1880  was  $300,000. 
Of  the  several  towns,  nearly  all  of  which  are  mining 


Silver  Mining  Company's  Kept,  1866,  1-22,  34-6;  The  Miner,  i.  27; 
Quincy  Union,  June  23,  1866.  There  are  several  valleys  which  with  Irrigation 
would  produce  good  crops.  Meadow  Springs,  Ash,  Clover,  Eagle,  Dry 
Muddy,  Rose,  and  Pahranagat  valleys  are  all  susceptible  of  cultivation. 
The  best  farmers  are  Mormons,  who  have  several  times  been  recalled  by  the 
church,  when  their  improvements  passed  into  other  hands.  About  1880  they 
commenced  to  return  and  take  up  land,  which  is  a  promise  of  an  increase  in 
agriculture.  The  soil  and  climate  in  the  valley  of  Muddy  creek,  a  tributary 
of  Rio  Virgen.  are  adapted  to  cotton  raising.  William  Anderson  in  1873  had 

HIST.  NEV.    18 


274  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

centres,  one  which  is  not  a  mining  town  is  Callville, 
founded  by  Anson  Call  and  a  few  associates  from 
Utah,  afc  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Colorado  river, 
in  1864.  It  is  not  a  lovely  situation,  being  among 
the  barren  sand-hills  of  this  desolate  region,  with 
nothing  to  recommend  it  except  its  importance  as  a 
place  of  transfer  and  storage  whenever  navigation 
shall  be  permanently  established  on  the  Colorado. 
There  are  men  who  see  evidences  of  a  prehistoric  race, 
possessing  many  of  the  arts  of  scientific  civilization, 
bordering  on  the  Colorado,  and  having  large  cities, 
canals,  aqueducts,  and  highways,  and  who  understood 
mining.  As  faith  is  given  each  one  of  us  we  will  be 
lieve.  As  with  the  footprints  of  a  man  of  giant  pro 
portions  in  the  sandstone  quarry  at  the  Carson  stato 
prison,  more  is  suggested  than  proved.2' 

The  towns  and  settlements  not  described  in  Lincoln 
county  are  Bristol,  Bunkerville,  Camp  El  Dorado, 
Clover  Valley,  Cotton  wood,  Dutch  Flat,  Eagle  Valley, 
Farmington,  Flag  Spring,  Freyburg  Mines,  Hillside, 
Homer,  Lake  Valley,  Las  Vegas,  Logan,  Long  Val 
ley,  Lyonsville,  Mayflower,  Mesquit,  Midey  Valley, 
Montezuma,  Overton,  Panaca,  Pahrock,  Patterson, 
Potosi,  Royal  City,  Silver  City,  St  Joseph,  St 
Thomas,  Tein  Piute,  West  Point. 

Elko  county,  created  March  5,  1869,  was  cut  off 
from  Lander,  and  combprises,  esides  a  large  extent  of 

10  acres,  and  Mr  Carter  20  acres  in  this  staple,  which  grows  and  yields  well. 
At  Washington,  Utah,  is  a  cotton  factory.  Pioche  Record;  Carson  Appeal, 
July  22,  1873. 

M  A  man  who  has  labored  to  improve  Lincoln  county  is  Eugene  Howell,  a 
member  of  the  llth  session  of  the  Nevada  legislature,  elected  in  1882  on  the 
democratic  ticket.  He  was  the  originator  of  a  petition  to  congress  to  appro 
priate  money  for  the  improvement  of  the  Coiorado  river.  The  matter  was 
not  acted  upon  by  congress,  and  Gov.  Adams  vetoed  a  bill  introduced  in  the 
Nev.  legislature  by  Howell  and  passed,  to  appoint  a  commissioner  to  gather 
statistics  on  the  subject  to  be  presented  to  congress.  The  navigation  of  the 
Colorado  would  be  a  great  boon  to  the  mineral  and  agricultural  regions  bor 
dering  on  it.  Howell  was  the  democratic  nominee  for  state  senator  in  1884, 
but  was  defeated.  In  1886  he  declined  the  nomination  of  state  comptroller. 
As  a  mining  man  Howell  has  been  connected  with  firms  in  Bristol,  in  the 
Pahranagat  district,  and  the  White  Pine  district.  He  was  born  in  Eureka, 
Plumas  co.,  Cal.,  on  March  21,  1858,  and  was  educated  for  a  practical  metal 
lurgist,  although  he  has  been  engaged  in  merchandising  in  Bristol. 


ELKO  COUNTY.  275 

mineral  land,  a  larger  amount  of  good  agricultural 
and  grazing  land  than  any  other  county  in  Nevada, 
16,124  acres  being  under  cultivation  in  1880,  or  five 
hundred  more  than  Douglas,  the  most  productive 
county  of  the  west  tier.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind 
that  farming  in  Nevada  has  no  other  object  than  the 
local  supply,  on  account  of  the  enormous  railroad  tar 
iff,  which  places  an  embargo  upon  grain  growing  for 
distant  markets.  The  different  policy  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  has  encouraged  the  cultivation  of  the  grain 
lands  of  Idaho,  Oregon,  and  Washington,  while  in 
Nevada  the  management  of  the  Central  Pacific  actu- 

O 

ally  prohibits  it.  For  this  reason  a  large  proportion 
of  cultivable  territory  lies  idle,  and  what  is  cultivated 
is  not  made  to  produce  as  it  might.  The  average 
product  of  farms  in  Elko  county  is  30  bushels  of 
wheat,  35  of  barley,  60  of  oats,  and  100  of  potatoes 
to  the  acre.  Elko  county  raised  in  1880  of  wheat 
30,000,  of  barley  150,000,  of  oats  370,  of  potatoes 
370,000  bushels,  and  of  hay  50,000  tons  were  cured. 
The  county  contained  upon  its  ranges  70,520  cattle, 
17,200  horses,  4,150  mules,  10,000  sheep,  and  1,400 
hogs.  In  1884  it  had  3  flouring-mills,  and  made 
5,470  barrels  of  flour.  It  had  460  miles  of  irrigating 
ditches,  21  miles  of  mining  ditches,  9  quartz-mills, 
and  2  smelting-furnaces.  There  were  crushed  in  1884, 
5,124  tons  of  quartz  and  smelted  1,412  tons.  The 
population  was  over  6,000,  and  the  county  upon  a 
good  financial  basis.  Like  all  the  other  counties,  it  is 
divided  into  valleys  with  a  general  north  and  south 
trend,  excepting  the  Humboldt,  which  is  not  an  agri 
cultural  valley.  Its  mines  of  argentiferous  galena 
and  other  metals  are  found  in  the  ranges  separating 
the  valleys,  and  are  numerous.  There  are  no  less  than 
26  mining  districts  in  the  county,  of  which  Kingsley 
district,  discovered  in  1862,  in  the  Antelope  range,  by 
Felix  O'Neil,  is  the  oldest.  A  furnace  for  smelting 
ore  was  erected  here.  The  Tuscarora  district,  organ 
ized  in  July  1867,  lies  45  miles  north  of  Carlin  on 


276  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

the  headwaters  of  the  Owyhee  river,  and  is  the  next 
in  point  of  time.  It  was  discovered  by  the  Beard 
brothers,  who  worked  the  placer  diggings  for  gold. 
The  quartz  is  free  milling,  and  carries  gold  near  the 
surface,  which  diminishes  as  depth  iso  btained.  The 
Grand  Prize  mine  is  down  600  feet,  and  the  Independ 
ence  has  a  tunnel  1,500  feet  in  length.  There  are 
500  miners  in  this  district.  Island  Mountain  district, 
75  miles  north  of  Elko,  was  discovered  in  1873  by 
E.  Penrod,  one  of  the  original  owners  of  the  Ophir 
mine  on  the  Comstock.  It  is  worked  chiefly  for  the 
gold  in  the  placers,  and  is  supplied  with  water  from  a 
canal  10  miles  in  length,  constructed  by  Penrod. 

Carlin  is  the  oldest  town  in  the  county,  having 
been  settled  in  July,  1868,  by  J.  A.  Palmer,  and  soon 
after  by  S.  Pierce,  C.  Boyen,  and  James  Clark.  A 
town  sprang  up  with  the  completion  of  the  Humboldt 
division  of  the  Central  Pacific  railroad,  and  the  loca 
tion  of  the  company's  round-house  and  shops.  Elko, 
the  county-seat,  was  first  settled  by  George  F.  Pad- 
dleford  in  December  1868.  In  the  following  year  it 
became  the  point  of  disembarkation  for  White  Pine 
and  Tuscarora  mines.21 

The  towns  and  settlements  not  before  mentioned  in 
Elko  county  are  Antelope  Station,  Aurora,  Arthur, 
Blythe  City,  Bradley,  Brown,  Bruno,  Buel,  Bullion, 
Cedar,  Cloverdale,  Columbia,  Coral  Hill,  Cornucopia, 
Deeth,  Dolly  Varden,  JDlaine,  Excelsior,  Fair  Play, 
Falcon,  Fort  Halleck,  Friend's  Station,  Golconda, 
Gerald,  Good  Hope,  Heenans,  Hicks  District,  High 
land,  Hoolon,  Huntington,  Independence,  Island 
Mountain,  Kinsley's  Springs,  Lamoille,  Lamoille  Val 
ley,  Lone  Mountain,  Loray,  McPeters,  Marshall  Sta 
tion,  Moleen,  Monte llo,  Moors,  Mountain  City,  Nat- 

21 A  town  was  laid  off  by  William  T.  Ballon,  Ballou's  Adv.,  MS.,  24,  and 
had  a  rapid  growth.  In  1885  it  had  a  population  of  800  taxable  property  to 
the  amount  of  §341,400,  a  daily  and  weekly  newspaper,  the  state  university, 
a  good  common  school  building,  a  church,  several  lodges  of  different  socie 
ties,  a  brick  jail,  mineral  soap  factory,  flouring  mill,  water  company,  and 
other  useful  institutions.  It  sustained  a  loss  of  about  $100,000  by  fires. 


WHITE  PINE  COUNTY.  277 

chez,  North  Ruby,  Osino,  Otego,  Owyhee,  Peko, 
Pequop,  Robber's  Roost,  Ruby  Valley,  Salmon  City, 
Shoemakers,  Stickney  Town,  Tacoma,  Toano,  Toll 
Gate,  Tulasco,  Tuscarora,  William,  and  Wyoming.22 
White  Pine  county  which  was  created  out  of 
Lander,  April,  1869,  consists  of  a  succession  of  val 
leys  between  high  ranges,  Diamond  range  on  the  west 
being  tipped  with  snow.  In  the  autumn  of  1865  a 
party  of  prospectors  from  Austin  being  attracted  to 
the  region  east  of  this  range  by  the  view  of  moun 
tains  covered  with  white  pine  timber,  discovered  some 
mines  of  silver,  lead,  and  copper,  and  organized  the 
district  of  White  Pine  October  10th  of  that  year. 
Robert  Morrill  and  Thomas  J.  Murphy  were  promi 
nent  in  these  proceedings.  The  first  discovery  was 
in  the  region  near  the  present  town  of  Hamilton, 
others  following  in  its  neighborhood.  The  succeed 
ing  year  Murphy  and  Crawford  went  to  Philadelphia 
with  ores  from  mines  in  White  Pine  district,  and 
formed  the  Monte  Cristo  Mining  company,  which 
sent  out  a  superintendent  in  1867,  who  put  up  a  mill 
and  proceed  to  work  the  ores.  In  the  autumn,  after 
snow  had  fallen  on  the  mountains,  an  Indian,  for  some 
trifling  favor  bestowed  by  A.  J.  Leathers,  the  black 
smith  of  the  original  company,  gave  him  a  piece  of 
ore  which  being  melted  produced  a  button  of  silver. 
He  was  induced  to  show  the  place  from  which  he  had 
brought  the  specimen,  which  proved  to  be  the  Hidden 
Treasure  mine  from  which  Treasure  Hill  near  Hamil- 

22  An  important  man  at  Tuscarora  was  Americus  Vespuccius  Lancaster, 
born  in  Belfast,  Me,  Sept.  5,  1835.  He  came  to  the  Pacific  coast  in  1855,  and 
after  mining  in  various  localities  in  Cal.  and  British  Columbia,  visiting  Cen 
tral  America,  and  his  former  home  in  Me. ,  where  he  married,  he  returned  to 
this  coast,  and  in  1 867  settled  at  Tuscarora,  then  a  new  place,  where  he  took 
contracts  to  supply  wood  and  ties  to  the  C.  P.  R.  R.,  and  with  the  proceeds 
set  up  in  the  grocery  business,  and  also  bought  gold  dust  of  the  miners, 
making  a  profit  which  enabled  him  in  a  few  years  to  improve  some  valuable 
mining  property.  The  Young  America  and  Young  America  south  were 
located  and  patented  by  Lancaster  and  others,  and  the  town  of  Tuscorora 
is  on  their  ground.  He  owned  in  the  Navajo  and  North  Belle  Isle,  both  of 
which  produced  well;  and  al-^o  greatly  enlarged  his  mercaatile  interests.  In 
1880  he  removed  to  Alameda,  Cal.,  to  give  his  children  the  advantages 
which  his  liberal  means  enable  him  to  bestow, 


278  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

I      * 

ton  took  its  name*  The  Hidden  Treasure  was  located 
January  3;  186£<  by  laeathers.  Murphy,  and  March- 
and,  and  sold  in  January  $(860Xor  $200,000,  to  G.  E. 
Roberts  &  Co.  Soon  afterffie  discovery  of  the  Hid 
den  Treasure,  T.  E.  Eberhardt  of  Austin,  discovered 
the  famous  chloride  deposit  on  Treasure  hill,  which 
was  known  as  the  Eberhardt  mine,  although  in  mak 
ing  locations  with  some  friends  the  richest  portion  did 
not  fall  to  him.  The  Eberhardt  mine  was  disposed  of 
in  1868  to  a  company  which  took  several  tons  of  the 
ore  to  Austin  for  reduction,  where  it  was  found  to 
yield  from  $450  to  $27,000  per  ton.  Ore  working 
$3,000  was  constantly  taken  from  the  Eberhardt, 
Keystone,  and  Blue  Belle  mines,  which  was  banked 
up  for  smelting,  when  furnaces  should  be  erected. 
On  the  25th  of  September  the  Defiance  mine  produced 
in  one  day  ore  that  would  yield  $40,000  worth  of 
bullion,  and  had  $75,000  in  sight.  These  prodigies 
of  wealth  created  the  greatest  fever  of  excitement 
known  since  the  discovery  of  the  Comstock.  Thou 
sands  of  men  hastened  to  White  Pine,  rich  and  poor 
alike,  and  the  prospector's  pick  was  heard  in  all  direc 
tions,  while  every  canon  of  the  bare  and  rugged 
mountains  about  Treasure  Hill  had  its  sides  adorned 
with  miners'  cabins,  hanging  like  bird  cages  from  its 
rocky  sides.  The  excitement  culminated  in  the  win 
ter  and  spring  of  1868-9.  A  question  in  mining  law 
was  raised  which  was  never  before  brought  up,  and 
arose  out  of  the  discovery  that  the  Eberhardt  group 
of  mines  were  not  upon  any  ledge  which  could  be 
measured  off  and  its  extensions  taken  up,  but  were  a 
single  horizontal  deposit,  the  chloride  layers  being 
separated  by  layers  of  limestone,  and  bounded  by 
walls  like  a  vault.  These  deposits  have  since  become 
familiar  in  Colorado  and  are  called  contact,  or  blanket 
lodes.  Supposing  that  this  arrangement  of  ore  must 
continue  downward  to  the  depth  of  other  silver  mines, 
a  movement  was  made  to  compel  those  in  possession, 
after  working  out  one  deposit,  to  allow  another  claim- 


HAMILTON  COUNTY.  279 

ant  to  take  the  next  under  it,  and  so  on.  The  move 
ment,  however,  did  not  prevail,  and  the  Chloride  Flat 
group  of  mines  was  suffered  to  remain  in  the  hands 
of  its  fortunate  owners,  who  sold  or  worked  them  as 
seemed  best.  Suits  at  law  grew  out  of  the  peculiar 
formation  after  it  was  discovered  that  there  had  been 
different  locations  made,  by  croppings,  on  what  proved 
to  be  the  same  body  of  ore,  that  is,  not  divided  by 
any  wall.  One  of  these  cases,  brought  in  the  courts 
of  Lander  countv  to  which  the  district  then  belonged. 

<T} 

was  among  the  causes  celebres  of  that  country.  The 
bank  of  California  made  haste  to  secure  the  manage 
ment  as  in  the  Comstock  mines,  purchasing  several 
claims,  but  it  never  obtained  the  controlling  interest. 
In  the  autumn  of  1869  the  mines  of  White  Pine  were 
producing  monthly  about  $500,000  in  bullion.  The 
rich  deposit  which  set  the  world  agog  proved  not  to 
be  a  deep  one.  Some  millions  of  dollars  were  taken 
out,  but  at  the  depth  of  100  feet  the  body  of  almost 
pure  silver  was  exhausted.  The  Eberhardt  was 
purchased  in  connection  with  the  Aurora  mine  by 
an  English  company,  by  which  it  was  worked  with 
energy  and  varying  fortune.  A  shaft  was  put  down 
1,400  feet,  and  over  a  mile  of  tunnelling  made  into 
the  heart  of  the  mountain.  There  were  about  twenty- 
four  mining  districts  in  White  Pine  county  which 
were  sufficiently  tested  to  prove  the  value  of  the 
mines,  which  were  of  silver,  gold,  lead,  copper,  and 
other  metals.  In  most  of  the  districts  wood  and 
water  coula  be  obtained  with  little  difficulty. 

Agriculture  w^as  neglected  for  want  of  transporta 
tion,  more  than  2,500  acres  being  under  cultivation  in 
1885.  There  were  in  the  county  in  1884  of  stock- 
cattle  3,000,  cows  2,000,  calves  900,  sheep  10,000, 
lambs  8,000,  hogs  400,  horses  1,200,  and  mules  150. 
The  amount  of  good  farming  land  was  estimated  at 
12,000  acres.  Of  grazing  land,  much  of  which,  with 
irrigation,  would  produce  crops,  there  are  4,776,160 
acres;  of  timbered  land,  500,000  acres,  and  of  min- 


280  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

eral  land,  about  the  same  amount.  The  population 
of  the  county  was  2,500,  arid  its  assessed  valuation 
$864,870. 

Hamilton,  the  county  seat  of  White  Pine  county, 
is  situated  on  the  northern  slope  of  Treasure  Hill, 
near  the  foot.  Its  altitude  is  7,977  feet  above  the 
sea  level,  and  the  site  commanding.  It  was  laid  off 
for  a  town  by  W.  H.  Hamilton,  Henry  Kelly,  and  E. 
Goben,  in  May  1868.  Previous  to  this,  and  while 
only  a  rendezvous  for  prospectors,  who  dwelt  in  turf- 
houses  quite  as  often  as  anything,  it  was  called  Cave 
City,  but  since  received  the  name  of  Hamilton.  Such 
was  the  rush  of  population  in  1868-9  that  houses 
could  not  be  provided  for  the  10,000  inhabitants,  but 
canvas  was  made  to  do  duty  for  wood  and  brick. 
Hamilton  was  incorporated  in  1869,  and  disincorpo 
rated  in  1875.  A  brick  court-house  and  jail  was 
erected  in  1870  at  a  cost  of  $50,000.  A  water  com 
pany  was  formed  which  supplied  Hamilton  and  Treas 
ure  hill  with  water  brought  from  Illapah  springs,  in 
Momoke  Hill,  three  miles  east  of  Hamilton,  where 
2,000,000  gallons  of  water  per  day  flow  out  of  the 
rock.  Steam  pumping-works  had  to  be  used  to  force 
the  water  two  miles  through  a  12 -inch  pipe  and  lift  it 
to  a  reservoir  1,000  feet  high.  This  cost  $380,000, 
and  the  original  company  sold  to  the  Eberhardt  and 
Aurora  Mining  companies  in  1878.  In  1873  a  fire 
destroyed  $600,000  worth  of  property  at  Hamilton, 
this  devastation  having  been  caused  by  the  owner  of 
a  cigar  store  who  set  fire  to  his  premises  to  get  the 
insurance,  having  first  turned  off  the  water  to  disable 
the  fire  company.  In  Applegarth's  Canon,  at  the 
foot  of  Treasure  hill,  on  the  south  side,  is  Eberhardt, 
with  100  inhabitants.  On  the  western  slope,  near 
the  top,  and  often  above  the  clouds  that  overhang 
Hamilton,  is  Treasure  City.  It  had  6,000  inhabitants 
in  1869,  and  50  in  1885.  Shermantown,  situated  at 
the  mouth  of  a  canon  dividing  Treasure  Hill  from 
White  Pine  Mountain,  five  miles  south  of  and  at  a 


EUREKA  COUNTY.  281 

much  lower  altitude  than  Hamilton,  was  the  seat  of 
two  saw-mills,  five  quartz- mills,  and  four  furnaces  in 
1868-9,  and  had  1,000  inhabitants.  It  was  incorpo 
rated  in  1870,  and  had  a  newspaper  of  its  own,  but  is 
to-day  deserted  by  all  but  a  single  family.  Swansea, 
three-fourths  of  a  mile  north  of  Shermantown,  had 
two  quartz-mills  and  smelters,  and  several  hundred 
people,  of  whom  none  remain.  Such  was  the  rise 
and  decline  of  White  Pine  district,  the  most  remark 
able  of  any  in  eastern  Nevada. 

Cherry  creek  became  the  principal  town  in  White 
Pine  county.  It  was  situated  at  the  mouth  of  Cherry 
Creek  canon,  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Eagan 
range,  at  an  elevation  of  6,300  feet.  It  owes  its  rise 
to  the  mines  of  that  district,  which  were  discovered  in 

1872.  Ward  is  another  mining  town  whose  growth 
began  in  1876.     It  is  62  miles  south-east  of  Hamil 
ton.     Both  towns  support  newspapers  of  their  own. 
The    settlements    of  White    Pine  county  not  above 
named    are    Aurum,    Centreville,    Clayton,    Cooper, 
Diamond,    Eagan,    Ely,     Glencoe,     Hendrie's    Mill, 
Hunter,  Indian  Queen,  Kingston,  Lehman,  Maryland, 
Mineral  City,  Mosier,  Newark  hill,  Osceola,   Pianum, 
Picotillo,  Piuma,  Queen's   Station,  Rubyville,  Schell- 
bourne,  Shoenbars,  Simpson,  Tiermont,  Warner,  West 
Ely,  and  White  Pine  City. 

Eureka  county,  created  out  of  Lander  March   1, 

1873,  owes  its    separate  existence  to  its  mineral  re 
sources.     These  began  to  be  known  immediately  after 
the  settlement  of  Reese  river,  which  formed  abase  of 
operations  and  supplies.     The  district  was  located  on 
Mt    Tenabo,  the    highest    elevation    of   the    Cortez 
mountains,  thirty  miles  south-east  of  Beowawe,  or 
Gravelly  ford,  where    one    of  the    largest    mineral- 
bearing  belts  ever  found  in  Nevada  was  discovered. 
The  formation  consists  of  granite  and  limestone. 

A  dike  of  quartzite  500  feet  in  width  was  named 
1  The  Nevada  Giant,'  and  excited  great  expecta 
tions.  This  mineral  belt  was  subsequently  developed 


282  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND    DEVELOPMENT. 

and  its  promised  wealth  realized,  under  the  owner 
ship  of  Simeon  Wenban,23  one  of  the  original  discov 
erers.  It  appears  3,000  feet  above  the  valley,  and 
stretches  its  enormous  body  diagonally  down  the 
mountain  in  plain  view  for  about  19,000  feet,  the 
south  end  dipping  down  and  disappearing  in  the  val 
ley  below.  The  district  has  proved  one  of  the  most 
important  in  the  state. 

The  first  mines  were  located  in  the  granite  on  what 
was  called  'Bullion  Hill';  an  eight-stamp  mill  was 
erected  in  1864  by  the  Cortez  Company  for  the  pur 
pose  of  reducing  the  ores  found  in  the  granite  forma 
tion,  and  was  operated  by  this  company  until  1867, 
when  it  was  purchased  by  Wenban,  who  increased 
the  capacity  to  ten  stamps,  and  continued  to  operate 
it  on  ore  taken  from  his  mines  located  in  the  lime 
stone  formation,  of  which  there  were  many,  the  most 
prominent  being  the  Arctic,  Idaho,  Garrison,  and  St 
Louis.  These  mines  have  proved. of  great  value. 

In  1886  this  mill  was  superseded  by  works  to  re 
duce  ores  by  the  leaching  process,  having  a  capacity 
of  about  fifty  tons  per  day,  erected  under  the  per 
sonal  supervision  of  Wenban.  In  the  granite  forma 
tion  the  veins  running  through  the  quartz  were  found 
to  be  rich  but  narrow.  The  whole  mineral  zone  was 
productive,  but  it  was  in  the  limestone  that  Wenban 
found  his  great  wealth.  The  ores  required  roasting 
before  amalgamating,  and  carried  both  gold  and  sil 
ver.  Wood  and  water  were  brought  a  distance  of 
eight  miles.  Eureka  district,  discovered  in  1864, 
produced  great  wealth,  which  increased  the  population 
of  Lander  county,  and  caused  a  division  of  the  same. 

23  ]y[r  \\7"enban  was  born  in  England  in  the  parish  of  Hawkhurst,  county 
Kent,  May  18,  1824,  and  was  the  son  of  a  wheelwright.  In  1828  his  parents 
immigrated  to  the  U.  S.,  residing  in  Utica,  N.  Y.,  and  later  in  Cleveland, 
Ohio.  In  1854  he  came  to  the  Pacific  coast,  mining  for  a  while  in  Cal.,  but 
removing  to  Nevada  in  1862.  In  1863  he  made  one  of  a  prospecting  party 
which  discovered  the  Cortes  district,  in  which  he  owns  about  thirty  mines. 
Mr  Wenban  has  done  everything  to  prove  the  wealth  of  that  region,  and  in 
doing  it  has  made  himself  a  millionaire  several  times  over,  and  without  prac 
tising  any  selfish  greed  to  the  injury  of  his  neighbors.  His  character  stands 
as  deservedly  high  as  his  success  has  been  deservedly  great. 


EUREKA  TOWN.  283 

The  town  of  Eureka,  which  was  founded  in  1869  by 
W..W.  McCoy  and  Alonzo  Monroe  was  made  the 
county  seat.2* 

Eureka  town,  nearly  7,000  feet  above  the  sea,  is 
situated  at  the  head  of  a  canon  four  miles  longf  and 

O 

200  yards  wide,  from  the  sides  of  which  parallel  lines  of 
steep  hills  rise  one  above  the  other  to  a  height  of  from 
500  to  1,200  feet,  from  whose  crests  numerous  smaller 
canons  run  down  to  the  main  one.  Where  this  gorge 
spreads  out  among  the  lesser  hills  and  ravines  at  the 
top  the  town  site  was  located.  It  rapidly  acquired 
population.  A  line  of  stages  from  Austin  to  Hamil 
ton  passed  through  it,  and  a  post  office  was  established 
in  1870.  In  the  same  year  the  town  obtained  direct 
connection  with  the  Central  Pacific  railroad  by  En  nor 
and  Woodruffs  stages  from  Hamilton  to  Palisade.  A 
fast  freight  line  to  Palisade  was  established  in  1871, 
and  in  1874  the  Eureka  and  Palisade  railroad  was 
begun,  which  was  completed  the  following  year. 
With  its  completion  Eureka  became  the  centre  of 
freight  and  passenger  traffic  for  a  large  area  of  country. 
By  a  steady  growth  the  population  had  increased 
to  5,000  in  1880.  Stone  quarries  adjacent  to  the  town 
furnished  superior  material  for  building,  the  public 
edifices  as  well  as  residences  being  partly  constructed 
of  this  material.  Brick  was  also  much  used  in  build 
ing.  In  1879  a  court  house  costing  $53,000  was 
erected.  There  were  two  daily  papers,  two  banks, 
and  good  schools.  All  the  ores  of  this  district  were 
brought  to  Eureka  for  reduction  in  its  sixteen  fur 
naces.  They  carried  from  15  to  60  per  cent  of  lead, 
and  sufficient  iron  and  silica  to  obviate  the  necessity 
for  importing  foreign  flux.  The  yield  of  Eureka  dis 
trict  for  1879, was  $10,000,000,  and  the  total  yield  for 
the  seven  years,  including  1879,  was  $20,000.000. 
The  town  of  Eureka  has  been  three  times  visited  by 

24  This  section  has  been  thought  of  sufficient  importance  to  justify  the 
publication  by  Molinelli  &  Co.  of  a  bound  volume  of  109  pages  entitled 
Eureka  and  its  Resources,  1879f 


284  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

fire,  the  first,  in  1872,  causing  the  organization  of  a 
fire  department ;  the  second,  in  1878,  which  destroyed 
$1,000,000  worth  of  property  ;  and  the  third  in  1880. 
A  cloud  burst  in  July  1874  destroyed  considerable 
property,  with  the  loss  of  seventeen  lives.  From 
these  disasters  the  community  recovered  with  the 
vigor  imparted  by  conscious  resources.  Ruby  Hill, 
two  and  one  half  miles  west  of  Eureka,  in  1880  had  a 
population  of  2,165.  It  was  the  residence  of  about 
900  miners,  who  had  a  miners'  union,  and  supported 
a  newspaper,  churches,  schools,  a  theatre,  and  other 
popular  institutions.  Palisade,  the  northern  terminus 
of  the  Eureka  and  Palisade  railroad,  had  200  inhabi 
tants.  It  was  furnished  with  water  from  the  moun 
tains  to  the  north.  The  railroad  company's  shops 
were  located  here  for  manufacturing  cars. 

Although  specifically  a  mining  county,  Eureka  is 
self-supporting,  and  might  be  made  productive  of 
agricultural  wealth  to  a  much  greater  extent.  The 
amount  of  land  enclosed  in  1885  was  27,940  acres,  of 
which  9,255  were  in  hay,  grain  and  vegetables.  It 
had  18  miles  of  irrigating  ditches.  The  average 
yield  of  wheat  was  40  bushels  to  the  acre.  It  raised, 
in  1884,  10,000  tons  of  hay,  made  15,000  pounds  of 
cheese,  50,000  pounds  of  butter,  55,335  gallons  of 
beer,  and  sheared  74,000  pounds  of  wool.  Its  live 
stock  was  2,425  horses,  466  mules,  7,577  stock  cattle, 
12,400  sheep,  366  cows,  210  hogs.  The  valuation 
placed  upon  real  and  personal  property  was  $3,099,- 
429.  The  product  of  the  mines  in  bullion  was  $1,- 
647,289,  the  net  yield  being  set  down  at  $218,286. 
Charcoal  burning  was  carried  on  to  a  considerable 
extent.  In  1879  the  mine  superintendents  at  Eureka 
rebelled  at  paying  30  cents  a  bushel  for  this  indis 
pensable  article,  and  fixed  the  price  at  27  cents.  The 
Charcoal  Burners'  association  immediately  declared 
war,  refused  to  permit  any  to  be  delivered  at  the 
smelters,  and  took  possession  of  the  town  of  Eureka, 
threatening  destruction  to  their  enemies,  the  mine 


CHARCOAL  BURNERS'  RIOT.  285 

managers.  Governor  Kinkead  was  informed  by  tele 
graph  of  the  danger  to  the  public  peace,  and  "a  suffi 
cient  force  of  the  second  brigade  of  the  state  militia 
to  insure  a  restoration  of  order  "  was  authorized  to  be 
called  out.  On  the  18th  of  August,  Deputy-sheriff 
J.  B.  Simpson  attempted  to  arrest  some  persons  be 
longing  to  a  coal  camp  at  Fish  creek,  thirty  miles  from 
Eureka.  Five  coal  burners  were  killed,  and  six 
wounded  severely,  in  resisting  arrest.  Much  excite 
ment  followed ;  but  the  coroner's  jury  brought  in  a 
verdict  of  justifiable  homicide.  Little  doubt  existed 
that  the  charcoal  burners  had  suffered  injustice  at  the 
hands  of  the  contractors  who  delivered  coal  at  the 
smelters,  and  made  their  measurements  to  meet  their 
own  interests.  Added  to  this,  a  reduction  in  price 
brought  on  the  riot  which  culminated  so  sadly  in  what 
is  known  as  the  Fish  Creek  war.  The  price  of  char 
coal  was  reduced  subsequently  to  22  cents.  In  1884, 
165,000  bushels  were  burned.  The  nut  pine  wood, 
from  which  it  was  produced,  yielded  28  bushels  to  a 
cord.  The  towns  and  settlements  not  above  named 
are  Allison,  Alpha,  Antelope,  Beowawe,  Blackburn, 
Boulder,  Bullion,  Cedar,  Cluro,  Colman,  Cortes, 
Corwin,  Devil's  Gate,  Diamond,  Evans,  Garden  Pass, 
Goodwin,  McLeod,  Mineral  Hill,  Newtown,  Oak, 
Pine  Station,  Pleasant  Valley,  Shipley,  Shoshone, 
Silverado,  Spring,  Springville,  Sulphur  Spring  Sta 
tion,  Summit,  Vanderbilt,  and  Willards. 

To  sum  up  the  condition  of  the  state  in  1883—6,  it 
ranked  third  in  the  production  of  gold  and  silver, 
coming  next  after  California  and  Colorado.  It  pro 
duced  in  twenty  years  about  $600,000,000  of  the 
precious  metals.  There  was  in  the  state  $27,625,- 
257  in  real  and  personal  property,  at  the  assessor's 
valuation,  distributed  among  62,000  inhabitants.  The 
state  sold  of  its  land  grants  85,000  acres,  showing  the 
prospective  increase  of  farming.  It  had  been  rather 
the  custein  to  disparage  Nevada,  because  with  only 


286  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

inhabitants  enough  to  make  one  small  city,  were  they 
all  gathered  together,  it  did  not  go  on  producing  at 
the  rate  of  $600,000,000  in  twenty  years  from  the 
mines,  in  addition  to  its  other  products ;  but  the  sub 
ject  was  coining  to  be  better  understood,  and  in  every 
ordinary  sense  the  state  is  yet  only  in  its  infancy. 
Oregon  had  in  1860  about  the  same  number  of  inhabi 
tants  that  Nevada  had  in  1880,  and  raised  of  the  dif- 
erent  cereals  1,820,278  against  Nevada's  crop  in  1880 
of  782,519  bushels  ;  but  Oregon  was  preeminently  an 
agricultural  state,  and  her  wheat  fields  stood  in  the 
place  of  Nevada's  mines;  and  while  it  is  impossible 
that  the  latter  should  ever  compete  with  the  former 
in  grain  raising,  it  is  also  improbable  that  Oregon 
should  ever  show  much  more  wealth  per  capita  than 
it  does  at  present,  which  is,  at  assessors'  valuation, 
$402,  while  in  Nevada  at  the  same  valuation  it  is 
$444,  notwithstanding  the  wastefulness  which  attends 
mining  in  new  countries,  and  which  for  the  future 
must  be  overcome. 

Of  manufactures  in  Nevada  there  is  not  much  to  be 
said.  The  assessors'  reports  for  1884,  from  which 
two  counties  must  be  subtracted  as  not  sending  in 
any  abstracts,  and  others  of  which  are  visibly  imper 
fect,  give  18  grist-mills,  making  22,270  barrels  of  flour, 
besides  which  they  ground  7,000  bushels  of  corn,  and 
22,000  of  barley;  121  quartz-mills,  crushing  349,688 
tons  of  quartz;  24  smelting  furnaces,  reducing  64,076 
tons  of  ore ;  8  saw-mills  and  3  planing-mills ;  8  borax 
factories,  reducing  1,460  tons  of  the  salt;  and  25 
breweries,  manufacturing  246,354  gallons  of  beer. 
The  Nevada  foundry,  established  at  Johntown  near 
Silver  City  in  1862  by  Mead,  McCone,  and  Tascar, 
formerly  of  Placerville,  was  the  pioneer  iron  works  of 
Nevada.  The  firm  removed  to  Silver  City  in  1864, 
where  they  erected  a  stone  building  at  a  cost  of 
$125,000,  employing  from  seventy-five  to  one  hundred 
men  in  the  foundry  afterwards.  The  establishment 
was  burned  in  1872,  when  McCone,  having  purchased 


MANUFACTURES.  287 

the  entire  interest,  again  removed  to  Virginia  City, 
where  he  bought  out  the  Fulton  foundry,  erected  in 
1863  by  Thomas  R.  Jones.  There  was  cast  at  this 
foundry,  December  11,  1880,  a  fly-wheel  centre  for 
the  Yellow  Jacket  hoisting  works  weighing  44,500 
pounds,  the  largest  casting  hitherto  made  on  the  Pacific 
coast.  It  was  here  that  the  first  engine  and  pump 
made  in  Nevada  were  constructed  for  the  Bullion 
company  in  1864.  In  1862  Oliver  Hyde  started  the 
Pioneer  foundry  at  Gold  Hill,  and  in  1864  another 
was  opened  at  the  same  place  by  Greely,  called  the 
Gold  Hill  foundry,  which  cast  the  iron  flag-staff 
erected  on  Mount  Davidson  in  1878.  It  was  eighty 
feet  high,  made  in  three  tubular  sections,  and  replaced 
a  wooden  mast  erected  in  1863.  The  Pioneer  cast 
the  first  Nevada  cannon,  an  eight-pourider,  in  1864. 
In  1869  Mead  established  the  Union  foundry,  and  in 
1878  Frazer  &  Cummings  established  the  Virginia 
foundry,  which  was  removed  to  Reno  in  1880.25 

The  first  iron  foundry  of  eastern  Nevada  was  erected 
at  Bullionville,  in  February  1873,  for  the  railroad 
company.  Iron  works  were  opened  at  Eureka  in 
1880.  The  figure  eight  does  not  by  any  means  rep 
resent  the  number  of  saw-mills  in  Nevada,  although 
it  appears  upon  so  authentic  a  document  as  the  asses 
sor's  report  to  the  surveyor-general.  White  Pine 
county  alone  had  five  in  1884,  and  other  counties  in 
proportion  to  their  timber  and  population,  But  the 
manufacture  of  lumber  is  carried  on  to  a  greater  ex 
tent  in  Washoe  than  in  any  other,  and  in  this  business 
that  modern  invention,  a  wood  and  lumber  flume, 
plays  an  important  part.  As  I  have  before  mentioned, 
the  flume  is  V-shaped,  wherein  lies  its  great  conduct 
ing  power.  Flumes  of  a  box  shape  were  common 

25  John  Kewes  in  1876  started  a  brass  foundry  at  Virginia  City,  which 
suspended  after  about  a  year.  Machinists  received  $6  per  day  in  these 
foundries,  blacksmiths  $6.50,  pattern  makers  $5.50,  and  other  workmen 
$3.50  and  $4.  Kelly  s  Nev.  Dir.,  1862,  174;  Dayton  Lyon  County  Sentinel,  July 
16  and  Aug.  13,  1864;  Gold  Hill  New*,  March  21,  1865;  Virginia  City  Chroni- 
tele,  Feb,  6,  1878;  Reno  Gazette,  Dec.  14,  1880;  Id.,  Jan.  31,  1883. 


288  MATERIAL  EESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

enough,  and  had  been  used,  to  float  timber  down  the 
mountains  in  California,  but  the  wood  lodged,  and 
caused  waste  and  destruction ;  the  V  form  allowed  it 
to  move  swiftly  without  obstruction.  The  first  flume 
for  transporting  wood  in  Nevada  was  projected  in 
1865,  to  run  from  the  west  Carson  river,  in  Alpine 
county,  California,  to  Empire  City,  in  Ormsby  county, 
Nevada,  thirty-two  and  a  half  miles,  the  fall  being 
nine  hundred  and  seventy -six  feet.  Among  those 
who  contemplated  this  scheme  was  J.  W.  Haines, 
who  adopted  the  V-shaped  flume,  and  on  being  satis 
fied  of  its  advantages  patented  it,  in  September  1870. 
At  that  time  there  were  about  twenty -five  miles  of  lum 
ber  flumes  in  the  state,  which  increased  as  their  econ 
omical  value  became  known.  *In  1872  J.  W.  Haines 
sued  William  Sharon  for  an  infringement  of  patent ; 
but  he  was  beaten  in  court  on  its  being  shown  that 
certain  persons,  for  economical  reasons,  had  used 
flumes  constructed  similarly,  though  without  having 
any  idea  of  the  superlative  merit  of  this  form  over  the 
box  flume.26 

In  1874,  several  other  companies  having  been 
formed  in  the  mean  time,  the  bonanza  firm,  for  them 
selves  and  other  mining  operators  on  the  Com  stock, 
having  by  their  agent  surveyed  and  purchased  twelve 
thousand  acres  of  the  finest  timbered  land  on  the 
summits  of  the  Sierra,  formed  the  Pacific  Wood,  Lum- 

26  James  W.  Haines  was  born  in  Stanstead,  Canada,  near  the  Vermont 
line,  on  the  17th  of  Aug.,  1826,  his  father  being  a  Vermonter  of  English 
descent,  and  his  grandfather  a  revolutionary  soldier.  In  1833  they  left  Can 
ada  for  Ashtabula  county,  Ohio,  where  they  lived  upon  a  farm.  When  he 
was  20  years  of  age  he  began  to  follow  the  lakes,  and  remained  in  that  ser. 
vice  for  about  three  years,  when  news  of  the  gold  found  in  Cal.  brought  him 
to  this  coast  with  a  company  from  Ohio.  After  a  brief  experience  of  min 
ing  he  opened  a  restaurant  in  Sac.,  and  made  considerable  money;  went 
into  merchandising  with  Z.  Lake,  also  from  Ohio,  and  later  with  A.  J.  Web 
ster.  During  the  squatter  riots  he  was  on  the  squatter  side  of  the  quarrel, 
and  was  arrested  and  sent  to  the  prison  brig,  but  was  soon  released.  Having 
made  about  $20,000,  he  returned  home  and  married,  but  on  revisiting  Cal. 
found  times  somewhat  changed.  Cholera  carried  off  his  wife  and  numerous 
friends  in  1852.  His  partner  sold  out  to  him  and  he  took  another.  In  1854, 
during  the  excitement  caused  by  the  know-nothing  party  in  politics,  he  was 
elected  marshal  of  Sac.  by  that  party.  In  1857  he  purchased  an  interest  in 
a  hay  raiicho  of  8,000  acres,  his  partner  being  Alonzo  Cheaney.  In  1859  he 


FLUME  COMPANY.  289 

ber  and  Flume  company,  whose  name  explains  its 
purpose.  At  a  great  outlay  of  labor  and  capital  the 
machinery  for  a  steam  saw-mill  was  transported  to 
the  middle  fork  of  Evans  creek,  half  way  to  the  sum 
mit,  where  it  was  set  up,  and  began  making  the  lum 
ber  to  be  used  in  the  flume.  Another  mill,  two  miles 
further  up  the  mountains,  was  erected  immediately 
after  the  first.  The  flume  was  made  V-shaped,  of 
twenty-four-inch  plank  two  inches  in  thickness,  and 
had  a  capacity  of  five  hundred  cords  of  fire-wood,  or 
500,000  feet  of  lumber,  daily.  To  gain  a  uniform 
grade  it  was  necessary  to  build  it  on  a  trestle-work 
and  stringers  the  whole  distance.  To  make  it  strong 
enough  to  support  heavy  timber,  it  was  braced  longi 
tudinally  and  across^  the  supports  set  in  mud-sills. 
It  was  fifteen  miles  in  length  when  opened,  terminat 
ing  in  the  Truckee  meadows  at  Huffaker's,  and  the 
water  supply  came  from  Hunter  creek,  being  dammed 
up  in  reservoirs.  Great  as  was  the  expense,  the  out 
lay  was  soon  returned  in  savings  and  profits.  '  It  was 
estimated  that  in  twenty  years  $80,000,000  worth  of 
timber  had  been  taken  from  the  forests  on  Lake 
Tahoe  and  Truckee  river,  and  that  the  supply  remain 
ing  in  the  basins  of  the  Truckee  and  its  tributaries 
was  5,000,000,000  feet,  after  having  cut  40,000,000 
annually  for  ten  years.  It  will  be  seen  from  this  that 
the  lumber  manufacture  of  the  treeless  state  is,  after 
all,  a  very  important  one.  The  total  length  of  wood 
flumes  in  Douglas,  Ormsby,  and  Washoe  counties  is 

sold  his  store,  and  again  visited  the  east.  On  returning  he  found  great  ex 
citement  prevailing  concerning  silver,  and  everybody  going  to  Nevada.  He 
followed  with  fat  cattle  and  sheep  for  the  miners,  and  through  this  business 
became  interested  in  the  young  state,  finally  purchasing  a  rancho  of  800 
acres  in  what  is  now  Douglas  co.  He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  first  and 
second  constitutional  conventions.  In  1870  he  was  elected  to  the  state  sen 
ate,  and  was  chosen  presidential  elector  for  Grant.  He  was  also  appointed 
by  Grant  to  receive  the  C.  P.  railroad  on  its  completion,  together  with  W. 
T.  Sherman  of  S.  F.  and  F.  A.  Tritle  of  Nevada.  Gov.  Bradley  appointed 
him  commissioner  to  the  centennial  exposition  at  Phila,  and  he  was  a  second 
time  elected  to  the  state  senate.  His  influence  has  always  been  used  in 
securing  the  best  interests  of  the  people  of  Nevada.  A  man  of  strong  indi 
viduality  and  great  activity.  His  landed  interests  in  Nevada  and  California 
are  large. 

HIST.  NKV.     19 


290  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

over  eighty  miles;  the  lumber  transported  in  1879 
33,300,000  feet,  and  the  wood  171,000  cords.  Large 
tracts  of  timber  land  have  been  purchased  by  capital 
ists,  and  the  tendency  is  toward  moneyed  men  owning 
and  controlling  those  two  great  natural  resources, 
timber  and  water,  in  addition  to  a  monopoly  of  graz 
ing  and  desert  lands. 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  section  of  the  union  in  which 
agricultural  development  is  so  largely  dependent  on 
irrigation  as  the  state  of  Nevada.  Though  in  the 
report  of  the  state  surveyor-general  for  1888  30,000 
acres  were  classed  as  agricultural  land,  with  the  ex 
ception  of  a  narrow  strip  on  the  banks  of  the  larger 
watercourses,  its  entire  surface  is  practically  unavail 
able  for  tillage  without  other  moisture  than  is  sup 
plied  by  the  rainfall.  With  a  water  area  of  more 
than  1,000,000  acres,  and  with  at  least  10,000,000 
acres  of  irrigable  land,  little,  as  yet,  has  been  accom 
plished  in  this  direction,  except  in  the  Carson  and 
Humboldt  valleys.  Within  recent  years,  however, 
numerous  projects  have  been  considered,  among 
which  is  a  tunnel  through  the  eastern  slope  of  the 
Sierra,  starting  from  a  point  near  Genoa,  and  tap 
ping  Lake  Tahoe,  whereby  an  immense  volume  of 
water  would  be  furnished,  not  only  for  irrigating 
vast  sections  of  the  country,  but  for  manufacturing 
and  other  purposes. 

In  1888  the  sum  of  $100,000  was  appropriated 
by  the  state  legislature  for  a  hydrographic  survey, 
and  a  state  board  of  reclamation  and  internal  im 
provement  appointed,  of  which  Senator  Evan  Wil 
liams  was  made  chairman,  the  remaining  members 
of  the  board  being  senators  Bradley,  Blakeslee,  and 
Springmeyer. 

Artesian  wells  have  been  successful  in  some  local 
ities  and  have  failed  in  others,  though  in  the  great 
valleys  the  conditions  are  such  that  the  existence  of 
vast  subterranean  basins  is  assured  beyond  a  perad- 
venture,  for  to  these  valleys  there  are  no  outlets,  and 


SOCIETY.  291 

the  greater  portion  of  the  vast  streams  of  water  that 
flow  from  the  mountains  sinks  below  the  surface.  In 
1872  a  bill  was  introduced  in  Congress  by  Kendall, 
of  Nevada,  to  authorize  the  sinking  of  wells  on  the 
public  domain,  with  a  view  to  the  reclamation  of 
desert  lands.  Congress  subsequently  offered  a  grant 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  to  every  person  who 
obtained  a  flowing  well,  which  stimulated  experi 
ment  in  this  direction.  The  cost  of  sinking  wells 
to  a  great  depth  has  varied  from  three  or  four 
dollars  to  twenty,  according  to  the  nature  of  the 
rock  to  be  penetrated.  The  Nevada  legislature  in 
1879  enacted  a  law  providing  for  a  bounty  of  two 
dollars  per  foot  for  sinking  a  flowing  well  in  any  part 
of  the  state  below  a  depth  of  five  hundred  feet.  Per 
sons  who  at  the  passage  of  the  act  had  already  sunk 
three  hundred  feet  were  included  in  the  bounty. 
Congress  was  also  asked  to  make  liberal  donations  of 
arable  land  to  such  persons. 

The  social  condition  of  Nevada  has  undergone  all 
those  transitions  for  which  mining  communities  are 
noted,  and  in  which  recklessness  and  crime  are  more 
conspicuous  than  honor  and  virtue.  Not  because 
miners  are  worse  than  other  men,  or  because  the 
criminal  classes  outnumber  the  law  and  order  class, 
but  as  the  shadow  of  that  small  satellite,  the  moon, 
being  nearer,  obscures  at  times  the  broad  face  of  the 
sun,  so  a  little  evil  ofttimes  obscures  much  good.  The 
non-productive,  labor-shirking  leeches  of  society  swarm 
where  they  expect  to  draw  rich  blood.  The  prospec 
tor,  on  the  contrary,  is  a  serious-minded  man,  willing 
to  toil  over  the  mountains  and  through  the  rugged 
canons,  where  nature  hides  her  treasures,  and  it  is  he 
who  has  developed  Nevada,  and  not  the  stock-gam 
blers,  faro-dealers,  lawyers,  and  whisky-sellers.  From 
1846  to  1880  there  were  over  four  hundred  homicides. 
Comparatively  few  were  downright  murders  for  rob- 


292  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

bery,  but  many  were  from  hasty  quarrels  over  mining 
or  land  claims,  and  were  from  the  excitement  caused 
by  intoxicating  drink  and  mingling  in  the  heterogene 
ous  crowds  of  new  towns  where  there  were  no  com 
fortable  homes. 

The  Chinese  were  never  welcomed  to  Nevada,  and 
were  discriminated  against  in  the  laws  and  the  con 
stitution  of  the  state,  their  employment  being  also 
prohibited  by  the  charters  of  the  railroads  constructed 
within  the  state  after  1871.  They  were  first  intro 
duced  in  1858,  to  work  on  the  ditch  whicl^  Orson 
Hyde  began  and  J.  H.  Rose  completed,  to  take  water 
from  the  Carson  river  to  use  in  mining  at  the  mouth 
of  Gold  canon.  Once  in  the  country  they  could  not 
be  expelled.  In  1859  they  were  working  in  the  mines 
of  Walker  river  and  other  localities,  but  were  never 
tolerated  on  the  Comstock,  where  the  miners'  union 
took  care  of  the  question.  They  were  employed  in 
building  the  Virginia  and  Truckee  railroad,  whose 
franchise  was  granted  before  restrictive  laws  were 
passed,  and  also  by  the  Central  Pacific,  in  grading  its 
road-bed,  a  kind  of  work  which  Americans  by  common 
consent  have  usually  left  to  foreign  laborers.  But 
when  other  industries  were  approached,  the  race 
prejudice  showed  itself;  yet  in  vain,  for  in  spite  of 
miners'  unions,  legislative  enactments,  and  popular 
feeling,  the  scarcity  of  house- servants  compelled  their 
employment  in  that  capacity,  as  well  as  in  that  of 
laundrymen,  farm-hands,  and  wood-choppers.  Nor 
was  it  possible  to  prevent  them  from  working  in  the 
mines  where  there  was  no  organization  against  them. 
An  anti-Chinese  society  was  formed  in  Virginia  City 
in  1879,  and  further  legislation  was  had  against  em 
ploying  them,  and  yet  in  1882  they  held  their  ground 
in  spite  of  leagues,  had  begun  to  engage  in  quartz 
mining,  and  were  applying  to  purchase  state  lands. 

I  have  already  referred  to  the  manner  in  which  the 
state  supported  a  common  school  system,  by  paying 
interest  on  a  large  loan  from  the  school  fund  derived 


EDUCATION.  293 

from  the  sale  of  the  school  lands.  The  common-school 
laws  of  Nevada  are  enlightened  arid  liberal,  and  a 
certain  amount  of  education  is  compulsory.  The  total 
number  of  public  schools  in  the  state  in  1880  was 
195;  total  number  of  districts,  109;  average  monthly 
pay  of  male  teachers,  $100,  of  female  teachers,  $77; 
whole  number  of  primary  schools  81,  of  intermediate 
11,  unclassified  81,  grammar  schools  19,  high  schools 
3.  The  average  rate  of  county  school  tax  on  $100  was 
3  3  f  cents.  There  was  also  a  number  of  private  schools, 
with  a  total  attendance  of  about  1,000  pupils,  promi 
nent  among  them  being  the  seminary  established  at 
Reno  in  1876,  mainly  through  the  efforts  of  Bishop 
Whitaker,  of  the  episcopal  church.  The  state  uni 
versity,  originally  located  at  Elko,  and  in  1886  re 
moved  to  Reno,  had  two  years  later  115  students 
in  attendance,  with  a  corps  of  zealous  and  efficient 
teachers,  and  included  a  business  department,  a  nor 
mal  school,  and  schools  of  liberal  arts,  agriculture, 
mechanic  arts,  and  mining.  Under  judicious  man 
agement  its  land  grant  of  90,000  acres,  together  with 
state  appropriations,  furnished  ample  funds  for  its 
support.  In  connection  with  it  was  the  agricultural 
experiment  station,  for  which,  as  in  other  states  and 
territories,  $15,000  was  appropriated  by  the  general 
government.  The  appropriation  for  an  agricultural 
college  was  diverted,  with  the  consent  of  Congress, 
(to  found  a  college  of  mining  arid  kindred  sciences. 

After  the  Mormons,  the  pioneer  of  religion  in  Ne 
vada  was  Jesse  L.  Bennett,  a  methodist,  who  preached  ' 
in  Carson  valley  in  1859.  In  that  year  a  methodist 
society  was  organized  at  Genoa  by  A.  L.  Bateman, 
and  another  at  Carson  by  Bennett,  who  also  preached 
the  first  sermon  ever  delivered  in  Virginia  City,  on 
C  street,  in  1861.  When  the  collection  was  taken 
up,  the  humble  itinerant  was  surprised  to  find  he  had 
nearly  a  hatful  of  gold  and  silver  coins.  Soon  after 
Samuel  B,  Rooney  was  appointed  to  preach  regularly 
at  Virginia  City,  and  Bennett  was  stationed  at  Washoe. 


294  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

Rooney  built  a  small  wooden  church  at  Virginia,  on 
the  corner  of  Taylor  and  D  streets,  costing  only 
$2,000.  |  In  1862  C.  V.  Anthony,  his  successor, 
erected  a  brick  edifice  costing  $45,000,  which  was 
dedicated  February  14,  1864,  and  paid  for  by  John 
C.  Fall  and  Ex-governor  Blasdel.  A  parsonage  was 
also  erected,  at  a  cost  of  $2,000.  Nevada  had  been 
made  a  district  by  the  California  conference  in  1861, 
N.  E.  Peck  presiding  elder;  and  in  1864  it  was  erected 
into  an  independent  conference,  whose  first  annual 
session  was  held  at  Virginia  in  September  1865,  and 
its  sixteenth  in  September  1880.  In  July  1871  a 
high  wind  unroofed  the  methodist  church  at  Virginia, 
and  blew  down  one  of  the  walls.  Before  repairs  were 
begun,  a  fire  completed  the  destruction,  and  a  frame 
building,  costing  $8,000,  was  substituted  by  T.  H. 
McGarth;  but  on  Christmas  eve,  1872,  another  wind 
wrought  $3,000  damage,  and  in  the  great  fire  of  1875 
this  building  was  entirely  consumed.  Finally,  in 
1876,  a  frame  church,  costing  $20,000,  was  erected  on 
the  old  site.  A  society  was  organized  among  the 
negroes  of  Virginia  in  1873,  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  African  niethodist  conference,  which  in  June  1875 
completed  a  small  church,  only  to  have  it  destroyed 
in  the  great  fire  of  October. 

The  second  methodist  church  in  Nevada  was  erected 
at  Dayton  in  1863  by  J.  N.  Maddox.  An  incendiary 
fire  destroyed  the  building  in  1876.  In  1863  a  church 
and  parsonage  were  erected  at  Washoe  by  McGarth, 
who  preached  there  for  two  years.  The  building  was 
donated  to  the  school  trustees  about  1873.  The 
methodist  church  at  Gold  Hill  was  erected  in  1865 
by  A.  F.  Hitchcock,  and  was  a  small  wooden  build 
ing.  On  the  llth  of  April,  1873,  Valentine  Right- 
myer,  pastor  of  this  church,  died  of  lingering  starvation, 
having  a  small  salary,  a  large  family,  and  too  much 
pride  to  reveal  his  extreme  want,  a  sacrifice  all  the 
more  cruel  and  needless  in  a  community  where  plenty 
and  liberality  were  the  rule.  The  methodist  church 


RELIGION.  295 

at  Austin  was  built  by  the  management  of  J.  L.  Tre- 
fen  in  a  peculiar  manner.  When  mining  shares  were 
subscribed,  as  they  often  were,  he  accepted  them 
gratefully,  and  pooling  the  stock  organized  a  metho- 
dist  mining  company,  of  which  he  became  agent,  sell 
ing  the  claims  in  the  east,  and  realizing  $250,000  on 
paper.  Out  of  this  amount  a  brick  church  was  erected, 
with  a  fine  organ  and  a  commodious  parsonage,  costing 
$35,000.  But  the  shares  had  been  sold  on  install 
ments,  and  the  mining  furore  had  subsided,  so  that  no 
further  collections  could  be  made,  leaving  the  concern 
$6,000  in  debt.  The  church  was  sold  to  the  county 
for  a  court-house,  but  subsequently  redeemed,  the 
society  clearing  itself  from  debt.  The  methodists  of 
Carson  City  had  no  church  edifice  till  1867,  when,  on 
September  8th,  Bishop  Thompson  of  Ohio  dedicated 
a  stone  structure  which  had  cost  $10,000,  and  which 
had  been  built  chiefly  by  the  exertions,  and  not  a  little 
by  the  personal  labor  of,  Warren  Nims.  In  1874  the 
building  was  repaired  and  improved.  The  only  meth- 
odist  house  of  worship  at  White  Pine  was  the  broker's 
hall  at  Treasure  City,  where  episcopal  service  were  first 
held,  which  building  was  purchased  for  a  meeting 
house  in  1872,  but  subsequently  abandoned.  No 
other  church  has  supplanted  it.  Winnemucca  had 
a  frame  church,  built  by  George  B.  Hinckle  about 
1873;  Union ville  a  frame  church,  built  by  L.  Ewing  ; 
and  Reno  a  frame  church,  erected  in  1870  by  A.  R. 
Ricker.  Eureka  had  a  church  and  parsonage,  erected 
by  John  A.  Gray  in  1875,  which  were  destroyed  in 
the  fire  of  1879.  Being  partially  rebuilt  soon  after 
ward,  the  church  was  again  burned  in  another  con 
flagration  in  1880.  Another  edifice  was  erected, 
under  the  charge  of  J.  T.  Ladd,  which  was  dedicated 
April  17,  1881.  At  Ruby  Hill  the  methodist  so 
ciety  erected  a  church  in  1876,  completing  and  paying 
for  it  before  any  preacher  had  come  among  them. 
Their  first  pastor  was  R.  A.  Ricker.  Mason  valley 
has  had  a  small  frame  church  and  a  parsonage  since 


296  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

1880;  the  former  the  result  of  the  exertions  of  Mr 
Ladd.  Methodist  societies  were  established  in  Tus- 
carora  and  Elko.  The  membership  of  the  methodist 
church  in  1880  was  470.  with  13  preachers,  and  the 
value  of  church  property  $67,300.  Losses  by  fire 
aggregate  $59,600,  and  abandoned  property  in  de 
serted  mining  camps  $6,500.  These  figures  do  not 
represent  all  that  has  been  spent  in  church  property, 
which  is  $160,500. 

The  first  catholic  church  edifice    in    Nevada  was 

erected  at  Genoa  in  1860  by  Father  Gallagher,  on 

King  street.     It  was  blown   down  in  1862,  and  an- 

^  other  erected  in  its  place.     In  1861  the  first  relio-ious 

-L  O 

services  were  held  in  Virginia  City,  by  Mr  Smeath- 
man,  an  episcopal  clergyman,  and  in  the  following 
year  Franklin  S.  Rising,  of  New  York,  began  a  mis 
sion  for  his  church  in  Nevada,  which  was  followed  by 
a  visit  from  the  bishop  of  the  north-west  territories, 
Talbot  of  Indiana,  who  held  services  at  Aurora  Octo 
ber  4,  1863,  and  organized  a  parish  with  William  H. 
Stoy  as  its  pastor,  who  was  not  able  long  to  keep  his 
^restless  flock  together.  }  St  Paul's  episcopal  church 
at  Virginia  City  was  consecrated  by  Bisop  Talbot  on 
this  visit,  and  received  as  its  rector  Ozi  William 
Whitaker,  afterwards  bishop  |  St  John's  church  was 
erected  at  Gold  Hill  in  1864,  and  occupied  December 
18th.  It  was  taken  charge  of  in  1865  by  H.  D. 
Lathrop  of  Ohio,  and  dedicated  October  13,  1867,  by 
Bishop  Kip  of  California.  An  episcopal  church  was 
erected  at  Silver  City  in  1874-5  by  W.  R  Jenvey. 
Trinity  church,  Carson,  was  erected  in  1868,  and  con 
secrated  June  19,  1870,  by  Bishop  Whitaker,  George 
B.  Allen  rector.  A  parish  was  organized  at  Dayton 
December  26,  1863,  under  the  name  of  church  of  the 
ascension.  Bishop  Talbot  held  services  at  Austin  in 
1863,  and  Marcus  Lane  of  Michigan  ministered  there 
in  1868;  but  the  parish  of  St  George  was  not  organ 
ized  until  1873,  with  Christopher  S.  Stephenson  in 
charge,  who  was  succeeded  by  S.  C.  Blackiston,  of 


CHURCHES.  297 

Colorado.  The  church  of  St  George  at  Austin,  built 
of  brick,  was  the  gift  of  Allen  A.  Curtis,  superinten 
dent  of  the  Manhattan  mine.  The  bell  was  presented 
by  John  A.  Paxton  and  N.  S.  Gage,  and  the  organ 
by  James  S.  Porteous.  The  cost  of  the  church  and 
rectory  was  $17,000.  The  first  episcopal  services  in 
White  Pine  district  were  held  in  Broker's  hall,  Treas 
ure  City,  in  the  morning  of  June  10,  1869,  and  in  a 
justice's  court  room  at  Hamilton,  on  the  evening  of 
the  same  day,  by  Bishop  Whitaker.  In  September 
St  Luke's  parish  was  organized  at  Hamilton,  with 
Samuel  P.  Kelly,  of  Rhode  Island,  rector.  A  small 
wooden  church  was  erected  arid  consecrated  July  14, 
1872.  Bishop  Whitaker  visited  Pioche  September 
13,  1870,  preaching  in  a  drinking  saloon  to  a  large 
congregation.  A  year  afterward  H.  L.  Badger  of 
Ohio,  commenced  a  mission  at  that  place.  The  town 
had  just  been  destroyed  by  fire,  and  services  were 
held  at  private  residences  until  July  21,  1872,  when 
a  small  frame  church  and  rectory  were  completed. 
Eureka  also  received  a  visit  from  the  bishop  of  Ne 
vada  September  28,  1870,  who  held  services  in  a 
canvas  restaurant  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  ow 
ing  to  a  delay  caused  by  an  accident  to  the  coach 
conveying  him.  During  the  following  winter,  Mr 
Kelly,  of  Hamilton,  preached  occasionally.  In  May, 
1871,  St  James  parish  was  organized,  and  the  corner 
stone  of  the  church  laid  by  the  bishop.  A  rectory 
was  completed  that  year,  and  occupied  by  W.  Hen 
derson  ;  but  the  church,  which  was  built  of  stone,  was 
not  consecrated  until  July  28,  1872.  In  February 
1873  the  parish  of  Trinity  church  was  organized,  and 
services  held  by  the  bishop  in  the  court  house  for 
three  years.  In  the  meantime,  William  Lucas  of 
Ohio  was  installed  as  rector,  arid  a  church  edifice  com 
pleted  June  8,  1878.  The  first  episcopal  services 
were  held  at  Belmont  in  1872  by  Mr  Kelly,  S.  B. 
Moore  of  Pittsburgh  taking  charge  of  St  Stephen's 
parish  the  following  year,  which  was  incorporated 


298  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

February  16,  1874.  and  a  neat  wooden  church  erected. 
It  was  consecrated  in  1875  by  Daniel  Flack,  of 
Rochester,  New  York.  The  cost  of  the  episcopal 
churches  of  Nevada  has  been  about  $140,000. 

The  first  catholic  church  building  at  Genoa,  as  I 
have  said,  was  blown  down  in  1862,  not  being  entirely 
completed  at  the  time.  Patrick  Manogue  then  took 
charge  of  Virginia  parisK,  and  erected  a  better  one, 
which  was  consecrated  to  St  Mary  of  the  mountains. 
The  passionists  in  1862-3  erected  a  frame  church 
between  Virginia  and  Gold  Hill,  which  was  afterward 
removed  to  Gold  Hill ;  but  being  too  small  for  the 
congregation,  Father  O'Reilly  in  1864  erected  a 
larger  one.  A  catholic  church  was  erected  in  Austin 
in  1864  by  Father  Monte verde ;  and  at  Hamilton  in 
1868-9  by  Father  Phelan.  The  church  erected  at 
Virginia  City  by  Father  Gallagher  in  1860  being  un- 
suited  to  the  population  of  1868,  a  brick  church  cost 
ing  $65,000  was  erected  in  that  year,  by  Father 
Manogue,  who  was  appointed  vicar-general  of  the 
diocese  of  Grass  Valley,  which  included  the  state  of 
Nevada.  In  1870  Father  Grace  built  the  church  of 
St  Teresa  at  Carson.  In  1871  a  church  was  erected 
at  Pioche  by  Father  Scanlan,  arid  in  1872  at  Belmont 
by  Father  Monteverde,  who  also  built  the  frame 
church  of  St  Brendan,  at  Eureka  in  1871,  which  was 
replaced  three  years  afterward  by  a  brick  church, 
erected  by  Father  Hynes.  In  1871,  also,  Father 
Merrill  built  the  first  catholic  church  at  Reno.  The 
•  great  fire  of  1875  at  Virginia  City  destroyed"  the 
church  erected  by  Manogue,  who  in  1877  replaced  it 
by  another,  costing  only  a  little  less  than  the  first, 
and  beautifully  decorated  in  the  interior.  The  Reno 
church  having  been  consumed  in  the  fire  of  1879,  was 
rebuilt  in  an  improved  form.  Up  to  1885,  the  catho 
lics  expended  about  $250,000  in  churches  and  chari 
table  institutions. 

The  new  school  branch  of  the  presbyterian  church 
is  the  one  which  took  root  in  Nevada.     As  early  as 


CHURCHES.  299 

the  spring  of  1861  W.  W.  Brier,  exploring  agent  of 
the  assembly's  committee  of  home  missions,  visiting 
Nevada,  held  a  meeting  at  Carson  in  the  stone  school 
house,  and  organized  a  society.  Subscriptions  to  the 
amount  of  $5,000  were  obtained  for  a  church  edifice, 
and  A.  F.  White  of  California  removed  to  Carson  the 
same  year.  The  building  was  begun  in  1862,  and 

t/  O 

dedicated  May  1864,  Mr  White  officiating,  assisted 
by  Nims  of  the  methodist  church,  and  W.  C.  Pond 
of  California.  The  presbyterian  society  of  Virginia 
City  was  organized  September  21,  1862,  by  Mi' Brier, 
and  in  December  D.  H.  Palmer  of  New  York  took 
charge  of  it.  No  church  building  was  erected  before 
1867,  when  a  neat  edifice  costing  $4,700  was  dedi 
cated  July  7.  It  was  built  with  money  obtained 
by  a  successful  deal  in  mining  stock  purchased  with 
the  church  funds,  one  of  the  few  examples  of  stock 
gambling  by  a  religious  society,  as  such.  The  trustees 
purchased  four  lots  on  C  street,  and  erected  stores  for 
rent  on  either  side  of  the  meeting  house,  the  rental 
of  which  left  but  little  to  be  supplied  toward  the 
support  of  a  minister.  This  property  escaped  the  fire 
of  1875.  The  membership  at  Virginia  City  is  105. 
The  Gold  Hill  presbyterian  society  was  organized 
Nov.  1,  1863,  and  W.  W.  Macomber  was  the  minis 
ter  in  charge,  though  the  first  sermon  was  preached 
by  Frederic  Buell.  This  society  never  erected  a 
church^;  A  presbyterian  society  was  organized  at 
Austin  January  3,  1864,  at  the  court  house  by  L.  P. 
Webber.  No  church  was  ever  built,  and  the  society 
was  assigned  to  the  Sacramento  presbytery.  On  the 
26th  of  March,  1870,  John  Brown,  of  Glasgow,  Scot 
land,  organized  a  society  at  Elko  with  only  seven 
members,  and  the  Central  Pacific  company  presenting 
it  with  four  lots,  money  was  raised  to  erect  a  small 
church,  an  organ  being  presented  by  Henry  Ward 
Beecher.  The  presbyterians  of  Eureka  organized 
with  six  members  in  August  1873,  and  W.  C.  Mc- 
Dougal  was  their  first  pastor,  under  whose  charge  a 


300  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

church  was  erected.  J.  P.  Egbert  organized  the  so 
ciety  of  presbyterians  at  Pioche  in  January  1873, 
with  twelve  members.  It  never  had  a  meeting  house, 
and  in  1879  it  was  taken  off  the  roll  .of  churches. 
The  total  membership  of  the  presbyterian  church  in 
Nevada  is  less  than  200,  and  the  value  of  their  church 
property  $15,000. 

The  first  congregational  church  of  Reno  was  or 
ganized  February  19,  1871,  by  the  society  which  was 
formed  a  month  earlier.  A.  F.  Hitchcock  was  elected 
pastor.  A  building  was  erected  in  which  the  society 
of  odd  fellows  had  their  hall,  and  consecrated  to  re 
ligious  services. 

The  Cumberland  presbyterians  formed  a  church  in 
1878  at  Winnemucca,  but  after  two  or  three  years 
dissolved  the  society.  For  two  or  three  years  also, 
1874—5,  the  Welsh  miners  held  services  in  their 
native  language  at  Miners'  Union  hall  in  Virginia 
City,  The  Christian  church  also  had  its  representa 
tives  at  Virginia  in  1873. 

The  baptists  first  organized  at  Virginia  in  1863 
with  a  membership  chiefly  of  colored  people,  Satchell 
pastor.  The  church  was  dissolved  in  1866.  Another 
society  called  the  tabernacle  baptist  church  was  formed 
in  1865,  McLaiferty  pastor,  which  held  its  services 
in  the  court-house.  In  June  1873  C.  L.  Fisher  of 
California  preached  in  any  public  hall  obtainable, 
until  the  middle  of  December,  when  the  first  baptist 
church  of  Virginia  was  organized.  In  April  1874 
ground  was  purchased  on  C  street,  and  a  house  of 
—  worship  finished  in  July.  In  1875  Fisher  organized 
a  church  at  Reno,  in  the  opera-house.  In  the  follow 
ing  January  he  built  a  modest  meeting-house,  which 
was  first  occupied  on  the  7th  of  May.  This  church 
was  destroyed  in  the  fire  of  1879,  and  a  larger  one 
erected.  The  total  value  of  baptist  church  property 
in  Nevada  in  1880  was  $5,000.  ^A  bequest  of  $20,- 
000  was  received  by  the  American  Church  Mission 
ary  Society,  for  Nevada,  from  Miss  Sarah  Burr  of 


BENEVOLENT  SOCIETIES.  301 

New  York,  who  died  March  1,  1882,  to  be  applied 
to  the  support  of  struggling  churches.  The  Bible 
society  of  California  had  an  agent  in  Nevada  until 
1872,  when  the  Storey  County  Bible  society  was 
formed,  which  was  merged  in  the  Nevada  Bible 
society  October  19,  1873,  at  its  organization.  The 
parent  society  in  New  York  presented  the  Nevada 
offshoot  with  $2,000  worth  of  bibles  in  many  different 
languages,  and  H.  Richardson  acted  as  agent  in  their 
distribution^  At  the  west  Shoshone  reservation  there 
was  a  school  and  some  missionary  work  attempted, 
but  without  important  results.  The  baptist  church 
had  control  of  the  Indian  missions  in  Nevada,  though 
the  catholics  labored  among  the  Washoes  and  Pah 
Utes  off  the  reservations.  • 

Benevolent  societies  have  always  found  ready  sup 
port  in  Nevada.  In  charitable  work  every  religious 
denomination  took  part,  and  the  world's  people  most 
of  all,  the  money  being  chiefly  contributed  by  the 
non-sectarian  public.  Among  the  first  organized 
efforts  at  benevolence  was  the  formation  of  the  St 
Vincent  de  Paul  society  in  1863  by  the  catholic  citi 
zens  of  Virginia  City,  which  numbered  500  members, 
and  was  organized  by  Manogue.  Its  charities  were 
extended  to  all,  irrespective  of  religious  prejudices. 
The  Nevada  orphan  asylum,  St  Mary's  hospital,  St 
Mary's  school  for  girls,  and  St  Vincent's  school  for 
boys  were  charitable  institutions  under  the  care  of  the 
sisters  of  charity,  and  founded  in  1864  by  Manogue. 
The  grounds  for  the  hospital  were  a  gift  from  Mrs 
John  W.  Mackay,  who,  with  her  husband,  was  fore 
most  in  every  good  work  for  many  years.  The  Jew 
ish  population  were  notably  benevolent  among  their 
own  race,  and  contributed  liberally  to  many  pu'  lie 
charities.  A  society  was  organized  by  them  at  Reno, 
April  23,  1878,  called  the  Chebra  B'rith  Sholom,  for 
religious  and  benevolent  work,  but  their  property  was 
burned  in  the  fire  of  that  year,  and  the  society  dis 
solved.  On  the  10th  of  August,  1879,  the  Reno 


302  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

Hebrew  Benevolent  society  was  formed,  with  twenty- 
one  members,  for  the  same  purposes.  It  owned  a 
cemetery  near  the  city.  In  February  1881  the 
Nevada  Benevolent  association  filed  papers  of  incor 
poration,  the  object  of  which  was  to  give  public  enter 
tainments  of  a  musical  and  scientific  character,  to 
sell  tickets  to  such  entertainments,  and  to  purchase 
hold,  and  distribute  among  the  ticket-holders  certain 
prizes  in  real  estate  or  other  property,  to  raise  a  fund 
to  be  devoted  to  charitable  purposes,  particularly  the 
care  of  the  insane ;  and  the  legislature  was  induced  to 
pass  a  special  act  in  aid  of  the  enterprise,  permitting 
the  association  to  give  five  entertainments.  But  the 
constitution  of  Nevada  distinctly  forbids  lotteries, 
and  the  supreme  court  deciding  the  law  to  be  con 
stitutional  the  association  abandoned  its  purposes. 

The  first  lodge  of  free-masons  was  established  by 
a  dispensation  of  the  grand  lodge  of  California,  Feb 
ruary  3,  1862,  and  chartered  May  15th  of  the  same 
year.  In  January  1865  the  grand  lodge  of  Nevada 
was  organized,  and  Carson  City  Lodge  No.  154  be 
came  Carson  Lodge  No.  1  under  the  new  jurisdiction. 
Washoe  Lodge  No.  2  also  derived  its  authority  to 
organize  from  the  California  Grand  Lodge  July  25, 
1862,  and  chartered  May  14,  1863.  Virginia  Lodge 
No.  3  received  a  dispensation  January  15,  1863,  and 
was  chartered  May  14th  following,  All  these  lodges 
were  prosperous  and  dispensed  many  thousands  of 
dollars  in  charity.  But  in  the  great  fire  of  1875 
Virginia  Lodge  No.  3  lost  its  temple,  and  thereupon 
it  was  resolved  to  hold  a  lodge  upon  the  top  of  Mount 
Davidson,  with  all  the  pomp  and  ceremonies  of  the 
order,  which  unique  intent  was  carried  out  in  Sep 
tember,  when  a  large  number  of  visitors  were  pres 
ent.  The  jewels  of  the  officers,  made  of  Ophir  bullion, 
had  been  recovered  from  the  ashes  of  their  former 
lodge,  and  though  injured,  were  worn  on  this  occasion. 
Soon  the  society  was  refurnished  and  redomiciliated.27 

<  27  Amity  Lodge  No.   4  of  Silver  City;  Silver  Star  Lodge  No.  5  of  Gold 
Hill;  Esmeralda  Lodge  No.  6  of  Aurora;  Escurial  Lodge  No.    7  of  Virginia 


LIBRARIES.  303 

A  state  library  was  provided  for  by  the  first  terri 
torial  legislature,  which  prescribed  a  fee  of  ten  dol 
lars  from  every  person  receiving  a  license  to  practice 
law,  the  money  to  go  toward  purchasing  books  for 
the  territory.  After  the  state  was  admitted  an  act 
was  passed  requiring  each  officer  commissioned,  except 
commissioners  of  deeds  and  notaries  public,  to  pay 

City;  Lander  Lodge  No.  8  of  Austin;  and  Valley  Lodge  No.  9  of  Dayton, 
all  received  their  dispensations  and  charters  from  California  in  1863  and 
1864.  Austin  Lodge  No.  10  (1865)  of  Austin;  Oasis  Lodge  No.  11  (1867)  of 
Belmont;  Douglas  Lodge  No.  12  (1868)  of  Genoa;  Reno  Lodge  No.  13  (1869) 
of  Reno;  St  John's  Lodge  No.  13,  colored,  (1875)  of  Carson;  White  Pine 
Lodge  No.  14  (1869)  of  Hamilton;  Elko  Lodge  No.  15  (1871)  of  Elko; 
Eureka  Lodge  No.  16  (1872)  of  Eureka;  Humboldt  Lodge  No.  17  (1871)  of 
Unionville;  St  John  Lodge  Nc.  18(1871)  of  Pioche;  Winnemucca  Lodge  No. 
19  (1874)  of  Winnemucca;  Palisade  Lodge  No.  20  (1876)  of  Palisade;  Tus- 
carora  Lodge  No.  21  (1878)  of  Tuscarora;  and  Hope  Lodge  U.  D.  (1880)  of 
Mason  valley,  all  derived  their  charters  from  the  Nevada  grand  lodge,  ex 
cept  No.  13,  which  is  working  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  sovereign  grand 
lodge  of  California.  A  masonic  association  was  formed  at  Ward  in  1876, 
which  never  asked  for  a  dispensation.  On  the  16th  of  January,  1865,  the 
grand  lodge  of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons  of  Nevada  was  organized  at  Vir 
ginia  City.  On  the  25th  of  January,  1866,  some  masons  of  Sa.lt  Lake  City 
petitioned  the  Nevada  grand  lodge  for  authority  to  institute  Mount  Moriah 
Lodge  in  that  place.  Three  chapters  of  the  eastern  star  order  have  been 
established  in  Nevada,  to  which  women  are  admitted.  There  are  several 
chapters  of  masons  under  different  names,  a  general  grand  chapter,  and 
several  commanderies  of  knights  templar  in  the  state.  The  order  has  dis 
pensed  about  $75,000  in  charities;  owns  $110,813  in  property;  and  has  lost 
by  fires  $50,000. 

Lodges  of  Odd  Fellows  were  organized  in  the  following  order:  Wildey 
Lodge  No.  1,  Gold  Hill,  April  1,  1862;  Silver  City  Lodge  No.  2,  April  14. 
1862;  Mount  Davidson  Lodge  No.  3,  Virginia  City,  April  22,  1862;  Carson 
Lodge  No.  4,  Carson  City,  April  25,  1862;  Dayton  Lodge  No.  5,  June  2, 
1863;  Esmeralda  Lodge  No.  6,  Aurora,  September  16,  1863;  Nevada  Lodge 
No.  7,  Virginia  City,  January  15,  1864;  Washoe  Lodge  No.  8,  Washoe  City, 
January  18,  1864;  Austin  Lodge  No.  9,  Austin,  January  23,  1864;  Virginia 
Lodge  No.  10,  Virginia,  May  18,  1865;  Alpha  Lodge  No.  11,  Austin,  March 
14,  1867  (disincorporated);  Olive  Branch  Lodge  No.  12,  Virginia,  April  4, 
1867;  Parker  Lodge,  No.  13,  Gold  Hill,  October  8,  1868;  Truckee  Lodge  No. 
14,  Reno,  October  28,  1868;  Genoa  Lodge  No.  15,  Genoa,  December  25,  1868; 
Humboldt  Lodge  No.  16,  Winnemucca,  August  29,  1869;  Hamilton  Lodge 
No.  17,  Hamilton,  April  26,  1870;  Elko  Lodge  No.  18,  Elko,  October  19, 
1870;  Reno  Lodge  No.  19.  Reno,  May  18,  1871;  Capital  Lodge  No.  20,  Car 
son,  July  28,  1871;  Buena  Vista  Lodge  No.  21,  Unionville,  October  26,  1871; 
Eureka  Lodge  No.  22,  March  14,  1872;  Pioche  Lodge  No.  23,  September  10, 
1872;  Belmont  Lodge  No.  24,  March  5,  1873;  Paradise  Lodge  No.  25,  Para 
dise  valley,  October  17,  1873;  Palisade  Lodge  No.  26,  Palisade,  April  13, 
1874;  Mountain  Lodge  No.  27,  Eureka,  May  11,  1875;  Tybo  Lodge  No.  28, 
Tybo,  April  17,  1877;  Cornucopia  Lodge  No.  29,  Cornucopia,  May  31,  1877; 
Tuscarora  Lodge  No.  30,  Tuscarora,  June  7,  1878;  Battle  Mountain  Lodge 
No.  31,  Battle  Mountain,  March  19,  1879.  At  Grantsville  and  Cherry 
Creek  there  are  odd  fellows'  associations  for  the  relief  of  the  order,  which 
will  be  chartered  in  the  future.  The  first  ten  lodges  were  formed  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  California,  but  on  the  21st  of  January,  1867,  the  grand  lodge 


304  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

five  dollars  to  the  library  fund;  and  all  fines  and 
forfeitures  for  non-compliance  with  the  law  were 
devoted  to  the  same  purpose.  The  number  of  bound 
books  in  the  state  library  in  1878  was  9,498;  of 
unbound  books,  663  ;  and  the  number  of  newspapers 
on  file,  15,  A  library  was  organized  at  Wadsworth 
in  1879  by  the  locomotive  engineers.  A  circulating 
library  was  opened  at  Eureka  in  1872.  A  literary 
and  scientific  society  existed  at  Gold  Hill  as  early  as 
1865,  and  encouragement  was  also  given  to  the  attain 
ment  of  knowledge,  especially  of  the  sciences.  The 
Nevada  state  medical  society  was  formed  in  April, 
1878,  as  a  branch  of  the  national  American  medical 
association.  Twenty-four  physicians  were  enrolled  at 
the  organization,  the  number  increasing  to  38inl  880. 

of  Nevada  was  organized  at  Virginia  City.  There  were  in  1885  ten  encamp 
ments  in  the  state,  the  first  six  deriving  their  organization  from  the  grand 
encampment  of  California,  the  7th  from  the  sovereign  grand  lodge,  and 
three  from  the  grand  lodge  of  Nevada,  organized  December  28,  1874,  at  Car 
son.  Two  Rebekah  degree  lodges  were  instituted — the  Colfax  Lodge  at  Vir 
ginia,  City,  and  Esther  Lodge  of  Austin. 

The  Knights  of  Pythias  order  had  12  lodges  in  1885:  Nevada  Lodge  No. 
1,  Virginia  City,  organized  March  23,  1873,  by  authority  of  the  supreme 
chancellor,  H.  C.  Berry  of  Chicago;  Damon  Lodge  No.  2,  Carson  City,  July 
18,  1873;  Mystic  Lodge  No.  3,  Gold  Hill,  Nov.  24,  1874;  Carson  Lodge  No. 
4,  Carson  City,  December  20,  1S73;  Humboldt  Lodge  No.  5,  Genoa,  March 
1,  1874;  Lincoln  Lodge  No.  6,  Virginia  City,  March  29,  1874;  Beatific 
Lodge  No.  7,  Eureka,  September  22,  1874;  Amity  Lodge  No.  8,  Reno,  Jan 
uary  31,  1875;  Toiyabe  Lodge  No.  9,  Austin,  November  9,  1875;  Argenta 
Lodge  No.  10,  Battle  Mountain,  July  20,  1876;  Triumph  Lodge  No.  11,  Vir 
ginia  City,  October  20,  1879;  Lyon  Lodge  No.  12,  Dayton,  October  15,  1880. 
A  grand  lodge  was  organized  at  Carson  City  March  31,  1874. 

The  ancient  order  of  United  Workmen,  ancient  order  of  Hibernians,  in 
dependent  order  of  Red  Men,  independent  order  of  Foresters,  Caledonian 
club,  Virginia  Turnverein,  and  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  all  have  their 
organizations. 

The  Miners'  Union  was  organized  at  Virginia  City  June  6,  1863,  with  R. 
D.  Ferguson  president,  W.  C.  Bateman  vice-president,  and  B.  J.  Shay  secre 
tary.  The  Gold  Hill  branch  was  organized  August  6,  1864,  with  William 
Woodburn  president.  Woodburn  was  afterward  member  of  congress.  The 
union  has  a  library,  established  December  28,  1877.  Its  first  board  of  di 
rectors  was  composed  of  William  H.  Parker,  B.  Colgan,  T.  P.  Roberts,  Jo 
seph  Josephs,  John  F.  McDonald.  Secretary  and  librarian,  B.  Colgan.  The 
library  building  was  erected  in  1876,  and  took  the  place  of  the  miners'  union 
hall,  which  was  destroyed  by  the  fire  of  1875.  There  were  set  apart  a  chess- 
room  and  dancing-hall,  and  a  public  hall  used  by  several  societies,  namely, 
the  mechanics'  union,  ancient  order  of  Hibernians,  knights  of  the  Red 
Branch,  and  Montgomery  guards.  The  library  contained  in  1880,  2,200  books, 
worth  $6,000,  and  the  building  and  ground  were  worth  $15,000  more.  It 
was  free  to  members  of  the  union,  but  a  fee  of  fifty  cents  a  month  was 
charged  other  persons  using  the  books.  Ruby  Hill  also  had  a  miners'  union. 


LITERARY   AND   SCIENTIFIC.  305 

The  legislature  in  1861  appropriated  $500  for  the 
purpose  of  collecting  and  sending  specimens  of  ores 
from  Nevada  to  the  world's  fair  at  London.  A  com 
missioner  was  also  authorized  to  be  appointed  by  the 
governor  to  represent  Nevada  at  the  Paris  exposition 
in  1867.  The  legislature  of  1875  appropriated  $20,- 
000  to  constitute  a  centennial  fund,  for  the  purpose  of 
erecting  a  quartz-mill  at  the  Philadelphia  exposition 
in  1876,  and  to  exhibit  mineralogical  specimens 
thereat.  At  the  Paris  exposition  of  1878  there  was 
displayed  one  of  the  largest  and  most  interesting  col 
lections  of  minerals  ever  exhibited,  the  display  hav 
ing  been  made  possible  by  the  liberality  of  J.  W. 
Mackay.  As  early  as  1866  the  legislature  provided 
for  the  maintenance  of  a  school  of  mining,  and  created 
the  office  of  state  mineralogist.  The  law  was  repealed 
in  1877,  and  it  was  made  the  duty  of  the  superintendent 
of  public  instruction  to  be  ex  officio  curator  of  the  state 
museum  of  mineralogical,  geological,  and  other  speci 
mens  which  had  been  collected  during  eleven  years, 
and  which,  2,000  in  number,  were  kept  at  Carson.28 

28  Nevada  was  not  far  behind  the  other  Pacific  states  in  her  pioneer  or 
ganizations.  The  society  of  Pacific  Coast  Pioneers,  formed  at  Virginia  City 
June  22,  1872,  admits  3  classes;  those  who  were  residents  of  the  coast  prior 
to  January  1,  1851,  their  male  descendants  in  the  direct  line,  and  honorary 
members.  Their  hall,  cabinet  of  minerals,  and  library  were  consumed  in 
the  conflagration  of  1875.  The  money  loss  was  $20,000;  but  the  value  of 
what  could  not  be  replaced  was  incalculable.  They  had  later  a  building 
costing  $22,000,  and  were  collecting  another  cabinet  and  library.  The  society 
of  Reese  River  Pioneers  was  organized  June  11,  1873,  composed  of  males 
who  resided  in  Reese  river  mining  district  prior  to  December  31,  1864,  the 
object  being  to  collect  and  preserve  the  early  history  of  the  district,  and  per 
petuate  the  memory  of  their  dead  comrades. 

I  have  mentioned  elsewhere  some  of  the  earlier  newspapers  of  Nevada. 
The  number  of  journals  of  all  kinds  published,  for  a  greater  or  less  time, 
shows  great  intellectual  activity,  and  a  liberal  disposition  on  the  part  of  the 
people.  Without  repeating  the  former  list,  I  will  give,  so  far  as  I  am  able, 
by  counties,  the  newspaper  history  of  the  state.  The  politics  is  indicated, 
where  known,  by  the  letters  r.  and  d. ;  daily  and  weekly  by  d.  and  w. 

DOUGLAS   COUNTY. 

First  Issued.  Name.  Name  of  Founder.         Discontinued. 

1865,  Sept.  5.  .Nevada  Republican,  w..J.  H.  Hill,  r 1865,  Oct. 

1865,  Oct.  7.  .  .Douglas  Co.  Banner,  w.. Richard  Wheeler,  r..l866,  Jan. 

1875,  Feb.  20.. Carson  Valley  News,  w.A.  C.  Pratt,  r 1860,    July   16. 

1880,  July  23.. Genoa  Wkly  Courier,  w.Boynton  Carlisle,  r. 

1880,  April Genoa  Journal,  w J.  H.  Cradlebaugh,d.l881,  Jan.  1; 

HIST.  NEV.    20 


306  MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 


ELKO   COUNTY 


1869,  May Elko  Independent,  d. . .  a 

1870,  June  5 . .  .Elko  Chronicle,  s-w . . . .    j  ^-  *  j^*          1870> 

1875,  Sept.  11.  .Elko  Weekly  Post ja  a  pSJ££  *}  1881' 

18^7,  March  lO.Tuscarora  Times,  w E.  A.  Littlefield,  r. 

1877,  May. .     .   f  ^^^f   •  -C"  C'  S'  Wri«ht 1878' 

,C7Q    T        ,          jTuscarora  Times-Re-      j  Dennis  Fairchild) 
•   }view(consoHd'td),d..    (       &  Wright       f 

ESMERALDA   COUNTY 

1862,  May  10.  .Esmeralda  Star,  w E.  A.  Sherman  &  Co.  1864,  March. 

186i,  March 21. Esmeralda  Daily  Union.  J.  W.  Avard,  r 1868,  Oct. 

1863,  April. . .  .Aurora  Times,  d.  &  w.  .    -IK  ^  ^J^^l   1865>  APriL 

1877,  Oct.  13.  .Esmeralda  Herald,  w... Frank  Kenyon,  r. 

1873,  Aug Borax  Miner,  w Wm.  W.  Barnes,  d. .  1877. 

1877 Belleville  Times Mark  W.  Musgrove.,1878,  July. 

1880,  June  5. ..   j  ^sure?  w™\    ' ' J"  M"  Dormen 

1881,  Sept.  1... Oasis  (Hawthorne),  w.  .0.  E.  Jones. 

EUREKA  COUNTY 

1870,  July  16.  .Eureka  Sentinel,  d A.  Skillman  &  Co.,  d.  1885,  May. 

1878,  Jan.     1 .  .Eureka  Dy  Republican.  J.  C.  Ragsdale 1878,  June  24. 

1878,  June  25.  .Eureka  Daily  Leader  . .    j  ^/jp 


1880,  April  26. . .   ]  "-<£ '%"*'  }  James 


HUMBOLDT   COUNTY. 


1863,  May  2. . 
1869,  Oct.  30. 


Unionville  Humboldt  j  W.  J.  Forbes  &  C.  > 


Register,  w.  {  L.  Perkins,  iiid.      \ 

Winnemucca  Hum-     j    E.  D.  Kelly,  M.    |    1S7fi     ^ 
boldt  Register,  w.       1    S.  Bonnifield,  d.    f   18/b'    -1 


Fnionville  Silver       $    TT    A  TIT.IJ      ,3 

State,  w.  &d.          ]    H- A.  Waldo,  d. 


1868 Winnemucca  Argent Jno.  &.  Jo.  Wasson,  r.  1868,  Nov. 

1870,  March 

i  ceo     A          i  o  vv  mnemucca,  jxum-      )     T     A     T>     *i, 

1869,  Aug.  18  ...  boldt  Nat^naL         \   J.  A.  Booth,  d . . . .  1869. 

1879,  May  10 Paradise  Reporter H.  Warren,  d 1880,  Nov. 

LANDER   COUNTY. 

First  Issued.  Name.  Name  of  Founder.         Discontinued. 

1863,  May  16.  .Reese  River  Reveille,  s-w. .  W.  C.  Phillips,  r. 

1873,  Dec.  26 ....    |  Baf^e  ^^ aSUr6    j    W-  J'  Forbes 1875>  Oct- 

1877,  May  19.  .Battle  Mtn  Messenger.  .M.  W.  Musgrove,  r. 

1881,  Aug Battle  Mtn  Free  Press. . 

1881,  Nov.  23.  .Lewis  Weekly  Herald. . 

LINCOLN   COUNTY. 

1870,  Sept.  17.  .Pioche  Ely  Record,  s.  w.  W.  H.  Pitchford  &  Co. 
1872.  Sept.  17.  .Pioche  Daily  Record Pat.  Holland,  d. 

1872,  Sept. . .  .Pioche  Review,  d -j  F'  fZSSL**'  \  1872, 


1874,  Dec.  15.  .Pioche  Journal 


NEWSPAPERS.  307 

LYON  COUNTY. 

1864,  April  16.Como  Sentinel,  w |  ^L^£?J?i*T*{  1864,  July. 


1864,  July  9.  .  .  ]  A^l 

1874,  July  ____  Lyon  Co.  Times,  t-w  ____  Frank  Kenyon  ...... 

1876,  March  10.  Silver  City  D.  Mg  Reptr.  Reporter  Company.  .1876, 

1875,  July  .  .  .  .Sutro  Independent  .....   j   A  ^gjgJJJfc!  T'    1  188°'  N°V' 


NYE   COUNTY. 

1864,  June  25.  .lone  Nye  Co.  News,  w.  j  J'  ^  ^oety  *  H'|  1867,  May. 
1864,  Sept  .....  lone  Advertiser,  w  .......  John  Booth,  d  .......  1864,  Nov. 

1867,  March  30.  Silver  Bend  Reporter,  w  j  °'  *£  c^*^-^  [  1868,  July. 

1868,  June  6.  .  .   |    Be^p"n    |  W.  F.  ires,'  r.  .  .  .1869. 
1S74,  Feb.  11  .  .Belmont  Courier,  w.  .  .  .   j  VS^iS  *  | 

1886,  May  ____  Tybo  Sun,w  ............  J.  C.  Ragsdale  ........  1879,  Nov. 

1878,  Dec  .....  Grantsville  Sun,  w  ......  D.  L.  Sayer,  ind  ......  1879,  June. 

18*°  ..........  Grantsville  Bonanza....   {    ^^SS. 

ORMSBY  COUNTY  (see  ubi  supra). 

STOREY  COUNTY  (see  ubi  supra). 

1863,  July  7.  .  .Virginia  Evg  Bulletin,  d.H.  P.  Taylor  &  Co.,  r.  1864,  May. 
1863.  Aug.  10.  .  Dy  Democratic  Standard  |  f  °;  g^^f  |  1863'  Oct 
1863  ..........  The  Occidental  ____  .  ____  Thomas  Fitch  .......  1863,  May. 

1863,  Oct.  12.  .  Gold  Hill  Daily  News.  .     |  ™jjf  *$£^d  [ 

1864,  March  31  .Nevada  Pioneer,  s-w  ____  J.  F.  Hahnlen,  d  .....  1864,  Oct. 

Virginia  Constitution  .  . 

1864,  July  3.  .  .  .  Washoe  D.  Evg  Herald     j  g™;  RJ^J*1*  |  1864,  July  27. 

1864,  Oct.  28.  .  .Nev.  Staats  Zeitung,  w.  H.  M.   Bien,  r.  ..'..'...  1864. 

STOREY  COUNTY  (continued). 
First  Issued.  Name.  Name  of  Founder.  Discontinued. 

1865,  April  17..  Two  O'clock  News  .....  John  P.  Morrison  ____  1865. 

1866,  Oct.  16.  .  .Deutsch  Union  .........  J.  F.  Hahlen  ........  1866. 

1872,  Oct.  8.  .  .  Virginia  Evg  Chronicle.     j  John  G^G^d  f 

1876,  Sept  .....  Comstock  D.  Record  ____  W.  Frank  Stewart.  .  .1876,  Sept. 

188    ..........  Virginia  Footlight   ..... 

WASHOE  COUNTY. 

1862,  Oct.  18.  .  .Washoe  Times,  w  .......  G.  W.  Derickson,  r.  .  .  1863,  Dec.  12. 

1863,  Dec.  12.  .  .Old  Pah  Ute  ...........  John  K.  Lovejoy,  r.  .  1864,  Apr  16. 

1864,  April  16.  .Daily  Old  Piute  ........  Wilson  &  Gregory..  .  .1865,  Jan.  8. 

1865,  Jan.  8.  .  .  .Washoe  Weekly  Times.  .De  Lashmutt  &  Co..  .  .  1865,  Nov.20. 
1878,  Aug.  5.  .  .Reno  Daily  Record  .....  H.  A.  Waldo  &  Co.  .  .1878,  Nov.  1. 

1870,  Nov.  23.  .       Neva  er°Ur-      J-  G.  Law  &  Co.,  r. 


1876,  March  28.  Reno  Evening  Gazette.  .J.   F.   Alexander,  r. 
1881,  March..,  The  Plaindealer  ........  M,  H.  Hogan,  ind. 


308 


MATERIAL  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 


1     J-esJ.Ayres,r...  1870,  Nov. 


WHITE   PINE   COUNTY. 

I  White  Pine  News  )      W.  H.  Pitchford    )    ,  c~n    T 

1868,  Dec.  26. .     -      (Treasure  C[^          &  R  w.  Simpson.   \  18'0'  Jan' 

1870,  Jan j  ^/Ham^on^8  [     W'  J>  Forbes>  r 1878'  Nov- 

^9,  Fob ^lifZ,'.         , 

1809,  Dec. . .  EV^iSTm  f     ftt  ^^  '" '    '  -1870- 

1869,  March  . . . Shermaiitown  Reporter. . McEl wain  &  Allen. .  .1870,  May. 
1872,  July Schell  Creek  Prospect. .  .Forbes  &  Pitchford. .  .1873,  Jan. 

1876,  Oct Ward  Miner Mark  W.  Musgrove . .  1877,  April. 

1877,  April  19.  .The  Ward  Reflex,  w R.  W.  Simpson,  hid. 

1878   Jan.  1 Cherry  Crk  Independent. B.  M.  Barney,  ind..  .1878,  March. 

j  Cherry  Creek  White    (     W.   R.   Forrest, 
'81>  Jan }         Pine  News.  }     W.  L.  Davis. 

Spirit  of  the  West  (Ward). 

Union  (Ward). 

Watchman  (Ward). 

The  histories  of  all  these  newspapers,  which,  by  their  itinerant  habits, 
well  illustrate  the  restless  vitality  of  a  mining  population,  as  well  as  their 
varying  fortunes,  would  be  a  history  of  the  state  from  a  political  and  finan 
cial  point  of  view,  and  would  contain  a  great  deal  of  the  most  interesting 
biography  of  the  country;  but  it  would  form  a  volume  of  itself.  I  have  in 
my  collection  files  of  all  the  more  important  journals;  for  several  of  which  I 
am  indebted  to  O.  R.  Leonard  and  James  Crawford  of  Carson. 

Reference  has  been  made  in  this  chapter  to  the  following  works:  Ten 
Years  in  Nevada,  1870-80,  by  Mrs  M.  M.  Mathews,  which  is  a  narrative  of 
family  life,  and  speaks  of  Nevada  incidentally,  but  none  the  less  truthfully 
for  that.  The  Two  Americas  by  Sir  Rose  Lambert  Price,  Bart,  illustrated, 
1877,  is  a  book  of  travel  in  South  and  North  America,  superficial  in  observa 
tion,  and  of  trifling  interest.  The  Mormons  and  the  Silver  Mines  by  J.  Bon- 
wick,  1872,  another  hasty  book  by  an  English  tourist,  the  most  noticeable 
feature  of  which  is  the  credulity  of  the  author  as  to  the  fallibility  of  every 
thing  un-English.  The  chapter  on  Nevada  silver  mines  is  the  best  part  of 
the  book.  The  Woman  in  Battle.  A  Narrative  of  the  Exploits,  Adventures, 
and  Travels  of  Madum  Lorctta  Janetta  Velasquez,  otherwise  known  as  Lieuten 
ant  Harry  L.  Buford  of  the  confederate  army,  edited  by  O.  J.  Wortfungton, 
The  title  explains  the  nature  of  this  book.  It  is  only  to  be  added  that  after 
her  adventures  as  a  spy  the  subject  of  the  narrative  married  a  miner  in  Aus 
tin,  Nevada,  and  offers  some  slight  remarks  upon  life  in  that  and  other 
western  towns.  Resources  and  Prospects  of  America,  Ascertained  during  a  Visit 
to  the  United  States  in  the  Autumn  of  18  J5,  by  Sir  S.  Morton  Peto,  Bart,  1866, 
is  a  book  of  nearly  400  pages,  containing  some  facts  and  some  absurdities. 
What  shall  we  say  of  a  man  supposed  to  be  in  his  senses  who  visits  Nevada 
and  writes  thus:  '  This  district  is  said  to  have  been  actually  untraversed 
before  1859.  In  the  spring  of  that  year  it  was  explored  by  Mr  Horace 
Greeley,  and  in  the  month  of  September  following  by  a  party  of  young  men 
from  Illinois.'  Ihis  party  was  probably  the  young  man  with  his  associates, 
to  whom  Horace  said  'Go  west.'  Westward  by  Rail;  the  Neio  Route  to  the 
East,  by  W.  F.  Rae,  1870,  is  another  book  by  an  English  tourist,  this  time  a 
very  good-natured  one.  Thirty-three  pages  are  devoted  to  sights  and  inci 
dents  along  the  line  of  the  Central  Pacific.  All  the  Western  States  and  Terri 
tories  fro  >  the  Alleahanies  to  the  Pacific,  and  from  the  Lakes  to  the  Gulf,  by  John 
W.  Barber  and  Henry  Howe,  1867,  is  a  history  from  their  earliest  times, 
with  pioneer  incidents,  biographical  sketches,  and  geographical  description, 
illustrated.  Twelve  pages  are  devoted  to  Nevada,  and  the  brief  sketch  is  in 
general  correct.  Barber's  work  is  worthily  done  where  he  deals  with  terri 
tory  within  his  reach,  and  is  an  excellent  epitomized  history,  Exploration 


AUTHORITIES.  309 

Miner  alo'fujue  Des  Rerjiom  Mexicaines,  suive  De  Notes  ArcMologiques  et  Eth- 
nographitjues,  par  M.  E.  Guillemin  Tarayre,  etc.,  1869,  is  a  careful  report  on 
these  subjects  to  the  minister  of  public  instruction  at  Paris.  Nevada  is 
merely  touched  upon  in  the  work,  a  chapter  being  given  to  the  Indian  tribes, 
and  a  few  pages  to  the  geography  and  mineralogy  of  the  state.  Also  Pacific 
Coast  Mining  Review,  1878-9;  Hayne,  in  Kiivjs  Survey,  iii.  316,  394,  409,  423; 
Grote  in  Haydens  Geological  Survey,  vi.  no.  2,  255-77;  Overland  Monthly, 
March  1869,  273-80;  Cadioalader  Guide,  etc.;  Williams  Pac  Tourist,  175, 
205-7;  SoffonVs  Narr.,  MS.,  31-2;  Thorntons  Oregon  and  California,  i.  170- 
88;  ii.  100-20;  Beckwith,  in  Pac  R.  R.  Report,  ii.  25-39,  62,  68,  88-9;  Reise 
Durch  diefelsenefjirge,  130—9;  notes  of  travel  through  Nevada;  Galaxy  (mag.), 
xxi.  April  1876;  Galveston  News,  Dec.  1,  1884;  Brackett,  in  Western  Monthly, 
239;  Wheelock's  Guide  to  Reese  River;  Austin  Directory,  1866,  26-40;  New  Mex 
ico  Scraps,  58-60;  Directory  Pacific  Coast,  1871-3,  343-76;  Blatchlys  Rcpton 
Mineral  Resources  qf  Reese  River,  5-6,  35,  48;  Harper's  May.,  June  1866,  27-8, 
34;  De  Groot's  Report  on  the  Mineral  Deposits  and  Other  Properties  of  the  Nevada 
Consolidated  .Borax  Company;  Fox's  Mason  Valley  Settlement,  MS.,  1;  National 
Almanac,  1864,452;  Message  of  Governor  Adams,  1885;  Meteorological  Observa 
tions,  made  at  Carson  observatory,  1883-4;  Adventures  in  the  Far  West  and 
Life  Among  the  Mormons,  by  Mrs  C.  V.  Waite,  1882,  describes  among  other 
.things  the  society  of  Carson  City,  262-71;  Greeley's  Overland  Journey,  270— 
80;  Life  and  Labor  in  the  Far,  Far  West,  by  W.  Henry  Barneby,  is  'notes  of  a 
tour  in  the  western  states,  British  Columbia,  Manitoba,  and  the  north-west 
territory,'  with  glances  at  Nevada.  The  writer  of  the  last  named  work  is 
English,  and  an  industrious  observer  of  wayside  scenes  and  local  customs. 
The  book  is  good  of  its  kind.  From  Wisconsin  to  California  and  Return,  by 
James  Ross  and  George  Gary.  A  Comprehensive  View  of  our  Country  and  its 
Resources,  by  James  D.  McCabe,  Jr,  1876,  gives  a  brief  outline  of  the  his 
tory  of  the  nation  and  each  of  the  states  separately,  with  descriptive  mat 
ter  and  present  resources.  From  the  Orient  to  the  Occident,  or  L.  Boyers  Trip 
Across  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  April  1877,  is  the  title  of  a  book  of  145  pages 
describing  what  was  seen  upon  the  journey.  A  few  pages  are  given  to  Fair 
&  Mackay's  lumber  flume.  Crofutfs  Overland  Tourist  is  a  travellers'  guide 
book,  and  gives  a  brief  history  of  each  station  on  the  railroad,  and  also  of 
other  points  of  interest  in  the  state.  White  Pine,  its  Geographical  Location, 
Topography,  Geological  Formation,  Mining  Laws,  Mineral  Resources,  Towns, 
etc.,  by  Albert  S.  Evans,  1869,  is  a  pamphlet  of  49  pages,  which  keeps  the 
promise  of  its  title  page  better  than  many  a  more  pretentious  book.  Six 
Months  in  California,  by  J.  G.  Player  Frowd,  an  English  traveller,  is  a  pleas 
ant  account  of  a  summer  jaunt,  and  is  devoted  chiefly  to  California,  but  con 
tains  a  chapter  on  the  mines  of  Nevada,  with  here  and  there  a  bit  of  descrip 
tion  worth  reading.  From  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Overland  is  a  series  of  let 
ters  by  Demas  Barnes  describing  the  journey,  and  also  the  ocean  voyage 
home  by  the  isthmus  of  Panama.  A  dozen  pages  are  given  to  mining  in 
Nevada  out  of  135  in  all.  Ten  Thousand  Miles  of  Travel,  Sport,  and  Adven 
ture,  by  F.  French  Townshend,  capt  2d  Life  Guards,  is  a  running  account  of 
what  the  writer  saw  and  heard  in  his  sea  and  land  travel,  with  some  hunting 
on  the  plains,  and  some  remarks  upon  mining  in  Nevada.  Adventures  in  (he 
Apache  Country;  A  Tour  Throiigh  Arizona  and  Sonora,  ivith  Notes  on  the  Silver 
Regions  of  Nevada,  deals  with  the  descriptive  and  historical  in  a  clear  and 
very  readable  style.  Fifty -three  pages  are  given  to  the  southern  portion  of 
Nevada.  Reports  of  the  State  Controller  of  Nevada,  Attorney-general  of  Nevada. 
State  Treasurer  of  Nevada,  and  Secretary  of  State  of  Nevada,  for  1884. 


CHAPTER  XL 

PROGRESS  OF  EVENTS. 

1881-1888. 

FINANCES— REDUCTION  OF  EXPENSES — PURLIC  BUILDINGS— STATE  PRISON 
WAR — STATE  UNIVERSITY— PUBLIC  CHARITIES— EDUCATIONAL  AFFAIRS 
— PROPOSED  ANNEXATION  OF  SOUTHERN  IDAHO — MINING — RAILROADS — 
POLITICS. 

FOLLOWING  the  excitement  of  the  bonanza  period, 
and  the  struggle  in  congress  over  the  silver  question, 
was  a  period  of  quiet  adjustment  to  existing  condi 
tions.  Nevada  had  begun  its  career  under  those  cir 
cumstances  which  foster  a  spirit  of  recklessness  in 
expenditure,  and  had  for  some  time  been  making 
endeavors  to  bring  the  cost  of  county  and  state  gov 
ernment  down  to  a  level  of  reasonable  economy.  Only 
one  defalcation  of  importance  had  occurred  to  stain 
the  records  of  the  state — that  of  the  treasurer,  Eben 
Rhoades,  in  1869,  when  $106,432.58  of  the  state's 
money  were  feloniously  converted  to  his  use.  The 
bonded  state  debt  in  1872  amounted  tto  $500,000, 
bearing  fifteen  per  cent  interest  per  annum,  then  nearly 
due,  with  very  little  in  the  treasury  to  meet  it. 

To  remedy  this  unfortunate  condition  of  affairs  the 
legislature  of  1871  had  passed  a  law  authorizing  the 
state  to  borrow  $280,000,  and  to  issue  its  bonds  there 
for,  payable  in  1881,  with  interest  at  ten  per  cent  per 
annum.  A  loan  of  $160,000  was  negotiated  in  April 
1871,  and  a  further  loan  of  $120,000  at  nine  and  a 
half  per  cent,  payable  in  1882.  In  1875  the  legisla 
ture  authorized  the  purchase  and  cancellation  of  these 

(3101 


FINANCES.  311 

bonds,  and  $119,600  were  so  cancelled  at  that  time. 
The  state  moneys  were  also  applied  to  the  purchase 
of  United  States  and  California  state  bonds,  the  inter 
est  on  which  was  devoted,  with  the  principal,  to  extin 
guishing  the  debt  of  Nevada.  But  there  was  also 
what  was  known  as  the  territorial  debt  amounting  to 
$380,000,  which  the  legislature  of  1871  provided  for 
in  a  manner  similar  to  that  adopted  for  the  state  debt, 
by  borrowing  and  issuing  bonds  at  nine  and  a  half 
cents  interest,  and  payable  in  1887.  United  States 
bonds  to  the  amount  of  $100,000  were  also  purchased 
toward  the  extinguishment  of  this  debt  during  the 
years  previous  to  1878.  With  a  view  to  the  cancel 
lation  of  the  territorial  debt,  which  congress  had 
repeatedly  been  asked  to  assume,1  the  legislature  of 
1877  passed  a  state  law  authorizing  the  application  to 
this  purpose  of  the  assets  of  the  territorial  interest  and 
sinking  fund,  the  bonds  belonging  to  the  state  school 
fund,  and  $50,000  from  the  general  fund. 

This  law  contemplated  the  issuance  by  the  state  to 
the  school  fund  of  an  irreducible  bond,  bearing  five 

O 

per  cent  interest  per  annum,  for  the  sum  of  $380,000, 
which  was  considered  to  be  the  best  application  of  the 
assets  in  the  state  school  fund  that  could  be  made  in 
the  interest  of  the  public  schools.  But  the  holders 
of  the  territorial  bonds  refused  at  that  time  to  accept 
this  exchange.  The  debt,  however,  was  virtually 
extinguished,  as  the  means  were  in  hand  to  pay  the 
bonds  whenever  surrendered. 

There  was  in  Nevada  at  this  time  a  singular  dis 
proportion  of  revenue  to  expenses,  notwithstanding 
the  refusal  of  the  bonanza  mine-owners  to  pay  taxes 
according  to  law,  there  being  in  1879  a  surplus  "  far 
beyond  the  wants  of  the  state," 2  besides  the  mining 

1The  legislature  of  1867  endeavored  to  have  congress  assume  this  iudebt- 
ediiess.  l\ev.  Laivs,  1867-83;  and  again  in  1869  memorialized  to  the  same 
effect.  Id.  1869;  293.  These  claims  were  still  unsettled  in  1887,  but  were 
then  nnder  consideration,  and  have  since  been  paid. 

2Govemor  Bradley' s  Message  to  tlie  Legislature  1879  p.  6. 


312  PROGRESS  OF  EVENTS. 

tax  due  amounting  to  $290,275.95,  and  a  penalty 
for  refusal  to  pay  off  $101,596.57,  for  which  suits 
were  pending  in  the  state  courts,3  and  the  territorial 
debt  due  from  congress,  and  notwithstanding  the  leg 
islature  of  1875  had  reduced  the  tax  for  all  state  pur 
poses  from  a  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  on  every 
$100  to  ninety  cents,  which  reduction  amounted  to 
half  a  million  in  the  four  years  following.  Clearly, 
taxes  were  inordinate  when  the  state  treasury  was 
overflowing.  However,  the  valuation  of  real  and 
personal  property  fell  off  between  1873  and  1878  from 
$26,466,505  to  $21,342,663.  This  simply  showed 
that  other  resources  of  the  state  had  been  neglected 
to  give  undue  attention  to  mining,  and  also  that  min 
ing  property  was  not  taxed  as  it  should  have  been. 
The  state  had  produced  an  annual  average  of  $25,000,- 
000  in  bullion  ever  since  its  admission^  doing  more  to 
help  resume  specie  payment  after  the  war  than  many 
of  the  older  states,  and  had  asked  and  received  less 
in  appropriations  than  any  other  commonwealths, 
maintaining  also  a  clean  record  as  to  its  public  trusts. 
Nothing  was  wanting;;  but  a  little  time  to  bring  min- 

O  O  O 

ing  to  a  legitimate  basis,  and  to  develop  the  agricul 
tural  and  other  resources  of  the  state.  In  1882 
the  valuation  had  again  risen  to  $27,000,000. 
Yet,  a  bill  was  before  congress  in  that  year  to  abolish 
the  state  of  Nevada  and  attach  the  territory  to  Cali 
fornia  I  It  was  quite  the  fashion  in  some  quarters, 
after  the  failure  of  the  bonanza  mines,  to  disparage 
the  battle-born  member  of  the  republic,4  which  had  so 
speedily  relieved  the  government  by  its  support ;  but 
this  fashion  proceeded  solely  from  the  spleen  common 
to  humanity  when  any  prodigal  gift  once  enjoyed  is 
withheld. 

Senator  W.  W.  Hobart  of  Eureka  county  intro 
duced  a  bill,  which  passed  the  legislature  in  1881, 
reducing  the  public  expenses  about  $26,000  annually, 

3  These  taxes  were  finally  paid  according  to  the  decsion  of  the  supreme 
court. 


FINANCES.  313 

first  by  diminishing  the  number  of  legislators  from 
seventy-five  to  sixty,  and  secondly  by  reducing  the 
salaries  of  the  state  officers.*  The  pay  of  the  latter 
having  been  adjusted  to  the  cost  of  living  in  the  early 
territorial  and  flush  mining  times,  and  to  the  expectation 
that  the  state  would  become  populous  and  wealthy, 
could  very  properly  be  made  to  conform  to  later  condi 
tions  without  an  exhibition  of  parsimony.  With  a  view 
to  reforms,the  legislature  of  1883  submitted  to  the  peo 
ple  the  question  of  calling  a  convention  to  revise  the 
constitution,  but  the  proposition  was  negatived,  and 
Hobart's  bill  took  its  place.5 

At  the  close  of  1888  the  finances  of  Nevada  were 
in  a  sound  condition.  It  had  between  §600,000  and 
$700,000  in  cash  in  the  treasury,  and  $600,000  in 
United  States  bonds.  The  school  funds,  chiefly  in 
vested  in  United  States  and  Nevada  state  bonds, 
amounted  to  $1,250,000.  The  revenue  was  still 
considerably  in  excess  of  expenses.  The  state  owed 
little  except  its  debt  to  the  school  fund,  which  there 
was  money  in  the  treasury  to  meet,  and  which 
amounted  to  about  $400,000,  of  which  $380,000 
was  in  the  form  of  a  five  per  cent  irreducible 
bond,  the  interest  on  which  was  payable  semi-an- 
nually,  and  the  remainder  in  forty-five  $1,000  bonds 
at  four  per  cent.  This  conversion  of  the  school  fund 
into  a  fund  for  the  support  of  the  state  was  found 
to  be  beneficial  to  both.  It  at  least  prevented  specu 
lations  in  the  school  fund  which  were  carried  on  to  a 
considerable  extent  in  another  of  the  Pacific  States. 
All  that  the  state  owed  in  1885  was  due  to  this  fund 
which  was  irredeemable,  as  well  as  irreducible,  and 
the  interest  alone  applicable  for  educational  purposes. 

Public  buildings  in  Nevada  have  kept  pace  with 

4  Says  Gov.    Adams:  'We  find  a  system  of  state  government  much  too 
cumbersome  for  our  present  wants,  and  requiring  an  annual  expenditure  en 
tirely  out  of  proportion  to  our  taxable  resources.'  Biennial  Message,  1886. 

5  The  salaries  of  sup.  judges  were  reduced  from  $7,000  to  £5,000;  govern 
or's  salary  from  $6,000  to  $5,000;  secretary's  salary   from  $3,600  to  $3,000; 
treasurer's  the  same,  and  smaller  salaries  in  proportion.     The  mileage  of  the 
legislators   was  reduced  from  40  to  25  cents.     The  law  went  into  effect  in 
1883.     Goo,  Me&iayc,  1885;  Treat.  Rcpt,  1884, 


314  PROGRESS   OF  EVENTS. 

the  general  progress  of  the  state.  The  United  States 
branch  mint  erected  at  Carson  was  founded  Septem 
ber  25,  1866,  and  its  machinery  put  in  motion  Novem 
ber  1,  1869.  It  is  a  handsome  structure,  built  of  sand 
stone,  with  a  front  of  90  feet,  and  two  and  a  half  stories 
high.6  In  January  18 69  the  legislature  appropriated 
$100,000  to  erect  a  capitol  of  sandstone,  the  corner 
stone  of  which  was  laid  on  the  9th  of  June,  1870.7  The 
state  prison  was  also  located  at  Carson,  where  a  stone 
quarry  marked  by  the  footprints  of  primeval  man  furn 
ished  the  material  for  its  construction.  Curry  was  the 
owner  of  the  land,  of  whom  the  legislature  pur 
chased  the  site,  and  was  the  first  warden  appointed 
before  the  purchase,  while  the  property  was  under  a 
lease.  The  state  in  1864  paid  $80,000  for  twenty 
acres  with  the  buildings  and  appurtenances  as  they 
then  existed.  In  1867  the  buildings  were  destroyed 
by  fire,  together  with  the  records.  The  stone  for  the 
new  prison  was  quarried  by  the  convicts,  and  over 
$72,000  was  spent  in  its  erection,  besides  the  labor 
and  material  on  hand.8  But  in  1873  the  political 
exigencies  of  the  democratic  party  in  the  state,  and 
the  wishes  of  the  inhabitants  of  Washoe  county, 
caused  the  legislature  to  assume  that  there  was  a  suf- 

6  The  block  of  granite  contributed  by  Nevada  to  the  national  monument 
expressed  the  temper  of  the  people.     It  was  a  simple  slab  2x3  feet  and  6 
inches  in  thickness,  with  a  raised  panel  highly  polished,  inscribed:   '  All  for 
our  country, '  the  letters  being  lined  with  gold  and  arranged  in  a  semicircle, 
with  the  date  1881  beneath.     Across  the  face  is  the  word  Nevada  in  letters 
4  inches  in  height  of  native  silver  set  in  the  stone. 

7  Nev.    Laws,    1869,    73-5.     Contract   awarded   to  Peter   Cavanaugh  for 
$84,000,  to  be  completed  in  Jan.  1871. 

8 Nev.  Jour.  Sen.,  1869,  181-6.  Id.,  1879,  103-4.  In  1870  a  number  of 
prisoners  attempted  to  escape,  and  several  persons  were  wounded.  A  still 
more  serious  uprising  took  place  in  1871,  in  which  Lieut. -gov.  Denver  and  4 
guards  were  seriously  wounded,  F.  M.  Isaacs,  guard,  and  Matthew  Pixley, 
a  prominent  citizen,  killed,  and  29  of  the  most  desperate  characters  escaped. 
The  militia  were  called  out.  After  that,  in  1873,  there  was  what  was  known 
as  the  state  prison  war.  when  Denver,  who  was  warden,  refused  to  surrender 
the  prison  to  his  successor,  P.  C.  Hyman.  Gov.  Bradley  called  out  the 
militia  in  this  instance,  also,  and  60  armed  men  under  Maj.-gen.  Van  Bok- 
kelen,  with  one  piece  of  artillery,  were  ordered  to  place  the  new  incumbent 
in  possession,  even  at  the  cost  of  life.  Denver  then  surrendered.  In  1877 
there  was  a  third  attempt  at  escape,  made  by  8  men  employed  in  a  shoe  fac 
tory,  which  had  been  added  to  the  prison,  in  which  one  convict  was  killed, 
and  the  deputy  warden,  captain  of  the  guard,  and  one  prisoner  wounded. 
An  attempt  was  made  to  burn  the  prison  in  Aug.  1879,  which  was  detected. 


PUBLIC    BUILDINGS.  315 

ficiently  urgent  need  for  more  room  for  prisoners  to 
justify  the  expenditure  necessary  to  the  project,  and 
an  act  was  passed  providing  for  a  new  prison  at  Reno. 
For  this  purpose  a  state  building  fund  was  created. 
Into  this  fund  the  law  transferred  any  surplus  re 
maining  in  the  state  capitol  fund,  and  a  tax  of  one- 
eighth  of  one  per  cent,  was  levied  for  its  special  use, 
the  first  $100,000  so  obtained  to  be  devoted  to  the 
purchase  of  the  necessary  lands  and  the  erection  of 
buildings  to  accomodate  not  less  than  300  prisoners. 
The  labor  of  the  prisoners  was  to  be  utilized  in  the 
prosecution  of  the  work.  The  commissioners  pro 
ceeded  to  purchase  200  acres  of  land  on  the  Truckee 
river,  at  Reno  in  a  good  location  for  mills  and  ma 
chinery,  the  foundations  were  laid,  and  the  walls 
erected.  But  notwithstanding  the  better  financial 

O 

condition  of  the  state  subsequently,  no  further  pro 
gress  has  been  made.  In  1888,  convicts  were  ac 
commodated  in  the  old  prison  at  Carson  which  proved 
sufficiently  large  under  a  different  administration,  and 
it  was  discovered  that  while  undoubtedly  the  site  at 
Reno  was  an  excellent  one,  there  was  some  doubt 
about  the  advisability  of  bringing  prison  labor  in 
competition  with  wage  workers,  as  they  must  be  at 
Reno.  And  as  nothing  occurred  to  determine  the 
question,  the  subject  remains  in  abeyance.  But  in 
the  meantime  an  asylum  for  the  insane  was  erected 
at  Reno ;  and  the  mentally  afflicted  were  recalled 
from  California  hospitals  and  provided  for  at  home. 

Nevada  received  from  the  general  government  the 
usual  grant  of  seventy-two  sections  of  land  to  aid  in 
establishing  a  state  university,  and  90,000  acres  for 
the  maintenance  of  a  college  of  agriculture  and 
mechanic  arts.  In  the  case  of  the  latter  grant  the 
appropriation  was  converted  with  the  consent  of  con 
gress  to  the  maintenance  of  a  mining  college.9  The 
university  was  located  at  Elko,  remote  from  the  ex- 

9Nev,  Jour.  Sen.,  1869,  app.  no,  1,  p.  20;  no.  8,  p.  12-14,  43-9. 


316  PROGRESS  CF  EVENTS. 

isting  centres  of  population,  and  was  for  a  long  time 
no  more  than  a  preparatory  school  or  academy.  The 
citizens  of  Elko  in  order  to  secure  the  university 
offered  to  erect  a  brick  edifice  with  accommodations 
for  one  hundred  pupils  as  the  initial  foundation  of  the 
state  colleges.  A  school  was  first  opened  there  in 
1874,  and  taught  for  four  years  by  D.  R.  Sessions, 
A.  M.  and  B.  A.  of  Princeton  college.  With  but 
meagre  appropriations  by  the  state,  the  university 
languished  until  1887,  when,  it  having  been  removed 
to  Reno,  a  more  eligible  locality,  the  legislature  ap 
propriated  $30,000  for  its  support,  and  started  it  upon 
a  more  useful  career. 

Congress  had  been  liberal  to  Nevada  in  the  matter 
of  land  grants.  The  school  lands  amounted  to  3,925,- 
000,  acres,  of  which  the  state  had  sold  previous  to 
the  16th  of  June,  1880, 16,967  acres.  By  relinquish 
ing  to  the  United  States  all  the  remaining  16th  and 
36th  sections,  many  of  which  were  not  agricultural, 
the  state  secured  the  privilege  of  selecting  2,000,000 
acres  of  any  unappropriated  non-minsral  lands,  to  be 
disposed  of  under  such  laws  and  regulations  as  the 
legislature  should  prescribe.10  The  grants  besides 
those  above  mentioned  were  500,000  acres  for  internal 
improvements,  12,800  for  public  buildings,  and  12,800 
for  a  penitentiary. 

The  state  made  provision  for  public  charities,  erect 
ing  an  orphanage  u  at  Carson  in  1869.  In  1873  Geo. 
H.  Morrison  was  the  author  of  assembly  bill  29, 
which  greatly  enlarged  the  usefulness  of  the  institu 
tion,  since  which  time  it  has  been  one  of  the  best 
charities  on  the  Pacific  coast.12  There  is  an  asylum  for 

1&  Surveyor-general's  Kept,  1884.  31. 

llNev.  Jour.  Assem.,  1866  247-9;  Nev.  Jour.  Sen.,  1873,  app.  no.  9,  10; 
Reno  State  Journal,  Jan.  27,  1877;  Gold  Hill  News,  April  13,  1881;  White 
Pine  News,  Dec.  24,  1881;  Eureka  Leader,  April  9,  1881. 

1- Morrison  was  born  in  Calais  Maine,  Nov.  8,  1845.  He  came  to  Nevada 
in  1864;  was  assessor  of  Virginia  City  in  1866;  represented  Storey  county  in 
the  state  legislature  in  1873;  was  chief  clerk  of  the  assembly  in  1883;  mar 
ried  Mary  E.  Howard  of  Boston  in  1870.  In  1889  he  was  elected  director 
of  the  Bancroft-Whitney  law  publishing  co.,  and  director  and  secretary  of 
the  History  company.  He  rendered  me  valuable  aid  in  gathering  data  for 
niy  historical  work. 


PUBLIC  INSTITUTIONS.  317 

the  insane  at  Reno.  Until  1882  insane  patients  were 
sent  to  California  asylums  at  the  expense  of  the  state; 
but  the  legislature  at  length  appropriated  $80,000  to 
found  a  proper  sanitarium  for  brain-sick  members  of 
the  body  politic,  and  in  1881  was  laid  the  corner 
stone  of  the  Nevada  asylum.  The  deaf,  dumb,  and 
blind  were  sent  to  California  institutions  for  instruc 
tion,  the  number  of  such  unfortunates  in  Nevada  s 
population  not  justifying  the  expenditure  of  a  large 
sum  for  state  schools.13 

A  favorite  idea  with  Senator  Stewart  was  the 
annexation  of  southern  Idaho,  with  its  mines  and 
population.  There  were  better  ways  of  obtaining 
population,  as  the  neighboring  territories  and  youth 
ful  states  with  boards  of  trade  and  immigration 
bureaux  have  reminded  him,  than  by  any  arbitrary 
proceedings.  In  anticipation  of  a  possible  consolida 
tion,  perhaps,  and  remembering  that  a  large  number 
of  the  citizens  of  southern  Idaho  were  Mormons  in 
faith,  the  Nevada  legislature  of  1877,  by  a  joint  con 
current  resolution,  amended  the  constitution  so  as  to 
exclude  from  the  privilege  of  electors  any  bigamist 
or  polygamist,  or  any  person  who  belonged  to  or 
affiliated  with  any  order  or  organization  inconsistent 
with  or  hostile  to  the  government  of  the  state  or  of 
the  United  States,  or  which  sanctioned  or  tolerated 
bigamy  or  polygamy.  This  was  turning  the  cold 
shoulder  to  Idaho,  which  half  inclined  to  come  into 
the  arrangement  with  Nevada  for  the  sake  of  achiev 
ing  statehood.  If  the  Mormons  of  Idaho  saved  that 
long-tried  territory  from  being  deprived  of  its  indi 
vidual  existence,  they  served  it  better  than  they  knew, 
arid  left  the  burden  of  increasing  Nevada's  strength 
and  honors  where  it  properly  belonged. 

The  legislature  of  1887  took  a  step  in  the  right 
direction  when  it  enacted  laws  encouraging  the  sink- 

™Nev.  Jour.  Sen,,  1869,  app.  no.  8;  Carson  Appeal,  Feb.  21,  1881;  White 
Pine  New*,  June  24,  1882;  Elko  Independent,  June  14,  1882;  Eureka  Sentinel, 
July  4,  1882;  Reno  Gazette,  July  1,  1882;  Nev.  Statutes,  1869,  103;  Neo.  Sen. 
Jour.,  1877,  app.  no.  7,  23-4,  and  no.  12,  8. 


318  PROGRESS  OF  EVENTS. 

ing  of  artesian  wells,  and  the  storage  of  water  from 
the  snow-fall  of  winter.  For  the  soil  only  awaited  a 
sufficiency  of  moisture  to  change  its  condition  from 
one  of  sterility  to  that  of  fertility,  as  had  been  dore 
in  the  state  of  Colorado  and  the  territory  of  Wyom 
ing.  Another  important  bill  looked  to  the  mining 
interests  of  the  state  by  authorizing  the  appointment 
of  a  board  of  commissioners  to  hear  and  consider 
testimony  as  to  the  most  economical  and  best  methods 
of  treating  and  reducing  ores  of  gold  and  silver  found 
and  reduced  in  the  state  thereafter.  Rewards  were 
authorized  to  be  paid  out  of  the  general  state  fund 
for  the  most  economical  method,  and  the  most  suc 
cessful  method,  separately,  economy  taking  the  first 
prize. 

Mining,  although  causing  less  excitement  than  in 
the  early  history  of  the  state,  was  by  no  means  on 
the  decline  as  an  industry.  The  amount  of  bullion 
returned  for  taxation  in  1887  was  $7,000,000,  which 
did  riot  represent  more  than  half  the  actual  output, 
but  even  at  the  assessor's  figures  this  sum  divided 
among  a  population  of  60,000,  which  was  the  census  of 
1880,  would  give  every  inhabitant  $116  from  mining 
alone.  New  discoveries  were  frequently  made,  the 
country  never  having  been  thoroughly  prospected; 
hence  the  law  of  1887  to  stimulate  this  industry  and 
reduce  it  to  a  scientific  basis.14 

Nothing  in  the  history  of  Nevada  ever  gave  greater 
satisfaction  than  the  passage  of  the  interstate  com 
merce  bill  of  congress,  compelling  the  railroads  to 
cease  discrimination  against  the  owners  of  short-haul 
freight,  compelling  a  merchant  at  Battle  Mountain, 
for  instance,  to  pay  a  higher  rate  from  New  York 
than  the  San  Francisco  merchant  whose  goods 

14  A  new  concentrating  process  was  employed  in  the  Reese  river  district 
with  great  success  in  1887.  It  was  invented  by  Hanchett  and  applied  by 
Hanchett  and  Whipple  to  the  dump  of  mills  in  that  district,  making  a  sav 
ing  of  $6,000,000  from  ore  that  without  this  method  would  be  wasted,  the 
former  mills  reducing  no  ores  assaying  less  than  $40  per  ton,  while  the  tail 
ings  thus  discarded  often  held  $30,  of  which  the  concentrator  saved  80  per 
cent. 


RAILROADS.  319 

were  carried  for  two  days'  time  farther  west.  This 
heavy  tax  upon  the  people  of  the  state,  dependent 
entirely  upon  railroad  transportation,  was  sufficient  of 
itself  to  prevent  the  undertaking  of  various  enter 
prises  which  would  otherwise  have  been  set  on  foot 
for  the  development  of  the  state's  resources,  and  the 
relief  felt  and  expressed  at  the  passage  of  the  relief 
bill  of  congress  was  universal. 

Railroads,  the  great  want  of  this  state,  as  of  every 
other  in  this  era  of  rapid  movement,  were  now  thrice 
welcome.  Fortunately  for  Nevada,  1887  was  a  year 
of  great  activity  in  railroads,  which  were  spying  out 
new  lines  in  all  directions,  anticipating  the  growth 
which  they  were,  more  than  any  other  agency,  to  pro 
mote.15  Such  was  the  business  on  the  Central  Pacific 
in  this  year  that  blockades  of  freight  were  frequent, 
more  cars  being  loaded  f  r  the  west  than  the  com 
pany  had  locomotives  to  move.  There  was  the  same 
condition  on  the  other  transcontinental  roads,  showing 
that  with  the  half  dozen  .eastern  roads  to  the  Pacific 
there  was  room  for  more.  Naturally,  Nevada  looked 
to  have  her  hopes  gratified,  when  the  Chicago,  Bur 
lington  and  Quincy  company — "the  old  reliable,"  as 
it  was  fondly  named  by  the  expectant  Wyoming  and 
Nevada  people,  had  surveying  parties  in  the  field  who 
actually  had  made  more  than  one  reconnoissance  over 
the  Sierra  into  California  She  had  hope  also  of  the 
Utah  Central,  which  was  understood  to  have  a  stake 
in  California.  And  the  finger  of  prophecy  pointed 
besides  to  the  Northwestern  which  was  hesitating  at 

o 

a  point  in  Wyoming  whether  to  go  northwest  to 
Oregon,  or  west  to  California.  The  year  of  1888 
went  by,  however,  and  no  definite  measures  were 

15  The  legislature  of  1887  enacted  a  law  providing  that  narrow  gauge 
roads  should  be  assessed  at  $6,000  per  mile,  and  standard  gauge  $10,000 
per  mile.  This  settled  tue  question  for  the  assessors  who  had  been  taking 
such  property  at  the  valuation  of  the  owners;  but  a  better  law  would  have 
been  to  assess  them  at  their  actual  value,  and  tax  them  at  as  low  a  figure 
as  the  public  interest  required. 


320  PROGRESS  OF  EVENTS. 

taken  by  any  company  to  parallel  the  Central  Pacific 
through  Nevada.  Neither  was  there  much  mileage 
added  to  the  local  railways,  for  until  interoceanic 
roads  should  parcel  out  the  great  area  of  the  state 
between  them,  there  would  be  little  use  for  merely 
local  lines. 

But  whatever  drawback  there  may  have  been  to 
the  progress  of  the  silver  state,  which  I  have  or  have 
not  pointed  out,  its  honor  has  never  been  assailed ; 
its  representatives  in  the  national  legislature  have 
been  men  of  mark  ;  its  people  loyal  to  the  American 
idea  of  progressive  government.  The  republican 
legislature  of  1887  1G  elected  William  M.  Stewart  to 
succeed  James  G.  Fair  in  the  United  States  senate, 
making  him  the  colleague  of  John  P.  Jones,  both 
strong  on  the  silver  question  in  which  the  state  had  so 
great  an  interest,  and  on  which  the  best  financial  talent 
in  the  country  still  remained  at  variance.  By  their 
united  efforts,  joined  with  those  of  Teller  of  Colorado, 
and  a  few  other  friends  of  bi-inetalism,  the  demonet 
ization  of  silver  was  prevented.  Stewart  also  effected 
some  important  changes  in  the  mining  laws  of  con 
gress,  desirable  from  the  standpoint  of  the  miner.  " 

At  the  general  election  of  1886  William  Woodburn 
was  elected  to  succeed  himself  in  congress.  C.  C. 

16  The  republican  majority  in  the  senate  in  1887  was  8;  in  the  assembly 
22. 

17  As  the  law  was   amended,  the  amount  of  work  necessary  to  hold  a 
placer  claim  was  reduced  to  $50  per  annum,  and  the  amount  of  land  which 
might  be  included  in  a  patent  to  160  acres.     It  fixed  the  hour  of  noon  on  the 
1st  day  of  August  as  the  commencement  and  close  of  the  year  for  annual 
work,  instead  of  midnight  on  the  Slat  of  Dec.,    darkness  and  cold  having 
proven  favorable  to  perjury.     Relocations  by  the  same  persons  were  forbid 
den,  thus  preventing  the  fraudulent  practice  of  making  a  new  location  on 
the  same  ground  to  avoid  doing  the  amount  of  work  required  by  law.   Right 
of  way  was  reserved  through  or  over  any  mining  claim  for  roads,  ditches, 
tunnels,  canals,  or  cuts,  the  damages  oocasioned  to  be  assessed  and  paid  in 
the  manner  provided  by  statute  for  the  condemnation  of  private  property 
for  public  use  ia  the  states  and  territories  in  which   the  mines  are   situated. 
No  person  should  acquire  in  any  manner  more  than  one  mining  claim  on  the 
same  vein.     This  restriction  was  meant  to  be  in  the  original  law,  which  was 
so  worded,  however,   that  it  was  often  construed  otherwise.     Other  minor 
changes  made  the  mining  law  clearer  and  stronger  in  the  interest  of   the 
actual  miner. 


POLITICAL   AFFAIRS.  321 

Stevenson,18  who  for  many  years  had  been  closely  iden 
tified  with  the  political  history  of  Nevada  as  senator,  as 
chairman  of  numberless  committees,  and  as  a  leader  of 
the  republican  party,  was  elected  governor  after  a 
sharp  but  friendly  contest  with  J.  W.  Adams,19  not 

18  Charles  C.  Stevenson  is  a  native  of  Ontario  co.,  N.  Y.,  whence  in  1830, 
being  then  four  years  of  age,  he  went  with  his  parents  to  Canada,  a  few- 
years  afterward  removing  to  Michigan.  In  1859  he  joined  a  party  bound 
for  Pike  peak,  but  on  account  of  discouraging  reports  decided  to  push  on  to 
Nevada,  and  was  one  of  the  first  to  arrive  on  the  Comstock.  At  this  date, 
July,  1859,  Virginia  City — then  called  Ophir — consisted  of  a  single  tent  and 
a  brushwood  saloon,  while  Gold  Hill  contained  one  log-house  and  two  miners' 
cabins.  After  mining  for  a  time  at  the  latter  point  with  fair  success,  he  pur 
chased  in  1861  a  half  interest  in  the  first  quartz-mill  erected  in  Nevada, 
known  as  the  Coover  and  Stevenson  mill,  and  has  ever  since  been  engaged 
in  mining  and  milling.  In  1867,  and  again  in  1869  and  1873,  he  was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  state  senate,  serving  also  in  the  first  of  these  years  on  the  state 
central  committee.  In  1872  he  was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  national  con 
vention  at  Philadelphia,  and  in  1875  a  member  of  the  board  of  regents  of  the 
state  university.  It  was  largely  through  his  efforts  as  governor  and  ex  offido 
one  of  the  regents  that  this  institution  was  afterward  placed  011  a  solid  foun 
dation.  Through  his  instrumentality  an  appropriation  of  $20,000  was  secured 
for  the  proper  representation  of  the  state  at  the  centennial  exhibition,  and 
as  chairman  of  the  board  and  superintendent  of  the  department  he  gave  his 
services  free  of  charge,  returning  to  the  state  treasury  $1,000  of  the  appro 
priation.  In  1880  and  also  in  1884  he  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  the  national 
convention  at  Chicago,  in  the  latter  year  being  appointed  chairman.  For  a 
number  of  years,  as  chairman  of  the  Storey  county  and  state  central  com 
mittees,  he  was  one  of  the  most  active  workers  in  the  interests  of  his  party. 
As  chairman  of  the  Nevada  silver  convention,  held  at  Carson  City  in  1885, 
and  of  the  Nevada  silver  association,  he  rendered  good  service  to  the  state. 
By  the  latter  thousands  of  documents  were  published  and  distributed  in  all 
parts  of  the  union,  advocating  the  free  coinage  and  restoration  of  silver  to 
its  former  standard.  As  president  of  the  state  agricultural  society,  which 
office  he  held  for  several  years,  he  devoted  his  time  and  means  to  the  farm 
ing  and  stock-raising  interests  of  Nevada,  introducing  at  his  own  expense 
the  best  grades  of  blooded  Jersey  cattle.  Governor  Stevenson  is  widely 
esteemed,  not  only  as  a  ruler  and  statesman,  but  also  as  one  of  the  most  public- 
spirited  men  in  his  adopted  state. 

19Gov.  Adams  was  born  in  Vermont,  Aug.  6,  1835;  came  to  California  in 
1852,  and  to  Nevada  in  1864;  was  married  in  1878  to  Miss  Emma  E.  Lee; 
was  among  the  early  Comstock  pioneers,  coming  there  from  Mariposa  co., 
Cal.,  and  engaged  in  the  various  phases  of  mining  industry  until  elected 
lieut-gov.  in  1874.  A  keen  active  politician,  yet  a  thoroughly  clean,  hon 
est  citizen.  For  eight  years  lieutenant-governor  and  president  of  the 
senate,  during  which  period  he  was  in  the  most  intimate  relations  with  Gov. 
Bradley,  as  adviser,  and  on  many  important  occasions  the  chief  executive, 
in  fact;  also,  during  his  own  four  years  of  gubernatorial  control,  he  was,  at 
all  points,  the  actual  servant  of  the  people.  In  all  matters  of  an  economic 
nature,  especially  as  a  member  of  various  boards,  having  in  charge  the  dis 
bursement  of  the  state  funds,  he  looked  exclusively  to  the  best  interests  of 
the  people,  regarding  their  affairs  as  a  sacred  trust  in  his  hands,  and  hence 
ignoring  every  distracting  consideration  of  partisan  feeling  or  personal  affil 
iation.  He  served  the  state  faithfully  and  with  honor.  His  friends  are 
numerous  and  as  intense  in  their  regard  for  him  as  he  has  shown  himself  in 
his  loyalty  to  them,  but  in  this  his  fourth  candidacy  it  was  found,  as  is  true 
HIST.  NEV.  21 


322  PROGRESS  OF  EVENTS. 

a  single  unkind  word  or  act  marring  the  friendship 
which  had  long  existed  between  the  rival  candidates; 
H.  C.  Davis  was  chosen  lieutenant-governor ;  *  J.  M. 
Dormer  secretary  of  state;  George  Tufly  treasurer; 
J.  F.  Hallock  comptroller;  J.  F.  Alexander  attorney- 
general,  and  W.  C.  Dovey  superintendent  of  public 
instruction.  0.  R.  Leonard  was  chief  justice  of  the 
supreme  court,  and  C.  H.  Belknap  and  Thomas  P. 
Hawley  associate  justices.  In  this  placidly  prosper 
ous  condition  I  leave  the  silver  commonwealth,  whose 
greatness,  although  it  makes  haste  slowly,  is  march 
ing  forward  to  meet  and  crown  her  none  the  less 
surely. 

in  the  experience  of  all  men  of  his  positive  character  and  uncompromising 
temper,  his  enemies  had  become  sufficiently  numerous  to  defeat  him  by  a 
small  majority.  Mrs  Adams,  a  most  refined  and  worthy  lady,  was  in  every 
sense  the  ornament  of  the  Governor's  mansion,  and  continues  to  occupy  a 
warm  place  in  the  esteem  and  affections  of  the  best  men  and  women  of  the 
silver  state. 

Philetus  Everts,  a  native  of  New  York,  born  1830,  came  to  Cal.  in  1852, 
where  he  engaged  in  various  branches  of  business  until  1869,  when  he  went 
to  White  Pine  and  engaged  in  merchandising  at  Hamilton.  Mr  Everts  took 
an  active  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  town,  and  in  the  affairs  of  the  Eureka 
and  Palisade  railway,  of  which  he  was  superintendent.  He  was  also  a  large 
owner  in  the  Eureka  Lumber  company.  His  health  failing,  Mr  Everts  dis 
posed  of  his  interests  in  Nevada,  and  after  a  trip  to  Europe  went  to  Oakland, 
Cal.,  to  live,  where  he  built  a  business  block  on  Broadway.  Mr  Everts  has 
large  interests  elsewhere.  He  is  a  man  of  sterling  character,  and  is  highly 
respected  by  all  who  know  him. 


HISTORY  OF  COLORADO. 


CHAPTEK  I. 

PHYSICAL  FEATURES. 

MOUNTAIN  SYSTEM — PRIMEVAL  WATERS — UPHEAVAL,  EVAPORATION  AND 
GLACIAL  ACTION — DRY  RIVERS — FLORA  AND  FAUNA — PRIMITIVE  MAN — 
CANONS  AND  RIVER  SYSTEMS — SERIES  OF  PARKS — CLIMATE — SOIL — • 
FORESTS — GEOLOGICAL  FORMATIONS — MINERALS  AND  METALS — GOLD  AND 
SILVER — COAL  AND  IRON — PRECIOUS  STONES — LAND  AND  WATER  ELE 
VATIONS. 

IN  the  gradual  upheaval  of  the  continent  from  a 
deep  sea  submersion,  the  great  Sierra  Madre,  or 
mother  range,  of  old  Mexico  first  divided  the  waters, 
and  presented  a  wall  to  the  ocean  on  the  west  side. 
The  San  Juan  range  of  Colorado  is  an  extension  of 
the  Sierra  Madre,  and  the  oldest  land  in  this  part  of 
the  continent.  Then  at  intervals  far  apart  rose  the 
Sangre  de  Cristo  range,  the  Mojada  or  Greenhorn 
range,  and  lastly  the  Colorado,  called  the  Front  range 
because  it  is  first  seen  from  the  east;  and  northeast 
from  this  the  shorter  upheavals  of  Wind  river  and 
the  Black  hills,  each,  as  it  lies  nearer  or  farther  from 
the  main  Rocky  range,  being  more  or  less  recent. 

The  longer  slope  and  greater  accessibility  of  the 
mountains  on  their  eastern  acclivity  has  come  from 
the  gradual  wash  and  spreading  out  of  the  detritus  of 
these  elevations  in  comparatively  shallow  water,  while 
yet  the  ocean  thundered  at  the  western  base  of  the 
mother  range.  The  salt  waters  enclosed  by  the  bar 
rier  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  and  subdivided  after 
ward  by  the  later  upheavals  into  lesser  seas,  were 
carried  off  through  the  canons  which  their  own 
mighty  force,  aided  by  other  activities  of  nature,  and 

(323; 


324  PHYSICAL  FEATURES* 

by  some  of  her  weaknesses,  opened  for  them.  For 
uncounted  ages  the  fresh  water  of  the  land  flowed 
into  the  inland  seas,  and  purged  them  of  their  saline 
flavor,  washing  the  salts  and  alkalies  into  the  bed  of 
the  ocean  on  the  west,  where  after  the  emergence  of 
the  Sierra  Nevada,  an,d  the  elevation  of  the  interven 
ing  mountains  of  the  great  basin,  they  largely  remained, 
having  no  outlet.  Gradual  elevation  and  evaporation, 
with  glacial  action,  completed  the  general  shaping  of 
the  country.  Subsequent  elemental  and  volcanic 
action  has  left  it  with  four  parallel  mountain  ranges, 
from  which  shoot  up  132  peaks,  ranging  from  12,000 
to  14,500  feet  above  sea  level,  and  from  9,000  to 
10,000  feet  above  the  general  level  of  the  state,  with 
many  lesser  ones;  with  large  elevated  valleys  called 
parks,  walled  about  with  majestic  heights,  covered 
with  luxuriant  grasses,  threaded  by  streams  of  the 
purest  water,  beautified  by  lakes,  and  dotted  with 
groups  of  trees ;  with  narrow,  fertile  valleys  skirting 
numerous  small  rivers,  fringed  with  cottonwood  and 
willow ;  with  nobler  rivers  rushing  through  rents  in 
the  solid  mountains  thousands  of  feet  in  depth,  and 
decorated  by  time  and  weather,  with  carvings  such  as 
no  human  agency  could  ever  have  designed,  their  wild 
imagery  softened  by  blended  tones  of  color  in  harmony 
with  the  blue  sky,  the  purple-gray  shadows,  and  the 
clinging  moss  and  herbage ;  with  forests  of  pine,  fir, 
spruce,  aspen,  and  other  trees,  covering  the  mountain 
sides  up  to  a  height  of  10,000  or  12,000  feet;  with 
wastes  of  sand  at  the  western  base  of  the  Snowy  range, 
or  main  chain,  and  arid  mesas  in  the  southeast,  where 
everything  is  stunted  except  the  enormous  cacti ;  with 
grassy  plains  sloping  to  the  east,  made  gay  with  an 
indigenous  flora,  and  other  grassy  slopes  extending  to 
the  mountains  toward  the  west,  each  with  its  own 
distinctive  features.  It  is,  above  all,  a  mountain 
country;  and  with  all  its  streams,  which  are  numerous, 
it  is  a  dry  one.  In  the  summer  many  of  its  seeming 
water-courses  are  merely  arroyos — dry  creek  beds ; 


PRESENT   AND   PRIMEVAL.  325 

others  contain  some  water  flowing  in  channels  cut 
twenty  or  more  feet  down  through  yellow  clay  to  a 
bed  of  shale ;  and  still  others  run  through  canons, 
with  narrow  bottoms  supporting  rich  grass,  and  wil 
low,  thorn,  cherry,  currant,  and  plum  trees.  Sloping 
up  from  these  may  be  a  stretch  of  rolling  country 
covered  sparsely  with  low,  spreading  cedars;  or  a 
table-land,  with  colonies  of  prairie-dogs  scattered  over 
it,  and  moving  about  upon  it  herds  of  wild  horses, 
buffaloes,  deer,  and  antelopes.  Up  in  the  mountains 
are  meadows,  having  in  their  midst  beaver-dams  over 
grown  with  aspens,  and  little  brooks  trickling  from 
them.  Several  other  fur- bearing  animals  are  here,  also. 
In  still  other  localities  are  fine  trout  streams,  and  trame 

O 

about  them  is  abundant,  elks,  mountain  sheep,  bears, 
lynxes,  wolves,  panthers,  pumas,  wild-cats,  grouse, 
pheasants,  ptarmigans,  and  birds  of  various  kinds 
having  their  habitat  there. 

But  these  were  not  the  first  inhabitants  of  these 
mountains.  In  the  bed  of  one  of  the  ancient  seas 
west  of  the  San  Juan  mountains,  before  mentioned, 
in  a  deposit  three  thousand  feet  thick,  now  hardened 
into  rock,  are  the  fossil  skeletons  of  the  first  verte 
brates  of  the  American  continent,  species  until  recently 
unknown  to  science.  As  their  bones  are  very  numer 
ous,  being  scattered  over  three  thousand  square  miles, 
it  is  safe  to  conclude  that  Colorado  supported  a  vast 
amount  of  animal  life  at  that  period  when  the  rivers 
now  dry  washed  down  their  remains  to  that  ancient 
receptacle. 

Here,  too,  about  the  shores  of  this  primeval  lake, 
which  was  encircled  by  upturned  ridges  of  white  gyp 
sum  and  sandstone  of  various  colors,  yellow,  vermilion, 
gray,  and  blood  red,  on  sharp  ridges,  with  precipitous 
sides,  sometimes  hundreds  of  feet  high,  dwelt  the  first 
men  who  inhabited  this  region  of  whom  there  is  any 
trace.  Their  dwellings  were  of  unhewn  stones,  ce 
mented  with  a  mortar  containing  a  large  portion  of 
volcanic  ashes.  Their  form  was  oval,  like  a  bee-hive, 


326  PHYSICAL  FEATURES. 

and  they  enclosed  usually  a  cedar  stump,  the  use  of 
which  is  purely  conjectural.  So  numerous  were  these 
dwellings,  that  the  population  must  have  been  dense 
which  occupied  them;  yet  all  were  in  these  inacces 
sible  situations.  About  them  were  scattered  a  few 
domestic  implements,  including  large  water-jars  sunk 
in  the  ground,  and  some  arrow-heads.  But  as  no 
water  can  now  be  found  within  twenty-five  miles  of 
the  cliff-dwellings,  a  long  time  must  have  elapsed  to 
account  for  the  change  of  climate  which  has  taken 
place.  Why  this  ancient  people  found  it  necessary  or 
desirable  to  dwell  on  the  top  or  in  the  face  of  the 
cliffs  is  unanswerable,  unless  we  accept  the  almost  in 
credible  theory  that,  like  the  lake-dwellings  of  Swit 
zerland,  these  houses  were  erected  when  the  water  of 
the  now  dried-up  lake  reached  up  to  them.  This  be 
lief  might  go  far  to  account  for  the  great  number  of 
bones  of  animals  found  in  the  lake  bed,  for  they  must 
have  subsisted  upon  animal  food.  The  few  human 
bones  found  have  been  fossilized,  which  is  in  itself 
evidence  of  the  long  period  of  time  since  they  were 
clothed  in  flesh. 

I  should  be  afraid  to  say  this  primitive  race  were 
capable  of  comparing  the  beauties  of  the  great  canons 
over  which  modern  Coloradans  grow  enthusiastic ;  or 
that  they  would  understand  what  to-day  is  meant  by 
Garden  of  the  Gods,  the  place  being  conspicuous  for 
the  absence  of  both  garden  and  gods;  yet  more  strik 
ing,  perhaps,  than  the  Olympic  mount,  as  here  we 
have,  if  the  imagination  be  strong  enough,  sandstone 
columns  sculptured  by  the  elements  into  the  simili 
tude  of  giant  human  forms,  divinely  tall  if  not  divinely 
fair.  Of  the  eight  or  more  principal  canons  which 
were  opened  for  the  waters  in  the  infancy  of  this 
early  world,  the  most  wonderful  and  beautiful  are 
west  of  the  main  range;  and  Black  canon,  on  Gun- 
nison  river,  which  is  a  branch  of  Grand  river,  itself 
a  branch  of  the  great  stream  of  the  west,  with  the 
longest  and  deepest  canon  in  the  world,  is  the  grand- 


PRESENT  AND   PRIMEVAL.  327 

est  of  them  all.  So  many  aspects  has  it  that  any 
mood  may  be  satisfied  in  regarding  its  varied  features. 
The  walls  have  an  average  width  of  three  hundred 
feet,  the  rock  being  stratified,  and  continuing  for 
miles.  In  places  it  rises  one,  two,  or  three  thousand 
feet,  with  level  summits,  surmounted  by  a  second 
wall  of  prodigious  height.  The  level  of  the  Gunnison 
river  at  Mountain  creek,  above  the  canon,  is  7,200 
feet  above  the  sea,  that  of  the  mesa  on  the  north  side 
8,000,  the  wall  of  the  canon  here  being  1,600  feet, 
and  a  little  lower,  on  the  opposite  side,  1,900.  Still 
further  down,  the  wall  rises  3,000  feet,  the  lower 
1,800  being  of  gneiss  rock.  The  elevation  of  the 
mesa  at  this  point  is  9,800  feet.  But  these  figures 
represent  only  height  and  depth;  they  convey  no  im 
pression  of  the  gorge  itself,  which  sometimes  narrows 
down  to  the  width  of  the  river,  and  is  all  gloom  and 
grandeur,  and  again  broadens  out  into  a  park,  with 
waterfalls  dashing  down  its  inclosing  walls,  needles 
of  highly-colored  sandstone  pointing  skyward,  trees 
growing  out  of  the  clefts  in  the  palisades,  huge  rocks 
grouped  fantastically  about,  curious  plants  sheltering 
in  their  shadows,  and  the  brilliant,  strong  river  dart 
ing  down  in  swift  green  chutes  between  the  spume- 
flecked  boulders,  dancing  in  creamy  eddies,  struggling 
to  tumble  headlong  down  some  sparkling  cataract, 
making  the  prismatic  air  resound  with  the  soft  tinkle 
as  of  merry  laughter.  Again,  it  surges  along  in  half 
shadows,  rushing  as  if  blinded  against  massive  abut 
ments,  to  be  dashed  into  spray,  gliding  thereafter 
more  smoothly,  as  if  rebuked  for  its  previous  haste, 
but  always  full  of  light,  life,  and  motion.  The  grand 
eur,  beauty,  and  variety  of  the  views  in  Black  canon 
make  doubly  interesting  the  reflection  that  through 
this  channel  poured  the  waters  of  that  great  primal 
sea  which  once  spread  over  western  Colorado.  A  rival 
to  it  is  the  canon  of  the  Uncompahgre,  in  the  same 
division  of  the  state ;  and  on  the  eastern  slope  are 


328  PHYSICAL  FEATURES. 

those  of  Boulder,  Clear,  and  Cheyenne  creeks,  and 
the  Platte  and  Arkansas  rivers. 

The  western  slope  is  drained  entirely,  excepting 
some  small  streams  falling  into  the  San  Luis  lakes, 
by  the  affluents  of  the  Rio  Colorado  of  the  west.  All 
of  the  principal  of  these,  except  the  main  river  and 
some  of  the  branches  of  Green  river,  have  their 
sources  in  the  Rocky  ranges,  in  the  state  of  Colorado, 
most  of  them  in  the  Park,  the  Saguache,  the  Elk,  or 
the  San  Juan  mountains.  The  Grand  river  rises  in 
the  Middle  park,  and  after  receiving  the  tributaries 
that  drain  Egeria  park,  and  the  northern  slopes  of 
the  Elk  mountains,  cuts  its  way  in  mighty  canons 
through  the  plateaus  of  western  Colorado,  while  its 
two  chief  affluents,  the  Gunnison  and  Rio  Dolores, 
with  their  branches,  drain  all  the  western  slopes  lying 
between  latitude  37°  30'  and  39°  north.  In  the  ex 
treme  southwest  the  Rio  San  Juan  and  its  tributaries 
perform  this  office  for  a  large  extent  of  country. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  great  divide,  the  South 
Platte  river,  with  about  forty  tributaries,  rises  well 
up  among  the  peaks  of  the  Front,  or  Colorado,  range, 
and  flowing  north-northeast  and  easterly,  drains  a 
large  extent  of  country,  whil-3  the  North  Platte,  ris 
ing  in  the  Park  range,  drains  the  whole  of  tke  North 
park  toward  the  north.  The  eastern  slope  of  Colo 
rado  is  watered  and  drained  by  the  royal  river  Ar 
kansas,  with  its  sixty  or  more  tributaries,  some  of 
which  are  of  considerable  volume.  It  heads  in  the 
high  region  of  the  Saguache  range,  interlacing  with 
springs  of  the  Grand  river,  quite  as  the  Columbia 
and  the  Missouri  rise  near  each  other  farther  north. 
Republican  river,  an  affluent  of  the  Kansas,  itself 
having  four  tributaries,  flows  northeast  down  the 
long  descent  to  its  union  with  the  main  stream,  near 
its  junction  with  the  Missouri,  and  in  the  south  the 
Rio  Grande  del  Norte,  starting  from  the  summits  of 
the  same  range  which  feeds  the  Gunnison  branch  of 
Grand  river  on  the  opposite  side,  flows  toward  the 


VALLEYS  AND  PARKS.  329 

gulf  of  Mexico.     Such  is  the  river  system  of  Colo 
rado. 

The  series  of  high  valleys,  to  which  in  Colorado  are 
given  the  name  of  parks,  and  of  which  I  have 
spoken,  are  of  various  dimensions.  North  park  has 
a  diameter  of  thirty  miles,  and  an  elevation  of  8,500 
feet.  Middle  park  has  a  length  of  sixty-five  miles 
by  a  breadth  of  forty-five,  with  an  altitude  of  8,000 
feet.  South  park  is  but  little  less  in  size,  and  is  842 
feet  more  elevated  than  its  neighbor.  San  Luis  park, 
still  further  south,  is  nearly  as  large  as  all  the  other 
three  just  named,  and  has  an  altitude  of  7,500  feet. 
In  it  are  the  San  Luis  lakes.  These  elevated  valleys 
are  separated  from  each  other,  and  surrounded  by 
the  several  mountain  chains,  and  their  spurs  or  cross- 
ranges,  except  San  Luis,  which  is  opened  toward  the 
east.  Through  them  course  the  tributary  streams 
which  feed  the  great  rivers.  Egeria,  Estes,  Animas, 
and  Huerfano  parks  are  small  valleys  of  great  beauty, 
at  a  general  elevation  of  8,000  feet. 

What,  then,  shall  be  said  of  this  country  so  grandly 
organic  and  so  interesting  in  its  cosmical  history? 
That  it  illustrates  the  condition  of  the  lower  valleys 
and  plains  when  they  shall  be  as  old  as  these  oldest 
lands  in  America  ?  For  with  all  its  numerous  streams 
as  I  have  said,  Colorado  is  a  dry  country.  The  air 
has  little  humidity  in  it.  The  summer  heat  of  the 
plains  is  excessive  by  day,  but  owing  to  the  altitude 
the  nights,  even  in  midsummer,  are  cool.  The  sum 
mer  mean  temperature  ranges  from  64.6°  to  69.2°,  and 
the  winter  mean  from  31.3°  to  32.8°.  The  maximum 
heat  of  summer  ranges  from  93°  to  99°,  with  from 
six  to  thirty  days  above  90° ;  and  the  minimum  of 
winter  from  3°  to  12°,  with  from  six  to  ten  days  when 
the  mercury  is  below  zero;  which  grves  an  extreme 
range  for  the  year  from  96°  to  110°;  and  the  rain 
fall  averages  18.84  inches.  With  a  surface  composed 
of  mountains  and  plains,  ranging  in  altitude  from 


330  PHYSICAL  FEATURES. 

about  3,000  to  more  than  14,000  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea,  Colorado  possesses  many  varieties  of 
climate.  The  sharp  extremes  of  heat  and  cold  are 
perceptible  to  the  senses  only  in  a  limited  degree,  on 
account  of  the  large  preponderance  of  sunny  days  and 
the  dryness  and  tonic  properties  of  the  atmosphere, 
which  is  at  once  healthful,  bracing,  and  exhilarating. 
The  winter  is  the  season  of  greatest  charm,  for  then  the 
bright  sunshine  gives  balminess  to  the  air,  while  in  the 
blue  dome  of  the  sky  is  no  cloud  to  stain  its  purity. 

From  the  small  amount  of  moisture  distributed  over 
the  surface,  and  the  great  general  elevation,  it  is  nat 
ural  that  the  agricultural  area  should  be  limited,  and 

O 

that  only  by  a  good  system  of  irrigation  could  the  soil 
be  made  to  produce  food  enough  to  supply  a  dense 
population.  Yet  the  soil  is  exceedingly  rich  with  its 
mineral  constituents  of  plants,  and  also  deep,  and 
must  yield,  when  supplied  with  water,  large  and  fine 
crops  of  cereals.  On  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  state, 
in  the  parks,  and  west  of  the.  mother  range,  are  graz 
ing  lands  for  countless  herds  of  herbivorous  animals. 
By  and  by  all  this  will  be  changed ;  the  herds  will 
give  way  to  the  superior  demands  of  the  soil,  a  way 
meanwhile  having  been  found  to  overcome  the  ster 
ility  of  nature. 

The  effect  of  climate  is  visible  in  the  forests  of 
Colorado,  which  cover  perhaps  a  tenth  part  of  the 
area.  The  trees  are  not  majestically  tall  and  straight, 
like  those  of  the  more  northern  and  western  regions, 
but  squat  and  branching,  and  of  no  great  size. 
Neither  are  they  in  any  great  variety,  but  they  will 
serve  for  fuel  and  lumber  as  well  as  the  trees  of 
many  of  the  trans-Missouri  states. 

To  find  out  where  the  natural  wealth  of  this  won 
derful  and  beautiful  country  is  hidden  we  must  search 
beneath  the  soil  and  break  open  the  rocks.  The 
geology  of  the  plains  is  cretaceous,  or  post-cretaceous, 
with  the  exception  of  areas  of  tertiary  formation  in 
the  northern  portion  and  on  the  Arkansas  divide. 
At  the  base  of  the  mountain  the  strata  are  turned 


GEOLOGY.  331 

up,  forming  hog-backs  in  which  the  cretaceous 
and  Jura  trias  are  exposed,  coal  being  found  in  the 
latter.  All  this  is  very  simple  ;  but  in  the  mountains 
all  the  formations  known  are  represented,  and  the 
arrangement  is  complex.  The  Front,  most  of  the 
Park,  all  of  the  Mojada,  and  part  of  the  Sangre  de 
Cristo  ranges  are  of  granite  and  allied  metamorphic 
rocks.  The  southern  portion  of  the  Sangre  de  Cristo 
is  carboniferous,  with  here  and  there  an  intruded  vol 
canic  rock.  The  San  Juan  mountains  are  volcanic, 
with  an  area  of  quartzite  peaks  in  their  midst, 
and  flanking  the  range  on  the  south  is  an  area 
of  carboniferous  and  cretaceous  rocks,  while  the  Elk 
mountains  are  a  medley  of  volcanic  peaks  thrown  up 
among  the  Silurian  and  carboniferous,  flanked  by 
cretaceous  areas. 

The  North  and  Middle  parks  rest  upon  the  tertiary 
formation,  througn  which  have  been  thrust  up  moun 
tains  of  volcanic  rock,  while  South  park  is  an  inde 
scribable  jumble,  and  San  Luis  is  of  recent  formation. 
Volcanic  rock  overlies  the  high  plateau  on  White 
river,  in  the  western  part  of  the  state,  beneath  which 
may  be  found  every  formation  down  to  the  tertiary. 
Still  further  west  and  north  the  plateaux  are  tertiary. 
The  Uintah  mountains,  which  project  into  the  state, 
consist  of  cretaceous,  Jura  trias,  carboniferous,  and 
silurian.  In  some  places  small  groups  of  igneous 
upheavals  have  been  pushed  up  through  the  sedimen 
tary  rocks.  South  of  the  San  Juan  mountains  a  large 
tertiary  area  is  enclosed  by  cretaceous  beds.  And  so 
on.  Granite,  gneiss,  and  sandstone  might  be  said  to 
be  country  rock,  with  impure  limestone,  slates,  shales, 
and  trachyte.  It  would  seem  hopeless  to  search  for 
treasure  with  so  confusing  a  stone  guide-book  to  take 
our  directions  from.  The  younger  world  in  Colorado 
has  been  resentfully  pushed  aside  and  overflowed  by 
the  older  in  so  rude  and  violent  a  mariner  that  much 
labor  must  be  expended  in  fitting  together  again  the 
dislocated  strata  and  reading  the  story  they  should 


332  PHYSICAL  FEATURES. 

teach.     First  by  accident,  and  afterward  by  search, 
the  clue  was  discovered  which  led  to  the  knowledge 

O 

of  the  mineral  wealth  of  this  portion  of  the  Rocky 
mountains,  for  so  long  a  time  unsuspected. 

The  minerals  of  Colorado  were  not  easy  to  come  at. 
Gold,  which  was  found  in  gneiss  principally,  existed 
in  many  refractory  combinations,  with  sulphur  and 
iron,  with  copper  and  sulphur,  with  zinc,  tellurium, 
and  other  metals  and  minerals.  If  it  were  free 
milling  it  contained  silver,  and  sometimes  lead.  In 
the  trachyte  mines  of  the  south-west  there  was  a 
chloridized  combination  of  gold,  silver,  iron,  maganese 
and  gray  copper.  Silver,  which  was  found  in  both 
gneissic  and  granite  rocks,  was  chiefly  in  the  form  of 
a  compound  sulphuret  of  silver  and  lead  called  argen 
tiferous  galena,  but  existed  also  in  combinations  with 
carbonates  of  lead,  carbonates  arid  sulphurets  of  cop 
per,  zinc,  tellurides  of  gold,  nickel,  iron,  copper,  man 
ganese,  antimony,  arsenic,  and  sometimes  in  the  form 
of  a  chloride,  or  as  horn  silver. 

Nor  was  there  any  rule  of  nature  known  to  miner 
alogists  which  applied  to  the  situation  of  mines  in 
Colorado,  and  old  traditions  were  entirely  at  fault. 
Gold,  which  had  always  been  found  in  placers  washed 
down  from  the  mountain  veins,  or  in  fissure  veins  of 
granite,  or  at  the  deepest,  silurian  rocks,  filled  with 
fragments  of  quartz  or  conglomerate,  among  which 
grains  of  gold  were  mingled,  or  deposited  by  water, 
was  here  found  in  metamorphic  rocks,  and  also  in  the 
tertiary. 

Silver,  too,  was  equally  eccentric  in  its  situations. 
One  of  its  remarkable  deposits,  found  in  the  Lead- 
ville  region,  was  in  horizontal  flat  veins,  from  a  few 
inches  to  a  foot  in  thickness,  separated  from  each 
other  by  layers  of  barren  rock  of  a  depth  of  a  few 
hundred  feet — blanket  lodes  they  are  called.  They 
extended  quite  through  lofty  heights,  cropping  out 
on  either  side ;  but  whether  they  were  so  deposited 


MINERALS.  333 

or  were  formed  in  the  rocks,  which  by  some  convul 
sion  of  the  mountains  were  split  open  and  turned 
over,  is  still  conjectural.  Almost  equally  surprising 
was  it  to  find  silver  in  trachyte  rocks,  or  enveloping 
pebbles  and  bowlders  like  a  crust,  or  still  more  re 
markable,  in  fine  threads  or  wires.  These  were  prob 
lems  for  the  scientists,  as  the  modes  of  extracting  the 
metals  from  their  matrices  was  for  the  practical  met 
allurgist. 

The  trend  of  the  fissure  veins  in  Colorado  is  north 
east  and  south-west.  They  have  in  general  clearly 
defined  walls,  some  of  them  remarkably  smooth  and 
regular,  and  correspond  in  direction  with  the  cleav 
age  of  the  eruptive  rocks,  and  with  the  dikes  which 
extend  long  distances  across  the  plains.  There  is 
another  cleavage  of  the  raetamorphic  rocks  in  a  south 
east  and  north-west  direction,  which  was  made  at  an 
earlier  period  than  the  cleavage  of  the  eruptive  rocks, 
as  is  shown  by  the  eruptive  material  overlying  the 
metam orphic  in  large  areas,  a  combination  of  facts 
which  seems  to  fix  the  age  of  the  deposit  of  the  ores 

O  i. 

in  fissures  at  a  date  more  recent  than  the  cleavage  of 
the  metamorphic  rock.  In  a  few  instances  short  veins 
are  found  running  east  and  west,  or  north  and  south  ; 
but  though  sometimes  rich,  they  soon  pinch  out. 

Coal  in  immense  quantities  has  been  formed  in  Col 
orado.  It  is  of  several  geologic  eras,  some  of  it 
merely  lignite,  some  beds  petroleum-bearing,  and  in 
the  western  portion  of  the  state  anthracite  in  large 
areas.  Iron  is  placed  in  juxtaposition,  as  also  lime 
stone,  hydraulic  lime,  and  a  variety  of  rocks  used  in 
building  or  manufacturing.  Of  the  different  crystals 
of  quartz  which  are  scattered  liberally  over  the 
country  the  varieties  are  numerous,  though  none 
more  valuable  than  carnelian,  chalcedony,  onyx,  jas 
per,  sardonyx,  chrysoparse,  and  trope,  rose-quartz, 
black-quartz,  moss-agate,  and  aventurine. 

After  all,  nothing  interests  many  of  us  like  the 
mountains,  which  will  always  draw  men  from  the 


334  PHYSICAL  FEATURES. 

ends  of  the  earth  that  they  may  climb  as  near  to 
heaven  as  may  be  by  their  rocky  stairs.  Take  a 
position  on  Gray's  peak — there  are  really  two  of  them 
shooting  up  from  a  single  base  in  the  midst  of  a  wil 
derness  of  mountains — which  is  won  by  ascending 
from  the  plains  to  the  timber-belt,  then  following  the 
course  of  rapidly  descending  creeks  to  where  no  trees 
can  grow,  but  scant  grass  and  lowly  flowering  plants 
have  the  zone  to  themselves ;  higher  still  to  the  belt 
of  starving  mosses;  and  yet  higher  among  great 
blocks  of  loose,  broken  rock  with  patches  of  snow 
between  them,  and  chilly  springs  in  their  shadows ; 
and  then  to  the  windy  pinnacle  above  the  snow ! 

The  view  begins  nowhere  and  ends  no  where.  It  is 
infinite.  Mountains  beyond  mountains,  unbounded 
plains  belittled  to  look  like  parks,  the  great  South 
park  like  a  pleasure  ground,  range  after  range  west 
ward,  silvered  with  the  lingering  snow,  although  it  is 
August — for  we  must  not  attempt  the  high  peaks 
before  the  summer  heat  has  done  its  utmost  to  modify 
the  climate  at  their  altitude.  Among  the  more 
western  mountains  stand  some  covered  with  almost 
perpetual  snow,  and  one  which  fixes  the  eye  on  ac 
count  of  the  snow-field  having  taken  the  form  of  a 
cross,  that  symbol  of  life  eternal  alike  among  pagan 
and  Christian  philosophers,  and  which  could  have 
found  no  more  fitting  place  to  be  displayed  than  on 
these  everlasting  hills.  Yet  here  more  than  almost 
anywhere  are  the  evidences  of  change  which  we  call 
decay,  the  proof  that  eternity  is  but  a  comparative 
term.  Gorge  and  ledge,  shattered  cliff,  and  weird 
shapes  in  stone,  furrows  cut  by  avalanches,  torrents 
hurrying  down  from  the  melting  snow-drifts,  washing 
earth  and  gravel  into  the  basins  below,  generations  of 
forest  fallen  like  slain  warriors  on  a  hard  fought  field, 
all  point  to  a  continual  transformation,  and  show  that 
the  most  heaven-inspiring  heights  are  destined  to  lower 
their  proud  heads  before  time  and  the  elements,  that 
the  grandeur  of  the  past  and  the  present  is  constantly 


MOUNTAINS,  335 

passing  away.  Lower,  this  consciousness  becomes 
less  oppressive,  until  it  is  lost  in  the  enjoyment  of 
what  the  decay  of  the  higher  zone  has  done  for  the 
lower.  Tiny  parks,  gem-like  lakes,  green  groves,  beds 
of  flowers,  miniature  presentments  of  the  grander  val 
leys,  forests,  and  lakes  still  farther  down. 

In  a  general  way  one  mountain  is  like  another;  yet 
they  have  their  differences,  dependent  upon  the  kind 
of  rock  of  which  they  are  formed,  its  hardness,  friable- 
ness,  stratification,  color,  and  condition  of  upheaval. 
The  variety  of  rocks  and  their  singular  displacement 

fives  a  corresponding  variety  to  the  mountain  scenery, 
n  one  place  is  a  cluster  of  low  cones,  broken  down 
and  rounded,  so  grouped  as  to  resemble  the  rim  of  a 
mighty  peak  broken  roughly  off;  in  another  an  almost 
smooth  round  top,  and  in  its  immediate  neighborhood 
a  needle-like  peak.  The  other  features  of  each  are 
likely  to  correspond  somewhat  to  the  character  of  the 
summits,  which  are  approached  either  by  circuitous? 
trails,  by  long  slope  after  slope,  or  by  wild  ravines- 
leading  from  bench  to  bench,  but  everywhere  grand 
and  impressive  scenery  meets  the  eye.  Many  are  the 
passes  by  which  the  mother  range  may  be  crossed, 
but  only  seven  are  below  10,000  feet,  five  are  over 
12,000,  and  one  is  13,000  feet  above  sea-level.  Some 
of  the  high  mountains  to  which  names  have  been, 
given,  none  of  which  are  less  than  14,000  feet  high, 
are  Blanca,  Harvard,  Massive,  Gray's,  Rosalie,  Torrey, 
Elbert,  La  Plata,  Lincoln,  Buckskin,  Wilson,  Long's,. 
Quandary,  Antero,  James,  Shavano,  Uncompahgre, 
Crestones,  Princeton,  Bross,  Holy  Cross,  Baldy, 
Sneffles,  Pike's,  Castle,  Yale,  San  Luis,  Red  Cloud, 
Wetterhorn,  Simpson,  .^Eolus,  Ouray,  Stewart,  Ma 
roon,  and  Cameron.  Of  those  over  13,000  feet  which 
have  received  names,  Handie  lacks  but  three  feet  of 
belonging  to  the  first  class,  then  Capital,  Horseshoe, 
Snowmass,  Grizzly,  Pigeon,  Blaine,  Frustrum,  Pyra 
mid,  White  Rock,  Hague,  R.  G.  Pyramid,  Silver 
Heels,  Hunchback,  Rowter,  Homestake,  Ojo,  Spanish 


336  PHYSICAL  FEATURES. 

Peaks,  Guyot,  Trinchara,  Kendall,  Buffalo,  Arapahoe, 
and  Dunn.  The  nomenclature  of  these  peaks  betrays 
its  unromantic,  unscientific,  undescriptive,  and  often 
commonplace  origin,  the  accident  of  a  mineral  discov 
ery  by  prospectors  frequently  giving  the  appellative ; 
for  the  precious  metals  lie  far  up  among  the  eruptive 
rocks,  and  the  gnomes  of  these  lofty  peaks  are  often 
the  Smiths  and  the  Joneses. 

The  lakes  of  Colorado,  with  the  exception  of  the 
San  Luis  group,  lie  from  eight  to  eleven  thousand 
feet  above  sea,  and  may  therefore  be  reckoned  a  part 
of  the  mountain  scenery.  At  the  foot  of  the  Saguache 
range,  near  the  source  of  the  Arkansas,  are  the  Twin 
lakes,  one  three  and  a  half  miles  by  two  and  a  half  in 
extent,  the  other  one  third  as  large,  and  both  furnish 
ing  delicious  trout,  while  the  surrounding  mountains 
abound  in  game.  Not  far  distant,  at  the  foot  of 
Mount  Massive,  set  in  terraces  of  the  mountain,  sur 
rounded  by  gently  sloping  shores,  is  a  group  of  silvery 
sheets  of  purest  water,  which  pass  under  the  collec 
tive  and  inappropriate  name  of  Evergreen  lakes,  one 
lake  being  five  hundred  feet  above  the  principal  group, 
of  which  it  is  a  feeder,  and  the  lower  and  larger  single 
lake  occupying  a  terrace  to  itself.  None  are  large, 
this  one  being  but  about  fifty  acres  in  extent,  but  all 
are  highly  picturesque,  with  clear  water  which  lets 
the  speckled  trout  be  plainly  seen.  The  middle  ter 
race  furnishes  some  rare  mineral  springs,  the  water  of 
which  bubbles  sparklingly  out  of  the  earth  around 
the  lake,  adding  to  the  other  attractions  of  the  place. 
The  view  overlooks  the  valley  of  the  Arkansas  river, 
with  clumps  of  trees  upon  its  banks  contrasting  with 
the  bright  mineral  stains  upon  its  banks,  while  above 
all  towers  the  background  of  ever-present  mountains. 

On  the  west  side  of  Front  range,  in  the  edge  of 
Middle  park,  occupying  the  trough  of  a  glacier  basin, 
is  Grand  lake,  in  the  immediate  shadow  of  Roundtop 
mountain,  which,  with  other  high  peaks,  guards  its 
solitudes.  It  is  three  miles  long  by  two  iu  breadth, 


MOUNTAIN  LAKES.  337 

and  hundreds  of  feet  in  depth.  On  its  dark  face  are 
mirrored  the  surrounding  mountains  and  the  clouds 
that  crown  them.  Down  from  the  gorges  sweep 
windy  currents  which  would  make  navigation  danger 
ous.  So  awe-inspiring  is  it  that  the  Indians  fear  to 
approach,  leaving  it  to  our  irreverent  race  to  violate 
the  God-like  loneliness  of  the  place. 

Chicago  lakes,  the  highest  yet  discovered,  being 
11,500  feet  above  the  sea,  are  near  the  headwaters  of 
Chicago  creek,  on  the  eastern  flank  of  the  Rocky  or 
mother  range.  They  are  two  in  number,  and,  like 
Grand  lake,  surrounded  by  peaks,  and  of  unknown 
depth,  but  are  of  small  area.  Their  origin  was  un 
doubtedly  the  same.  San  Luis  lake,  in  the  lower  and 
more  extensive  San  Luis  park,  is  the  only  large  body 
of  water  in  Colorado,  and  has  the  additional  peculiar 
ity  of  being  without  any  outlet,  although  receiving 
the  water  of  sixteen  tributaries.  It  is  situated  in  the 
middle  of  the  park,  and  extends  sixty  miles  north  and 
south.  About  its  borders  are  vast  deposits  of  peat. 
Stories  are  told  of  a  subterranean  lake  in  Colorado, 
ten  acres  in  extent,  covered  with  eighteen  inches  of 
soil,  which  has  a  corn-field  on  it;  and  if  one  digs  a 
hole,  and  drops  a  hook  and  line,  a  fish  without  eyes 
or  scales,  but  otherwise  resembling  a  perch,  is  caught. 
In  a  country  so  abounding  in  minerals,  springs  with 
medical  qualities,  both  hot  and  cold,  should  be  looked 
for,  and  here,  indeed,  we  find  them.  They  are  of  all 
ingredients  and  proportions,  and  with  the  invigorat 
ing  air  of  the  mountains  make  the  state  a  vast  sani 
tarium. 

Time  was  when,  if  you  believed  travellers'  tales,  the 
great  American  desert  stretched  up  to  the  foot  of 
the  Stony  mountains,  and  all  was  unfruitful  and  for 
bidding.  How,  little  by  little,  this  obloquy  was  re 
moved,  and  Colorado  made  known  to  the  world  in  its 
true  and  very  different  character,  it  is  my  pleasant 
task  to  relate. 

HIST.  NEV.    22 


CHAPTER  II. 

DISCOVERY  AND  OCCUPATION. 
1541-1853. 

WHAT  CORONADO  FAILED  TO  DO — ESCALANTE'S  EXPEDITION — SPANISH  AND 
FRENCH  OCCUPATION — PIKE'S  AND  LONG'S  EXPEDITIONS — EARLY  GOLD 
DISCOVERIES — ADVENTURES  OF  THE  WILLIAMS  PARTY — SANTA  FE  TRAIL 
— TRAPPERS  AND  TRADERS — FORTS — THE  BENTS,  VASQUEZ,  ST  VRAIN, 
AND  OTHERS— EL  PUEBLO — LA  JUNTA — IMMIGRATION — FREMONT'S  EF 
FORTS — THE  MORMONS  AT  PUEBLO — MILITARY  EXPEDITIONS — GOVERN 
MENT  SURVEYS  BY  GUNNISON,  HAYDEN,  WHEELER,  AND  KING. 

PROBABLY  the  inquisitive  and  not  well-behaved  fol 
lowers  of  Coronado,  in  their  marches  from  New  Mexico 
in  search  of  Quivira,  did  not  set  foot  within  the  pres 
ent  limits  of  Colorado.  If  they  did,  they  have  left 
no  record  of  their  explorations,  arid  no  sign  of  them 
remains ;  and  though  they  affirm  having  found  struc 
tures  similar  to  the  ruins  which  exist  in  southern  Col 
orado,  they  found  them  in  what  is  now  New  Mexico. 
The  expedition  of  the  Spanish  captain,  in  1541,  at  the 
instance  of  a  native  of  fabled  Quivira,  brought  him 
possibly  across  the  extreme  southeast  corner  of  the 
state;  but  since  the  guides  complained  that  in  his 
march  he  went  too  far  east,  it  is  hardly  probable. 
Changing  his  course,  he  found  Quivira,  an  Indian 
village  not  different  from  those  we  may  see  to-day,  in 
latitude  40°,  but  far  out  on  the  plains,  among  the 
northern  tributaries  of  the  Arkansas.  A  few  persons, 
priests  and  their  attendants,  remained  with  the  Ind 
ians  ;  some  of  them  in  time  returned  to  Mexico,  and 
some  died  by  the  hands  of  their  converts.  Many 
narrators,  who  have  hastily  glanced  over  an  account 

(338) 


UNDER  MEXICAN  DOMAIN.  339 

given  by  some  previous  writer  as  careless  as  them 
selves,  state  confidently  that  Coronado  was  the  first 
European  in  Colorado,  and  so  he  would  have  been 
had  he  been  there  at  all.1 

About  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  con 
siderable  interest  was  manifested  by  the  authorities 
of  New  Mexico  in  the  country  to  the  north  of  Santa 
Fe,  and  Cachupin,  who  was  governor  for  a  long  time 
in  the  last  half  of  the  century,  set  on  foot  one  or 
more  expeditions,  the  object  of  which  was  to  ascer 
tain  the  true  character  and  value  of  the  minerals  to 
be  found  in  what  is  now  known  as  the  San  Juan 
country.  After  these  came  the  expedition  of  Juan 
Maria  Rivera  in  1761,  which  was  prosecuted  as  far 
as  the  Gunnison  river.  He  was  accompanied  by 
Don  Joaquin  Lain,  Gregorio  Sandoval,  Pedro  Mora, 
and  others.  There  is  no  donbt  that  a  number  of  expi- 
ditions,  of  only  local  importance,  were  made  into 
what  is  now  Colorado,  both  east  and  west  of  the  con 
tinental  divide.  About  fourteen  years  after  Rivera's 
tour,  Padre  Junipero  Serra,  president  of  the  Cali 
fornia  missions,  urged  the  ecclesiastics  of  New  Mexico 
to  undertake  the  exploration  of  a  route  from  Santa 
Fe  to  the  coast  of  upper  California.  With  this  ob 
ject  in  view,  Padre  Francisco  Silvestre  Velez  Esca- 
lante,  ministro  doctrinero  of  Zuni,  and  Padre  Atana- 
cio  Dominguez,  visitador  comisario  of  New  Mexico, 
organized  an  expedition  in  1776,  which  consisted,  be 
sides  themselves,  of  Pedro  Cisneros,  alcalde  mayor  of 
Zuni,  Bernardo  Miera  y  Pacheco,  capitan  miliciano  of 
Santa  Fe,  Don  Joaquin  Lain,  who  having  accompa 
nied  Rivera,  was  official  guide  of  this  expedition,  and 

1Greenliow,  who  is  usually  well  informed,  says  Qnivira  was  probably  the 
region  about  the  headwaters  of  the  Arkansas  and  Platte  rivers,  but  Corona- 
do's  route  would  not  have  brought  him  so  far  west  and  north.  Or.  and  Cal., 
63.  Some  of  the  Spanish  writers  have  committed  serious  blunders  in  geog 
raphy,  making  the  sea  visible  from  Quivira.  See  Hist.  North  Mex.  States. 
Inman,  Stories  of  the  Santa  Fe  Trail,  11-59,  has  an  account  of  Coronado's 
march,  and  gives  his  course  quite  correctly.  This  is  a  well  written  and  cap 
tivating  series  of  legends  and  tales  of  the  great  historic  highway  of  the 
plains,  by  Henry  Inman  of  Kansas,  1881. 


340  DISCOVERY  AND  OCCUPATION. 

five  soldiers,  Lorenzo  Oliveras,  Lucrecio  Muiiiz,  An 
dres  Muiiiz,  Juan  de  Aguilar,  and  Simon  Lucero. 

They  set  out  from  Santa  Fe  July  29th,  and  pro 
ceeded  to  Abiquiii  on  the  Rio  Chama,  from  whence 
they  took  a  north  course  to  the  Rio  San  Juan,  reach 
ing  it  three  leagues  below  the  junction  of  the  .Navajo 
August  5th.  The  place  of  contact  was  called  Neus- 
tra  Senora  las  Nieves,  and,  although  not  the  first 
place  named  in  Colorado,  as  we  shall  see,  is  the  first 
whose  date  is  unquestioned.  From  Nieves  they  took 
a  course  north-west,  across  the  several  affluents  of  the 
San  Juan,  which  lay  between  them  and  the  Rio  de 
Nuestra  Senora  de  los  Dolores,  the  names  of  which 
have  been  retained  to  the  present  as  Piedra  Parada, 
Pinos,  Florida,  and  Las  Animas.  The  eastern  section 
of  the  La  Plata  range  was  called  by  Escalante 
Sierra  de  la  Grulla.  The  La  Plata  river  he  called 
the  San  Joaquin,  and  in  the  canon,  says  his  narrative, 
were  the  mines  sought  for  by  Cachupin's  explorers, 
and  which  gave  the  name  to  the  mountains,  supposed 
to  contain  silver. 

Escalante's  descriptions  of  the  country  passed  over 
avoid  dwelling  upon  the  exceeding  roughness  of  this 
region,  dwelling  rather  upon  the  beauty  and  fertility 
of  the  small  valleys,  the  grandeur  of  the  forests  of 
pine  which  grew  upon  the  high  benches  and  moun 
tain  sides,  and  the  abundance  of  water,  even  that 
which  fell  from  the  clouds,  of  which  he  complained  a 
little.  At  the  Rio  Mancos,  or  San  Ldzaro,  he  again 
heard  reports  of  mines.  At  the  Rio  Dolores  he  be 
held  ruined  habitations  high  up  in  the  south  bank. 
On  this  river  he  met  with  some  difficulty  in  travelling, 
being  sometimes  at  a  distance  from  the  stream,  and 
at  other  times  apparently  confined  to  its  canon.  The 
stations  or  camps  along  the  Dolores  were  named 
Asuncion,  Agua  Tapada,  Canon  Agua  Escondida, 
Miera  Labarinto  (in  honor  of  the  capitan),  and  Ancon 
San  Bernardo.  At  the  latter  place  he  found  son  e 
Utes,  from  whom  he  obtained  a  guide ;  and  observing 


THE  ESCALANTE  EXPEDITION.  341 

three  paralyzed  women  of  the  tribe  at  the  junction  of 
a  small  stream  with  the  Dolores,  he  named  it  the 
Paraliticas.  It  was  at  this  point,  or  near  it,  that  he 
left  the  canon  of  the  river,  and  came  out  in  Gypsum 
valley,  or  Cajon  del  Yeso,  still  so  called.  Climbing 
upon  a  mesa,  he  travelled  six  leagues  north-east  to 
the  next  station,  San  Bernabe.  Six  leagues  north 
from  this  point  brought  him,  through  a  canon,  to  the 
San  Miguel,  or,  as  he  called  it,  Rio  San  Pedro.  En 
camping  at  stations  on  the  north  side  named  San  Luis, 
San  Felipe  (where  were  traces  of  Rivera's  passage), 
Fuenta  de  la  Guia,  and  passing  through  the  Canada 
Honda,  which  was  doubtless  the  Uncompahgre  park, 
to  Ojo  de  Lain  (named  in  honor  of  the  official  guide), 
he  reached  the  Uncompahgre  river,  spelled  by  him 
Ancapagari,  and  named  Rio  San  Francisco.  Esca- 
lante  gives  the  distance  travelled  from  the  San  Miguel 
to  the  Uncompahgre  as  twenty-four  and  a  half  leagues, 
which  is  proof  conclusive,  if  any  other  than  descrip 
tions  were  needed,  of  his  long  detour  through  the 
Uncompahgre  country.  His  first  station  beyond  was 
San  Agustin.  The  distance  from  the  crossing  of  the 
Uncompahgre,  in  a  north-east  course,  was  ten  leagues 
to  the  Gunnison  river,  which  he  said  was  called  by 
the  natives  Tomichi,  but  which  was  called  by  him 
San  Javier.  His  probable  crossing  of  the  Gunnison 
was  near  the  junction  of  the  south  and  north  forks. 
To  this  region  Rivera's  explorations  had  reached,  and 
farther  down  a  cross  had  been  cut  in  the  rock  of  the 
river  bank.  Four  leagues  up  the  Gunnison,  in  a 
north-east  direction,  he  came  to  a  stream,  which  he 
named  Santa  Rosa  ;  and  proceeded  further,  in  the 
same  course,  to  Rio  Santa  Monica,  which  corresponds 
to  the  north  branch  of  the  north  fork  of  the  Gunni 
son.  Following  the  direction  of  this  stream,  he  came 
to  the  Rio  San  Antonia  Mdrtir,  which  is  the  Divide 
creek  of  the  present.  Even  the  two  buttes,  known 
as  the  North  and  South  Mam,  are  named  San  Silves- 
tre  (after  Escalante  himself),  and  Nebuncari.  The 


342 


DISCOVERY  AND  OCCUPATION. 


Mam  creek  of  the  present  day  was  at  that  time  called 
Santa  Eosalia.  Near  here  he  forded  the  San  Rafael 
or  Grand  river,  the  course  of  the  travellers  seeming 
to  lead  over  Book  cliffs,  and  thence  north-west  to 
White  river,  called  by  them  San  Clemente,  where 
they  arrived  September  9th,  about  i-t  the  point  where 
it  crosses  the  boundary  of  Utah,  having  spent  a  little 
more  than  two  months  on  the  journey,  and  travelled 


-   - 


Esc AL ANTE'S  ROUTE. 

from  the  Dolores  86^  leagues.  In  two  places  on  his 
route  Escalante  mentioned  other  roads,  and  especially 
that  there  was  a  shorter  way  from  the  Gunnison  to 
the  Grand  river  than  the  one  he  was  taking.  He 
crossed  this  road  near  the  stream  he  called  Santa 
Rosalia.  Beyond  White  river  be  found  hills  of 
loose  slate,  passed  through  a  long  canon,  on  the  wall 
of  which  were  painted  three  shields  and  a  spear,  and 
two  warriors  in  combat  ;  saw  veins  of  metal,  and 
found  buffalo  trails,  from  which  he  named  this  defile 
Arroyo  del  Cfbolo.  At  Green  river  he  found  a  group 


FRENCH  COLONIES.  343 

of  six  large  cottonwood  trees,  and  one  lone  tree.  On 
one  of  these  Lain  carved  his  name  and  the  date,  1776, 
with  a  cross  above  and  below.  The  company  returned 
from  Utah  by  a  more  southern  route,  and  the  Span 
ish  trail  was  established  not  far  north  of  the  37th 
parallel  in  Colorado,  crossing  southern  Utah,  and 
thence  southwest  to  Los  Ansreles.  A  trail  to  Salt 

O 

Lake  was,  however,  established  at  a  later  period, 
which  crossed  the  boundary  of  Colorado  and  Utah 
on  the  south  side  of  Rio  Dolores,  which  was  surveyed 
as  late  as  1857  by  Captain  J.  N.  Macomb  for  the 
United  States  Government.2 

In  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  France 
claimed  the  sovereignty  of  the  country,  and  dur 
ing  that  period  several  expeditions  were  undertaken 
toward  the  Spanish  frontier,  a  not  very  clearly  defined 
boundary.3  The  most  important  of  these  was  con 
ducted  by  Monsieur  La  Salle,  who  first  having  in  1682 
explored  the  Mississippi  from  the  Illinois  region  to 
the  gulf  of  Mexico,  and  named  the  region  contiguous 
Louisiana,  in  1685  took  formal  possession  of  Texas, 
and  founded  a  colony  or  two  near  the  gulf,  on  the 
Guadalupe  and  Colorado  rivers.  But  La  Salle  was 
assassinated,  and  the  only  effect  of  his  settlement  was 
to  carry  the  western  boundary  of  Louisiana  as  far 
west  as  these  rivers.*  In  the  mean  time  the  country 
west  of  the  Mississippi  had  again  changed  hands, 
Spain  claiming  it  from  1762  to  1800,  when  it  was 
retroceded  to  France,  and  sold  by  the  first  Napoleon 
to  the  United  States  three  years  afterward.  Still  the 
boundary  was  unsettled,  and  in  1806  an  arrangement 
was  entered  into  between  the  Spanish  and  American 
authorities  that  the  former  should  not  cross  the  Sabine, 
nor  the  latter  approach  to  it,  To  prevent  collisions, 

*Dominyuez  and  Escalante,  Diario  y  derrotero  para  descubrir  el  camino 
desde  Santa  Ft  d  Monierey.  In  Doc.  Hist.  Mex.,  2d  ser.,  i.  375-558.  See 
also  Hist.  Utah,  this  series. 

3  Among  these  few  are  mentioned  one  by  Col  Wood  in  1654,  and  another 
by  Capt.  Bolt  in  1670;  but  they  were  productive  of  nothing  in  particular. 

*  U.  S.  Laws  aud  Docs,  1817,  5. 


344  DISCOVERY  AND  OCCUPATION. 

orders  were  given  not  to  survey  the  public  lands  west 
of  the  meridian  of  Natchitoches,  or  Red  river. 

But  the  curiosity  of  the  new  proprietors  of  Louisi 
ana  concerning  the  regions  toward  the  Rocky  moun 
tains  could  not  be  restrained;  and  President  Jefferson, 
also  desiring  to  know  something  of  them,  encouraged 
exploration.  It  happened  that  Zebulon  Montgomery 
Pike,  son  of  Zebulon  Pike  of  New  Jersey,  an  officer 
in  the  revolutionary  army,  who  at  the  age  of  twenty 
had  been  appointed  an  ensign  in  his  father's  company, 
and  was  a  lieutenant  at  twenty-six,  was  serving  under 
General  Wilkinson  in  the  west,  at  the  time  when 
Lewis  and  Clarke  were  fitting  out  their  expedition  to 
the  head  waters  of  the  Missouri  and  Columbia  in  1804. 

General  Wilkinson,  whose  military  duties  included 
keeping  peace  with  the  Indians,  thought  to  serve  his 
country  and  gratify  the  president  by  sending  young 
Pike  to  explore  the  upper  Mississippi,  under  the  pre 
tence  of  communicating  with  Indian  tribes  in  that 
region.  To  this  end,  in  August  1805,  a  keel-boat 
seventy  feet  long,  manned  by  a  crew  of  one  sergeant, 
two  corporals,  and  seventeen  privates,  under  Lieuten 
ant  Pike,  left  St  Louis  to  discover  the  source  of  the 
Mississippi,  being  provisioned  for  four  months.  He 
had  started  late  for  such  an  undertaking,  encounter 
ing  many  difficulties,  and  performing  the  last  part  of 
the  journey  with  sledges  drawn  by  his  men.  On  the 
last  of  January  1806  he  reached  the  utmost  source 
of  the  great  river,  arriving  at  a  fort  of  the  North- 

jQ  /  o 

west  Fur  company,  by  whose  officers  he  was  gener 
ously  entertained.  He  returned  to  St  Louis  about 
the  last  of  April 

General  Wilkinson  had  meanwhile  found  cause  for 
another  expedition,  having  on  his  hands  some  rescued 
captives  of  the  Kaw  nation,  who  lived  on  the  Osage 
river,  a  southern  branch  of  the  Kansas,  and  whom  he 
had  promised  to  restore  to  their  people.  On  this 
errand,  possibly,  Pike  set  out  July  15th,  after  a  brief 
rest  at  home  with  his  family. 


VARIOUS  EXPEDITIONS.  345 

His  party  consisted  of  one  lieutenant,  one  surgeon, 
one  sergeant,  two  corporals,  sixteen  privates,  and  an 
interpreter,  besides  fifty-one  Indians  of  all  ages,  and 
both  sexes.  He  ascended  the  Missouri  in  two  boats, 
taking  six  weeks  to  this  part  of  the  journey,  which 
brought  him  to  the  Osage  river.  Here  he  landed  his 
expedition,  purchased  horses,  loaded  them  with  pro 
visions  and  presents,  and  set  out  north-westward 
across  the  plains,  delivering  his  Indian  wards  to  their 
people  as  previously  agreed  upon.  Having  performed 
this  part  of  his  duty,  he  entered  upon  the  more  inter 
esting  one  of  exploration.  Crossing  the  country  to 
tiie  Arkansas  river  he  ascended  that  stream,  finding 
the  plains  black  with  buffaloes.  At  two  o'clock  on 
the  afternoon  of  the  15th  of  November  he  first  dis 
cerned  a  small  blue  cloud,  which  being  viewed  with  a 
spy-glass  he  perceived  to  be  a  mountain.  A  half 
hour  later  the  range  came  into  view,  and  his  men  gave 
"  three  cheers  for  the  Mexican  mountains." 

It  was  already  too  late  in  the  autumn  for  mountain 
travel,  but  Pike  knew  nothing  of  fear  or  discourage 
ment.  Pressing  eagerly  forward  for  yet  another 
week,  he  at  length  reached  the  most  eastern  ridge  of 
the  Colorado  range,  thinking  to  come  to  the  base  of  the 
peak  which  bears  his  name;  but  finding,  when  with 
great  toil  and  suffering  from  struggling  through  snow 
that  he  was  still  distant  fifteen  miles  from  this  moun 
tain,  he  relinquished  the  attempt,  his  men  being  with 
out  proper  clothing,  and  having  quite  worn  out  their 
stockings.  Before  beginning  the  ascent  Pike  had 
established  a  depot  at  or  near  the  mouth  of  Fontaine- 
qui-Bouille,  where  he  left  most  of  his  party;  thence  he 
moved  camp  nearer  to  the  foot  of  the  Sangre  de 
Cristo  range,  about  where  Canon  city  now  stands. 
The  cold  was  severe,  and  many  of  the  men  were  frost 
bitten.  Leaving  these  in  camp  he  began  exploring 
for  a  river  by  which  he  might  return  to  the  Missis 
sippi,  it  having  been  specially  charged  upon  him  to 
discover  if  possible  the  sources  of  the  Red  river. 


346  DISCOVERY  AND  OCCUPATION. 

Coming  to  the  South  park  by  the  present  route 
from  Canon  City,  he  called  the  first  stream  he  reached 
the  Platte,  in  which  curiously  enough  he  was  correct ; 
but  in  his  wanderings  striking  the  head  of  Grand 
river,  he  believed  it  to  be  the  Yellowstone.  Other 
errors  were  entered  on  his  chart,  given  in  chapter 
XV  of  my  Arizona  and  New  Mexico.  The  geography 
of  the  west  was  very  vague  as  yet ;  and  toiling  about 
in  the  mountains  with  the  mercury  below  zero  was 
but  a  poor  way  to  improve  it. 

But  in  the  South  park  he  made  a  discovery  that 
white  men  and  Indians  had  been  there  before  him, 
and  that  recently.  Not  wishing  to  fall  into  the  hands 
of  Mexicans  or  Indians,  he  retreated  toward  the  south, 
and  became  entangled  among  the  canons  of  the  upper 
portion  of  the  Arkansas  river,  but  finally  reached 
camp  with  only  one  horse  able  to  travel.  After  a 
little  rest  he  again  set  out,  this  time  on  foot,  in  search 
of  Red  river,  and  crossing  the  Arkansas,  violated  the 
terms  of  the  recent  arrangement  by  entering  Mexican 
territory.  Marching  up  the  Wet  Mountain  valley, 
leaving  disabled  men  by  the  way  in  improvised  shelt 
ers,  he  moved  straight  to  and  up  the  Sangre  de  Cristo 
range,  and  from  its  summits  looked  down  on  San  Luis 
park  and  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte,  which  he  believed 
to  be  the  Red  river.  Greatly  rejoiced,  he  descended 
to  the  valley,  erected  a  fortified  camp,  and  sent  back 
a  detachment  of  his  little  party  to  pick  up  the 
stragglers. 

Not  long  did  ne  enjoy  his  dreams  of  success.  The 
Mexican  authorities  had  been  on  the  lookout  for  his 
expedition,  which  had  become  known  to  them,  and  a 
few  days  after  completing  the  above  arrangements  he 
was  politely  arrested  by  a  squad  of  Mexican  soldiers, 
and  persuaded  to  accompany  them  to  Santa  Fe,  El 
Paso,  and  subsequently  to  Chihuahua,  more  than  a 
year  being  consumed  in  this  courteously  managed 
captivity,  during  which  the  most  valuable  portion  of 


PIKE'S  DISCOVERIES.  347 

his  papers  were  lost,  and  his  command  scattered. 
They  were  finally  returned  to  the  United  States 
through  Texas. 

One  thing  pertinent  to  the  subsequent  history  of 
Colorado,  Lieutenant  Pike  discovered  during  his 
detention  in  New  Mexico.  An  American,  James 
Pursley,  of  Bairdstown,  Kentucky,5  whom  he  met 
there,  showed  him  lumps  of  gold  brought  by  himself 
from  the  South  park;  and  he  learned  that  the  traces 
of  white  men  and  Indians  seen  by  him,  and  which  had 
turned  him  southward,  related  to  gold  discoveries  in 
that  region.6  In  1807  Pike  was  permitted  to  return 
home,  and  in  the  second  year  of  the  war  of  1812  was 
killed  at  the  assault  on  Toronto,  after  having  been 
previously  promoted  to  the  rank  of  brigadier-general/ 
The  peak  which  bears  his  name  was  measured  by  him, 
on  the  base  of  a  mile,  and  on  the  presumption  that 
the  plains  were  8,000  feet  above  sea-level.  He  made 
the  height  of  the  mountain  to  be  18,581  whereas  it  is 
really  but  14,147.  Most  early  explorers  exaggerated 
the  height  of  mountains,  whether  purposely  or  not. 

5  Pursley  went  up  the  Platte  In  1803  or  1804,  and  was  conducted  by  Ind 
ians  to   Santa  Fe.      A  French  creole,   La  Lande,   took  some  goods  up  the 
Platte  in  1804  for  his  employer,  Morrison,  a  merchant  of  Kaskaskia;  but  he 
took  the  goods  to  Santa  Fe,  and  established  himself  in  business,  where  he 
remained.  Barbers  Hist.  West.  States,  549. 

6  W.  B.  Vickers,  in  Haydens  Great  West,  98,  says  there  is  no  evidence  to 
show  that  there  were  any  settlers  in  Colorado  previous  to  1843,  or  any  knowl 
edge  of  the  treasures  hidden  in  the  soil  or   rocks  at  that  time.     This  is  a 
hasty  conclusion.     The  Spanish-Mexicans  would  conceal  as  much  as  possible 
any  such  knowledge  from  Americans;  but  it  existed.  The  American  referred 
to  above  discovered  the  gold  on  the  head  of  the  Platte  while  a  captive  in  the 
hands  of  the  Indians;  and  he  assured  Pike  he  had  been  frequently  solicited 
to  go  and  show  a  detachment  of  Mexican  cavalry  where  to  find  it,   but  re 
fused.     It  was  probably  this  detachment  which  had  just  left  the  park  when 
Pike  arrived  in  it.  Appendix  to  An  Account  of  an  Expedition  to  the  Sources  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  Through  the   Western  Part  of  Louisiana,  etc',,  in  the    Years 
1805,  1806,  and  1807',  Philadelphia,  1810.     I  have  seen  it  stated  that  old  de 
serted  shafts  had  been  found  in  southern  Colorado,  together  with  some  cop 
per  vessels,  the  writer  attributing  these  evidences  of  mining  to  the  ancients 
who  inhabited  the  ruined  cities  and  the  cliffs;  but  these  people  used  only 
stone  implements,  and  clearly  knew  nothing  of  mining.     The  prospect  holes 
were   undoubtedly   made   by   the    Mexicans    about   the    beginning    of    the 
century. 

7  James  Parian,  in  TJie  Discoverer  of  Pike's  Peal;  MS.,  7,  an  abridgement 
of  Parton's  account  of  Pike's  expeditions.     See  also  Denver  Rocky  Mountain 
Herald,  Aug.  21,  1875. 


348  DISCOVERY  AND  OCCUPATION. 

Probably  the    cold    had   something   to  do  with  the 
reported  altitude  of  Pike's  peak.8 

No  further  official  explorations  of  the  country  at 
the  base  of  the  Rocky  mountains  were  ordered  until 
after  the  treaty  of  the  22d  of  February,  1819,  by 
which  the  boundary  between  the  possessions  of  Spain 
and  the  United  States  was  definitely  settled,'  giving 
to  the  latter  the  northern  two  thirds  of  the  present 
state  of  Colorado,  with  all  the  country  north  of  the 
Arkansas  river.  Immediately  after  the  confirmation 
of  the  Florida  treaty,  Secretary-of-war  Calhoun  or 
dered  an  expedition  more  complete  in  equipment  than 
any  which  had  preceded  it,  comprising  besides  military 
officers  a  number  of  men  of  science.  The  company, 
commanded  by  Major  Stephen  H.  Long,  left  Pitts 
burgh  May  30, 1819,  and  proceeded  by  a  steam-vessel, 
constructed  especially  for  the  purpose,  to  St  Louis, 
and  thence  by  land  travel  to  Council  Bluffs,  on  the 
Missouri,  where  they  wintered.  In  the  following 
June,  Long  explored  the  Platte  valley  to  the  junction 
of  the  north  and  south  forks,  where  he  took  the  di- 

8  From  the  original  Pike's  Expedition — for  a  biographical  notice  of  which 
see  my  History  of  the  Northwest  Coast — come  scores  of  accounts  which  follow, 
such  as  is  found  in  the  Colorado  Gazetteer  for  1871.     This  book,  which  con 
tains  besides  a  brief  history  of  the  state,    a  comprehensive   account  of  its 
mining,  agricultural,  commercial,  manufacturing  interests,  and  climate,  will 
be  frequently  referred  to  for  statistics  on  these  subjects.     Notice  of  Pike's 
expedition  is  found  in  Thomas  B.   Corbett's  Colorado  Directory  of  Mines,   1879, 
p.  34.     This  also  is  an  important  book  of  reference,  containing  a  description 
of  the  mines  and  mills,   and  the  mining  corporations.     The  Northwest,  by 
Samuel  J.  Parker,  son  of  Samuel  Parker,   explorer  and  missionary  to  the 
Oregon  country  in  1835,  is  a  manuscript  history  of  the  north-west  country, 
compiled  partly  from  the  father's  writings  and  partly  from  the  accounts  of 
other  explorers.     It  is,  like  the  other  missionary  writings,  very  bitter  against 
the  fur  companies.     A   writer  in  Harper's  Magazine,  xli.  372,   gives  a  good 
brief  account  of  Pike's  expeditions. 

9  U.   S.  Laws  and  Treaties,    1815-21,   vi.  614-29.     This  boundary,  which 
was  changed  by  conquest  and  purchase,  subsequently  gave  the  U.   S.  the 
Florida  territory  east  of  the  Mississippi.     West  of  the   Mississippi  the  line 
began  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sabine  river,  continuing  north  along  the  west 
bank  of  that  stream  to  the  32d  degree  of  north  latitude,  thence  due  north  to 
the  Red  river,  which  it  followed  up  to  the  degree  of  longitude  23  west  from 
Washington,  running  thence  due  north  again  to  the  Arkansas  river,   which 
it  followed  to  its  source  in  latitude  42°  north,  and  thence  it  was  drawn  west 
ward  on  that  parallel  to  the  '  South  sea. '     It  will  be  seen  that  this  boundary 
supposed  the  Arkansas  river  to  be  two  degrees  longer  than  it  really  was,  and 
left  the  actual  boundary  from  central  Colorado  northward  to  the  42°  still  in 
doubt. 


LONG'S   REPORT.  349 

rection  of  the  southern  branch,  which  brought  him  to 
the  South  park  by  a  route  different  fro  in  that  of  Pike's. 
The  high  peak  first  seen  by  Lieutenant  Pike  received 
the  name  of  E.  James,  botanist  of  the  expedition,1' 
he  being  the  first  man  known  to  have  reached  a  sum 
mit  of  the  Colorado  mountains.  He  also  measured 
it,  and  made  it  almost  as  much  too  low  as  Pike  had 
made  it  too  high.11  Long  descended  the  valley  of 
the  Arkansas  to  the  Mississippi,  having  gained  much 
valuable  geographical  information  of  the  country  ex 
plored.  But  his  account  was  not  one  pleasing  to  the 
secretary  of  war,  or  to  the  government.  He  repre 
sented  the  whole  country  drained  by  the  Missouri, 
Arkansas,  Platte,  and  their  tributaries  as  unfit  for 
cultivation,  and  uninhabitable  in  consequence.  He 
found  all  between  the  39th  and  49th  parallels,  and 
for  five  hundred  miles  east  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  a 
desert  of  sand  and  stones,  whereupon  this  region  was 
represented  on  maps  as  the  Great  American  desert. 
The  report  of  Long  was  a  stumbling-block  in  the  way 
of  the  advocates  of  the  American  claim  to  Oregon  in 
congress  for  many  years,  for  no  sooner  did  an  advocate 
of  that  claim  open  his  mouth  than  he  was  reminded 
of  Major  Long's  scientific  observations  and  explora 
tions,  and  asked  what  value  could  attach  to  a  desert. 
This  impression  was  to  some  extent  the  key  which 
kept  Colorado  a  locked  treasure-house  until  Oregon 
and  California  had  both  been  settled,  and  proved  to 
be  rich  agricultural  countries,  even  where  they  had 
appeared  as  much  deserts  as  Colorado. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  small  parties  of 
adventurers,  like  Pursley,  had  already  penetrated  the 
Rocky  mountains  in  advance  of  either  of  the  above- 

19  The  name  of  Pike  has  been  retained,  but  to  James  and  Long  were 
given  peaks  elsewhere.  For  Long's  note  on  the  subject  see  Lowfs  Exped. 
ftocky  Mountains,  ii.  45.  Another  peak  has  been  named  after  Lieut  Graham 
of  Long's  party,  and  the  hot  springs  on  the  Arkansas  after  Captain  Bell. 
Col.  Gnze.tteer,  21;  Fremont's  Explor.  Exped.,  30. 

11  James  called  Pike's  peak  11,500  feet  high.  Fremont  in  1843,  made  it 
14,300.  Its  present  received  measurement  was  made  in  1862  by  Parry, 
whose  careful  examination  of  the  country  entitles  his  work  to  credit. 


350  DISCOVERY  AND  OCCUPATION. 

named   expeditions/2  and   that   previous  to   that  o 
Long's,  a  number  of  traders  had  established  posts  on 

12  See  Hist.  Northwest  Coast,  this  series.  A  little  work  by  David  H. 
Coyner,  first  published  in  1847,  and  republished  in  Cincinnati  in  1859,  called 
The  Lost  Trappers,  gives  a  particular  account  of  the  wanderinge  of  a  com 
pany  of  20  men  who  left  St  Louis  in  1807,  intending  to  cross  the  Rocky 
mountains.  The  leader  was  Ezekiel  Williams,  and  this  was  the  first  over 
land  expedition  .to  the  Pacific  of  the  kind  ever  undertaken.  It  proceeded  to 
the  Mandan  village  under  the  guidance  of  a  chief  of  that  tribe,  Big  White, 
who  had  accompanied  Lewis  and  Clarke  to  Washington,  and  was  returning 
to  Fort  Mandan.  From  this  point  Williams's  party  proceeded  by  land  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone,  up  which  they  travelled  looking  for  beavers. 
Soon  after  finding  a  locality  where  beavers  were  plenty  in  the  streams  and 
buffaloes  upon  the  plains,  a  hunting  party  of  ten  men  went  out,  but  were 
set  upon  by  Indians,  whom  they  believed  to  be  Blackfoot,  and  five  of  them 
slain,  the  other  five  escaping  to  camp.  The  company  at  once  set  off  again 
southward  until  they  fell  in  with  the  Crows,  by  whom  they  were  so  well 
treated  that  a  man  named  Rose,  who  had  joined  the  party  at  St  Louis,  but 
whose  character  as  an  outlaw  was  not  known  to  Williams,  determined  to  re 
main  among  them,  and  did  so  until  1 823,  being  the  first  white  man  who  had 
a  residence  in  the  Yellowstone  country.  He  returned  as  guide  to  Fitzpat- 
rick  and  Sublette,  and  afterward  joined  the  American  Fur  company,  but 
was  ever  one  of  those  unprincipled  men  who  gave  to  the  trappers  the  unsa 
vory  character  dwelt  upon  by  the  Parkers.  Williams'  party,  now  reduced  to 
14  members,  proceeded  in  a  direction  toward  the  South  pass,  and  when  upon 
the  headwaters  of  the  north  Platte  were  attacked  by  Crows  and  sustained 
another  loss  of  five  men.  In  the  first  attack  one  Indian  had  been  killed;  in 
this  fight,  for  which  the  company  were  prepared  by  the  the  theft  of  their 
horses,  twenty  or  more  of  their  enemies  were  killed.  The  party  now  re 
duced  to  ten,  their  horses  being  gone,  hastened  on  foot  out  of  the  vicinity  of 
the  battle-ground,  caching  their  furs  and  such  things  as  they  could  not  carry 
on  a  long  march,  and  moved  southward,  wandering  about  until  spring,  when 
they  found  themselves  on  the  sources  of  the  south  Platte,  and  of  course  in 
Colorado.  One  after  another  of  them  were  cut  off  by  the  Comanches  until 
only  three  remained,  Williams,  James  Workman,  and  Samuel  Spencer,  who 
determined  to  return  to  St  Louis  if  they  could.  But  as  often  happens,  mis 
fortune  had  made  them  not  only  reckless,  but  at  enmity  with  one  another; 
and  the  three  wanderers  separated,  Williams  journeying  down  the  Arkan 
sas,  which  he  mistook  for  Red  river,  in  a  canoe,  and  by  travelling  at  night 
arrived  safely  among  the  Kansas,  who  directed  him  to  Fort  Cooper,  on  the 
Missouri.  Here  he  found  an  Indian  trader  of  the  U.  S. ,  C.  Cibley,  about  to 
pay  the  Indians  their  annunities,  and  who  first  compelled  the  Kansas  to  re 
turn  to  William 3  several  packages  of  furs  they  had  stolen  from  him  after 
his  departure  from  their  village.  In  the  following  year,  1809,  Williams  re 
turned  to  the  mountains  with  a  party  and  recovered  the  furs  cached  by  hia 
company  on  the  Platte.  Workman  and  Spencer  in  the  meantime  had  made 
their  way  to  the  Arkansas,  which  they  also  mistook  for  the  Red  river,  and 
in  following  which  toward  its  source  they  discovered  the  trail  of  Pike's  party 
of  the  year  before,  who  had  cut  in  the  rocks  the  name  of  Red  river,  which 
confirmed  them  in  their  error.  Hoping  to  find  that  its  headwaters  were  in  a 
range  by  crossing  which  they  would  find  themselves  at  Santa  Fe  in  New 
Mexico,  they  followed  up  this  stream,  coming  in  sight  of  Pike's  peak,  which 
they  said  seemod  so  high  *  that  a  cloud  could  not  pass  between  its  top  and 
the  sky. '  They  became  entangled  among  the  mountains  and  canons  of  Col 
orado,  passing  many  weeks  in  endeavoring  to  find  the  sources  of  the  Rio 
Grande  Del  Norte,  but  coming  instead  to  the  Rio  Colorado,  which  they  fol 
lowed — believing  it  would  take  them  to  Santa  Fe — until  they  came  to  a 
crossing  and  a  plain  trail,  which  they  resolved  to  follow.  Meeting  a  Mexi- 


INCOMING  FUR  TRADERS.  351 

che  Arkansas  and  other  rivers,13  forerunners  of  the 
more  powerful  fur  companies.  A  profitable  trade 
was  also  carried  on  between  the  merchants  of  St 
Louis  and  the  inhabitants  of  New  Mexico,  of  which 
all  of  Colorado  south  of  the  Arkansas  river  was  a 
part.  The  Indians  on  the  Santa  Fe  route — the  Co- 
manches  of  the  plains — gave  traders  and  travellers 
much  trouble;  and  in  1823  the  government  ordered 
an  escort,  commanded  by  Captain  Riley,  to  meet  the 
Santa  Fe  train,  and  conduct  it  to  the  Missouri  fron 
tier.14  He  advanced  to  the  crossing  of  the  Arkansas, 
and  conducted  it  to  Independence,  the  eastern  termi 
nus  of  the  Santa  Fe  trail,  the  first  military  expedition 
by  United  States  troops  west  of  the  Missouri  and 
north  of  Texas.  Four  years  afterward  Fort  Leaven- 

<ian  caravan  bound  to  Los  Angeles,  California,  two  days  afterward,  they 
joined  it,  and  the  following  spring  returned  with  it  to  Santa  Fe,  where  they 
remained  trading  for  15  years.  When  Workman  and  Spencer  set  out  to  de 
scend  the  Colorado  it  was  by  canoe.  From  the  description  given  by  them  to 
the  author  of  the  Lost  Trappers,  I  think  they  were  upon  the  Gunnison 
branch  of  the  Colorado,  and  that  it  was  the  black  canon  which  interrupted 
their  navigation.  The  crossing  of  the  Spanish  trail  could  not  have  been  far 
from  the  present  crossing  of  the  Salt  Lake  road.  At  all  events,  they  were 
the  first  Americans  to  float  upon  the  waters  of  this  stream,  or,  so  far  as  I 
have  discovered,  to  cross  the  Rocky  mountains  south  of  Lewis  and  Clarke's 
pass. 

13  Manuel  Lisa,  a  Mexican,  enjoyed  a  monopoly  of  the  Indian  trade  west 
of  the  Missouri  at  the  beginning  of  the  century  under  a  grant  of  the  Mexi 
can  government.  Peter  Choteau,  a  rival  trader  and  U.  S.  agent  for  the 
Osages,  managed  to  separate  a  part  of  that  nation  from  their  adherence  to 
Lisa,  and  established  a  post  among  them  on  the  Verdigris  branch  of  the  Ar 
kansas  in  1808.  It  was,  however,  removed  in  1813,  and  it  was  not  for  ten 
years  afterward  that  a  regular  fur  trade  to  the  Rocky  mountains  was  begun. 

14 This  was  inconsequence  of  the  capture  of  the  previous  year's  train  from 
Santa  Fe,  commanded  by  Capt.  Means,  who,  with  several  of  his  men,  was 
killed.  Coyner  relates  that  in  1823  the  Mexican  government,  having  ban 
ished  several  citizens  of  importance  for  alleged  treasonable  designs,  per 
mitted  them  to  go  to  the  U.  S.  with  the  annual  Santa  Fe  train,  and  sent  as 
an  escort  a  company  of  60  men,  Mexicans  and  Pueblo  Indians,  under  Capt. 
Viscarro,  who  was  to  conduct  the  exiles  along  the  road  until  he  met  Capt. 
Riley.  When  near  the  Cimarron  river,  60  miles  from  the  crossing  of  the 
Arkansas,  he  was  attacked,  and  8  or  10  of  his  command  killed.  Viscarro 
himself  is  accused  of  cowardice.  The  Pueblos  and  two  Americans  named 
Barnes  and  Wrallace  fought  and  pursued  the  Comanches,  inflicting  severe 
loss  upon  them.  The  company  hoping  to  meet  Riley  at  the  Arkansas,  yet 
fearing  that  he  might  be  gone,  sent  a  detachment,  consisting  of  the  Pueblos, 
Wallace,  Barnes,  and  Workman,  to  overtake  him.  They  found  he  had  moved 
away  from  the  river,  but  overtook  him  in  two  days'  travel,  and  detained 
him  until  the  train  came  up,  after  which  they  were  under  the  protection  of 
American  troops,  and  Viscarro  with  his  depleted  force  turned  back  to  Santa 
Fe.  Coyner' s  Lost  Trappers,  170-86. 


362  DISCOVERY  AND  OCCUPATION. 

worth  was  established  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mis 
souri,  twenty  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas 
river,  and  near  enough  to  the  Santa  Fe  trail  to  afford 
protection  to  travellers.  For  many  years  this  was 
the  initial  point  of  expeditions  west  and  northwest 
ward,  as  all  books  of  travel  show.  In  1829  Major 
Riley,  with  four  companies,  escorted  a  caravan  as  far 
as  Bent's  fort,  on  the  Arkansas.  Captain  Wharton 
was  on  the  trail  in  1834,  and  Captain  Cook  in  1843. 
The  establishment  of  a  fort  in  the  Indian  country 
did  not  precede  but  followed  the  adventures  of  private 
individuals  and  associations  in  the  public  territory  of 
the  United  States,  to  which  I  have  already  referred. 
Among  those  who  followed  their  pursuits  in  Colorado 
were  the  Bents,  St  Vrain,  Vasquez,  Bridger,  Carson, 
Lupton,  Pfeiffer,  Nugent,  Pattie,  Baker,  Beckwourth, 
Sarpy,  Wiggins,  the  Grerrys,  Chabonard,  and  others. 
Bonneville's  company  of  trappers  and  explorers  passed 
through  the  Arkansas  country  in  1834.15 

15  See  Victor's  River  of  tlie  West,  157,  and  Hist.  Northwest  Co'ast,  this 
ssries.  It  is  difficult  to  give  satisfactory  accounts  of  men  who  lead  a  wander 
ing  life  in  an  unsettled  country.  Only  scraps  of  information  are  preserved, 
whose  authenticity  may  well  be  questioned.  From  the  best  information  ob 
tainable  the  following  biographies  have  been  gathered:  James  P.  Beckwourth 
was  born  in  Virginia  of  a  negro  slave  mother  and  an  Irish  overseer.  His 
white  blood  impelled  him  to  run  away  from  servitude  in  or  about  1817,  and 
he  joined  a  caravan  going  to  New  Mexico.  Some  years  afterward  he  was 
in  the  service  of  Louis  Vasquez  in  Colorado,  and  subsequently  so  ingrati 
ated  himself  with  the  Crows  that  they  made  him  head  chief,  an  office  in 
which  he  used  to  give  the  American  Fur  company  much  trouble.  Later  in 
life  he  severed  his  connection  with  savagery,  and  became  interpreter  and 
guide  to  government  expeditions.  He  resided  for  a  time  in  a  valley  of  the 
Sierra  Nevada,  but  being  implicated  in  certain  transactions  which  attracted 
the  notice  of  the  vigilants,  fled  and  went  to  Missouri.  When  the  migration 
to  Colorado  was  at  its  height  in  1859,  he  proceeded  to  Denver,  and  was 
taken  into  partnership  with  Vasquez  and  his  nephew.  Being  tired  of  trade, 
he  went  to  live  on  a  farm,  and  took  a  Mexican  wife;  but  fell  out  with  her, 
and  finally  relapsed  into  his  former  mode  of  savage  life,  dying  about  1867. 
Montana  Post,  Feb.  23,  1867,  Bridger,  Carson,  Pattie,  and  others  have  been 
frequently  spoken  of  in  other  volumes  of  this  series.  The  last  named  came 
to  the  mountains  of  Colorado  in  1824  with  a  company  of  120  men.  He  was 
a  youth  at  the  time.  The  company  fell  apart,  and  drifted  in  various  direc 
tions  through  New  Mexico  and  Arizona.  Pattie  and  a  few  companions  de 
scended  the  Colorado,  and  reached  the  coast  at  San  Diego,  naked  and  starv 
ing.  They  were  arrested  by  the  Mexican  authorities  and  imprisoned, 
suffering  much;  but  Pattie,  on  account  of  his  knowledge  of  the  Spanish  lan 
guage,  was  employed  as  an  interpreter,  and  escaped  back  to  the  states.  James 
Baker  came  out,  probably  with  Bridger,  and  roved  about  in  the  mountains 
until  he  finally  settled  on  Clear  creek,  four  miles  north  of  Denver,  I  do  not 


FORTS  353 

No  forts  of  importance  were  erected  within  the 
present  limits  of  Colorado  before  1832,  when  the 
Bent  brothers  erected  Fort  William  on  the  north 
branch  of  the  Arkansas  river,  eighty  miles  northeast 
from  Taos,  and  one  hundred  and  sixty  from  the  moun 
tains.16  They  traded  with  the  Mexicans  and  the  Co- 
know  exactly  at  what  date;  but  he  is  recognized  as  the  first  American  set 
tler  in  Colorado.  He  had  an  Indian  wife  and  half-caste  children  grown  to 
manhood  in  1859.  The  occupation  of  the  country  displeased  him,  and  he 
left  Clear  creek  for  the  mountains  of  Idaho,  where  he  ended  his  days.  O. 
P.  Wiggins,  a  Canadian,  formerly  a  servant  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  came 
to  Colorado  in  1834,  and  was  employed  by  the  American  Fur  Co.,  and  sta 
tioned  at  Fort  St  John.  He  became  a  wealthy  citizen  of  Colorado.  Peter 
A.  Sarpey  was  one  of  the  French  families  of  St  Louis.  He  had  one  trading- 
post  in  Colorado,  and  another  at  Belle vue  in  Nebraska;  a  small,  wiry,  mer- 
curial-dispositioned  man,  who  lived  among  savages  simply  to  make  money, 
which  furthered  no  enterprises  and  purchased  no  pleasures  such  as  a  man  of 
good  family  should  value.  Col  Ceran  St  Vrain  began  trading  to  New  Mex 
ico  in  1824,  working  up  into  American  territory  a  few  years  later,  where  he 
built  a  fort  named  after  himself.  He  died  at  Mora  in  New  Mexico,  in  Octo 
ber  1870,  to  which  country  he  returned  on  the  'decline  of  the  fur  trade. 
Godfrey  and  Elbridge  Gerry  were  lineal  descendants  of  Gov.  Elbridge  Gerry, 
one  of  the  signers  of  the  declaration  of  independence.  They  came  to  the 
Rocky  Mountains  while  quite  young  men,  and  spent  their  lives  on  the  fron 
tier.  After  settlement  began,  Godfrey  built  an  adobe  residence  on  the 
Platte,  and  kept  a  station  of  the  Overland  Stage  Co.  During  the  Indian 
disturbance  of  1864  his  station  was  besieged — it  went  by  tlfe  name  of  Fort 
Wicked — tor  days  by  a  large  force  of  the  savages,  who  endeavored  to  fire 
the  buildings.  With  no  help  but  his  own  family  he  successfully  resisted  all 
tlteir  attempts  to  reduce  his  fort,  and  killed  many  of  the  besiegers.  The 
Indians  also  conspired  to  capture  Elbridge  Gerry  and  Iiis  large  band  of 
horses,  but  his  Indian  wife  having  discovered  the  plot,  informed  him  of  it, 
and  he,  too,  saved  his  life  and  property.  These  brothers  were  among  the 
earliest  settlers  in  Colorado.  Byers  Hht.  Col,  MS.,  61-8.  Elbridge  Gerry 
died  in  1876.  Kit  Carson,  Bill  Williams,  Pfeiffer,  the  Autobeas  brothers, 
John  Paisel,  and  Roubideau  were  all  noted  mountaineers.  Carson  rendered 
himself  a  second  time  famous  during  the  civil  war.  He  died  at  Fort  Lyon 
in  June  1868.  Denver  Rocky  Mountain  News,  June  3,  1868.  Williams  was 
killed  by  the  Utes  in  south-western  Colorado  in  1850.  Fohom  (Cal.)  Tele 
graph,  Oct.  28,  1871.  And  so  died  many  a  brave  man.  But  none  who  went 
to  the  mountains  in  those  early  times  were  better  known  than  the  Bent  fam 
ily  of  St  Louis.  There  were  six  brothers,  John,  Charles,  William,  Robert, 
George  and  Silas.  Robert  and  George  died  in  1841.  Claaries  was  the  first 
American  governor  of  New  Mexico,  and  was  killed  in  the  massacre  at  Taoa 
in  March  1847.  Silas,  the  youngest,  was  a  member  of  the  expedition  to 
Japan  under  Perry,  and  made  a  report  to  the  Geographical  Society  of  New 
York  concerning  the  warm  current  from  the  Japan  sea,  which  touches  the 
coast  of  North  America.  The  other  brothers  were  fur  traders,  and  WTilliam 
was  subsequently  government  freighter.  He  died  May  19,  1869,  the  last  of 
the  original  firm.  Colorado  Paper,  in  Montana  Democrat,  June  17,  1869;  Ar 
kansas  Vol.  Hiit.,  830. 

16  It  is  i  elated,  and  is  probably  true,  that  Maurice,  a  French  trader  from 

Detroit,  built  a  fortification  on  Adobe  creek  in  Arkansas  valley  in    1830, 

which  would  give  him  precedence  in  point  of  time.     He  collected  a  Mexican 

settlement,  and  erected  13  adobe  cabins  around  a  square  or   plaza,  in  Mexi- 

HIST.  NKV.    23 


354  DISCOVERY  AND  OCCUPATION. 

manches,  Che}rennes,  Arapahoes,  and  Utes.  Fort 
William,  after  which  the  other  trading-posts  were 
modelled,  consisted  of  an  enclosure  150  by  100  feet  in 
extent,  surrounded  by  an  adobe  wall  seven  feet  thick 
and  eighteen  feet  high.  At  the  north-west  and  south 
east  corners  stood  bastions  ten  feet  in  diameter  and 
thirty  feet  high,  with  openings  for  cannon  and  small 
arms.  A  partition  wall  divided  the  interior,  two- 
thirds  of  which  was  devoted  to  the  necessary  shops, 
storehouses,  and  dwellings,  the  remaining  third  being 
a  corral  in  which  the  horses  and  mules  were  secured 
from  theft  at  night.  In  the  east  wall  was  a  large 
gate,  with  heavy  plank  doors,  opened  only  on  certain 
occasions.  Adjoining  the  wall  on  the  west  was  a 
wagon-house,  made  to  shelter  a  dozen  or  more  large 
wagons  used  in  conveying  goods  from  and  peltries  to 
St  Louis.  The  tops  of  the  houses  were  flat  and  grav 
elled,  and  served  for  a  promenade  in  the  evenings, 
like  the  house-tops  of  Egypt.  There  were  about 
sixty  persons  employed  in  the  affairs  at  Fort  William, 
and  many  were  the  dangers  they  incurred  and  adven 
tures  they  encountered  ;17  for  the  region  was  the  com 
mon  ground  of  several  of  the  most  warlike  tribes  of 
the  plains.  Here,  too,  at  different  times  were  enter 
tained  travellers  of  every  description  and  rank  for  a 
period  of  more  than  twenty  years.  In  1852  Bent 
blew  up  Fort  William  and  moved  his  goods  down  the 

can  fashion,  one  of  which  was  used  as  a  church.  In  1838  the  Sioux  and 
Arapahoes  attacked  the  place,  and  were  fought  by  the  Utes,  whose  assistance 
had  been  sought.  The  battle  was  a  bloody  one,  resulting  in  the  victory  of 
the  Utes.  This  Mexican  settlement  was  not  entirely  broken  up  until  1846. 
Arkansas  Vol.  Hist.,  545-6.  Among  those  earliest  in  the  service  of  the  fur 
companies  were  Bill  Williams,  John  Smith,  a  young  man  of  good  education 
from  Philadelphia,  Ben.  Ryder,  C.  de  Bray,  Metcalfe,  and  William  Brans- 
ford,  who  later  lived  in  Las  Animas  county. 

17  Farnhams  Travels  in  the  Great  Western  Prairies,  35.  The  author  of  this 
book  was  at  Fort  William  in  1839,  and  wrote  accurately  of  what  he  saw. 
He  says:  'In  the  months  of  June,  August,  and  September  there  are  in  the 
neighborhood  of  those  traders  from  15,000  to  20,000  savages,  ready  and 
panting  for  plunder  and  blood.  If  they  engage  in  battling  out  old  causes  of 
contention  among  themselves  the  Messrs  Bent  feel  comparatively  safe  in 
their  solitary  fortress.  But  if  they  spare  each  other's  property  and  lives 
there  are  great  anxieties  at  Fort  William;  every  hour  of  day  and  night  ia 
pregnant  with  danger.' 


FUR  TRADERS.  355 

Arkansas  to  the  mouth  of  Purgatoire  river,  where  he 
erected  a  new  fort,  which  was  leased  to  the  govern 
ment  in  1859,  when  it  was  occupied  by  troops  and 
called  Fort  Wise,  after  the  governor  of  Virginia. 

Another  trading-post  erected  in  1832  was  that  of 
Louis  Vasquez,  five  miles  north-east  of  the  site  of 
Denver,  at  the  junction  of  Vasquez  fork  or  Clear 
creek  with  the  Platte  river.  A  nephew  of  Vasquez 
resided  with  him  at  the  fort  from  1832  to  1836,  and 
was  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  Colorado.  Fort  Sarpy 
was  erected  soon  after  the  two  above  named,  and  was 
situated  on  the  Platte,  five  miles  below  Vasquez's 
post.  Five  miles  below  Sarpy 's  post  was  another 
fort,  whose  name  has  been  forgotten,  and  fifteen  miles 
further  down  the  river  was  Fort  Lancaster,  erected 
by  Lupton,  which  in  1886  was  in  a  good  state  of 
preservation.  Fort  St  Vrain,  ten  miles  below  Lup 
ton,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Cache  le  Poudre  river 
with  the  Platte,  was  erected  in  1838.  The  Bent 
brothers  also  had  a  post  on  the  Platte  before  reaching 
the  junction  of  the  next  stream  below.  So  thickly 
clustered  rival  establishments  in  the  first  ten  or  fif 
teen  years  of  trade  in  the  Rocky  mountains.  Five 
miles  above  Fort  William  toward  the  mountains  was 
El  Pueblo,  a  Mexican  post,  although  owned  in  part 
by  Americans,  and  constructed  very  much  on  the 
plan  of  Fort  William.  It  was  not,  like  the  others,  a 
trading  establisment,  but  a  farming  settlement, 
intended  to  supply  the  trading-posts  with  grain,  veg 
etables,  and  live  stock.  The  proprietors  irrigated 
their  farm  with  water  from  the  Arkansas,  and  were 
undoubtedly  the  first  agriculturists  in  this  region  ; 
but  as  they  neglected  to  water  their  potions  of  alco 
hol  sufficiently  at  the  same  time,  their  enterprise  did 
not  flourish  as  it  should,  even  in  1838.18 

18  Stone,  General  View,  MS.,  20-21,  mentions  a  Col  Boone,  who  had  a 
trading  post  known  as  Hardscrable  in  the  Arkansas  valley,  contemporary 
with  St  Vrain  and  others.  Another  post  was  on  the  site  of  Trinidad  in  Las 
Animas  county.  The  St  Vrain  mentioned  here,  1  have  no  doubt,  was  one  of 
the  family  of  that  name  which  became  possessed  of  a  grant  to  certain  lead 


356  DISCOVERY  AND  OCCUPATION. 

Somewhere  between  1840  and  1844  another  settle 
ment  was  made  on  Adobe  creek,  further  up  the 
Arkansas  on  the  south  side,  in  what  was  later  Fre 
mont  county.  It  was  under  the  patronage  of  an 
association  of  traders,  among  whom  were  Bent,  Lup- 
ton,  St  Vrain,  Beaubien,  and  Lucien  B.  Maxwell, 
Beaubien  having  charge,  and  being  the  owner  of  a 
large  grant  of  land  from  the  Mexican  government. 
The  settlement  was  broken  up  in  1846  by  the  Indians. 

A  feature  of  the  period  to  which  I  have  just 
alluded  was  the  obtaining  of  grants  from  the  Mexican 
authorities  for  the  purpose  of  colonization  and  devel 
opment.  As  I  have  shown,  success  had  not  attended 
their  efforts,  but  the  grants  were  valid  notwithstand 
ing.  The  Vigil  and  St  Vrain  grant  embraced  nearly 
all  of  what  is  now  Colorado  south  of  the  Arkansas 
river  and  east  of  the  mountains,  excepting  the  Nolan 
grant,  a  tract  fifteen  miles  wide  by  forty  miles  in 
length,  lying  south  of  Pueblo.  Under  the  treaty  of 
1848  the  title  to  these  lands  was  undisturbed,  except 
that  the  United  States  government  thought  best  to 
cut  them  down  to  eleven  square  leagues  each,  as 
enough  to  content  republican  owners.  I  shall  have 
occasion  to  refer  again  to  them  in  this  history.  On 
the  Vigil  and  St  Vrain  grant  James  Bonney  in  1842 
founded  the  town  of  La  Junta. 

In  1841  the  first  immigrant  wagon  bound  to  the 
Pacific  coast  passed  up  the  Platte  valley,  and  taking 
the  North  fork,  crossed  the  Rocky  mountains  into 
Oregon  by  the  South  pass ;  and  soon  it  became  the 
usual  route  instead  of  that  by  the  Arkansas  valley, 
being  safer  from  Indian  depredations.  But  whatever 
route  was  taken,  no  settlers  came  in  these  days  from 
the  United  States  to  make  their  homes  in  the  Rocky 
mountains  ;  and  even  the  hunters  and  trappers,  whose 

mines  in  '  upppr  Louisiana  '  by  authority  of  the  Baron  de  Carandolet,  sur 
veyor-general  of  Louisiana  in  1796.  This  was  James  Ceran  St  Vrain,  and 
the  mines  were  in  Tennessee. 


THE   MORMONS.  357 

numbers  had  once  been  that  of  a  respectable  army, 
were  being  killed  off  by  the  Comanches  or  absorbed 
by  the  half  civilization  of  the  Mexican  border. 

The  first  government  expedition  since  Long's  was 
set  on  foot  in  1842  under  Fremont,  but  did  not  more 
than  touch  Colorado  this  year.  Returning  in  1843-4, 
some  explorations  were  made  of  this  portion  of 
United  States  territory.  The  only  persons  encoun 
tered  in  the  Rocky  mountains  by  Fremont 19  at  this 
time  were  the  few  remaining  traders  arid  their  former 
employes,  now  their  colonists,  who  lived  with  their 
Mexican  and  Indian  wives  and  half-breed  children  in 
a  primitive  manner  of  life,  usually  under  the  protec 
tion  of  some  defensive  structure  called  a  fort.20 

The  first  American  families  in  Colorado  were  a 
part  of  the  Mormon  battalion  of  1846,  who,  with 

19  Enough  has  been  said  about  Fremont's  expeditions  elsewhere.   He  made 
no  important  discoveries  in  Colorado,  those  which  he  did  make  being  noted 
under  other  heads.     His  expedition  was  very  completely  furnished.     He  left 
the  Platte  with  a  part  of  his  command  after  reaching  Fort  Laramie,  and  fol 
lowing  the  South  fork,  came  in  sight  of  Long's  peak  July  8,  1842.     He  con 
tinued  up  the  valley  as  far  as  St  Train's  fort,  17  miles  east  of  that  mountain, 
where  he  remained  for  three  days  only,  returning  on  the   12th  to  rejoin  his 
company.     In  1843  he  took  a  different  route  to  the  mountains,  via  the  valley 
of  the  Kansas  river  and  Republican  fork,  crossing  thence  to  the  Smoky  Hill 
fork,  and  proceeding  almost  directly  west  to  Fort  St  Yrain  by  the  well-worn 
trails  of  the  fur  companies.     From  St  Vrain,  where  he  arrived  July  4th,  he 
continued  up  the  Platte,  seeing  Pike's  peak  covered  with  new-fallen  snow  on 
the  morning  of  the  10th.     Crossing  the  divide  between   the  Platte  and  Ar 
kansas,  he  arrived  on  the  17th  at  Fontaine-qui-Bouille,    or  Soda  Springs, 
near  the  eastern  base   of  the  peak,   the   same  which  Long  had  named  after 
Capt.  Bell.     On  the  19th  he  left  this  spot,  and  descending  the  river  to  the 
eastern   fork,  which  was  hastily  surveyed,  the  party  returned  to  Fort  St 
Vrain,  whence  they  proceeded  north  to  Fort  Laramie.     Fremont  mentions 
the  fort  called  El  Pueblo,  and  explains  that  the  inhabitants  were,   at  that 
time  at  least,  a  number   of  mountaineers,  principally  Americans,   who  had 
married  Mexican  women,  and  occupied  themselves  in  farming  and  carrying 
on  a  desultory  trade  with  the  Indians.     In  1844  he  returned  by  a  course 
which  took  him  through  the  north-west  corner  of  the  state,  through  North 
park,  which  he  called  New  park,  through  the  South  park,  and  to  the  Ar 
kansas  river,  by  which  route  he  reached  St  Louis  in  the  autumn.  Explor. 
Expcd.,  116.      His  3d  and  last  expedition  in   1848  was  a  disastrous  one,  in 
which  he  lost  most  of  his  men,  animals,  and  stores  in  an  attempt  to  cross  the 
mountains  to  Grand  river  in  the  dead  of  winter. 

20  Captain  Gunnison  in  1853  noticed  a  small  settlement  in  the  Culebra 
valley,  and  on  the  banks  of  the  Costilla,    where  he  found  a  little  farming, 
wheat,    corn,  beans,  and  watermelons   being  among    the  productions.   Six 
Mexican  families  were  settled  on  the  Greenhorn  river,  and  at  Sangre  de 
Cristo  pass  an  American  named  Williams  was  herding  some  stock.  Beckicith 
in  Pac.  R.  R,  Kept,  ii.  ch.  iii 


358  DISCOVERY  AND  OCCUPATION. 

their  wives  and  children,  resided  at  Pueblo  from  Sep 
tember  to  the  spring  and  summer  of  the  following 
year,  when  they  joined  the  Mormon  migration  to  Salt 
Lake.  A  number  of  persons  later  living  in  Utah 
were  born  at  Pueblo  in  1846— 7. 21 

A  number  of  houses  "  were  erected  by  them  for 

21  See  Hist.  Col.  and  Hist.    Utah,  this  series.     From  Tyler  s  Mormon  Bat 
talion,    126,  JI  take  the  following  names  of  persons  who  were  quartered  at 
Pueblo  during  this  period:  Gilbert  Hunt,  Dimick  B.  Huntington,  Montgom 
ery  Button,  John  Tippets,  Milton  Kelley,  Nicholas  Kelley,  Norman  Sharp, 
James  Brown,  Harley  Morey,    Thomas  Woolsey,  S.  C.  Shelton,  Joseph  W. 
Richards,  James  T.  S.  Allred,  Reuben  W.  Allred,    Marvin  S.    Blanchard, 
James  W.  Calkins,  David  Garner,  James  H.  Glines,  Schuyler  Hulett,  Elijah 
E.  Holden,  Charles  A.  Jackson,  Barnabas  Lake,  Melcher  Oyler,  Caratat  C. 
Roe,   John  Sessions,  John    P.  Wriston,    Elam  Ludington,  John  D.  Chase, 
Franklin  Allen,  Erastus  Bingham,  William  Bird,  Philip  Garner,  Harmon  D. 
Persons,    Lyman   Stephens,    Dexter     Stillman,    William    Walker,    Charles 
Wright,  Orson  B.   Adams,  Alexander  Brown,  Jesse  J.  Brown,  William  E. 
Beckstead,  William  H.  Carpenter,  Isaac  Carpenter,  John  Calvert,  Francillo 
Durphy,  Samuel  Gould,  John  C.  Gould,  Jarvis  Johnson,   Thurston   Larson, 
Jabez  Nowlan,  Judson  A.  Persons,  Richard  Smith,   Milton   Smith,   Andrew 
J.  Shupe,  James  Shupe,  Joel  J.  Terrill,  Solomon  Tindall,  David  Wilkin,  Da 
vid  Perkins,  John  Perkins,  Thomas  S.  Williams,   Arnold  Stephens,   Joshua 
Abbott,  Jonathan  Averett,  William  Costo,  Abner  Chase,  James  Davis,  Ralph 
Douglas,  William  B.  Gifford,  James  Hirous,  Lorin  E.  Kenney,  Lisbon  Lamb, 
David  S.  Laughlin,  Peter  J.  Meeseck,  James  Oakley,   William  Rowe,  John 
Steel,   Abel  M.    Sargent,  William  Gribble,   Benjamin  Roberts,    Henry  W. 
Sanderson,    Albert  Sharp,   Clark  Stillman,  John  G.  Smith,  Myron  Tanner, 
Almon  Whiting,  Edmund  Whiting,  Ebenezer  Hanks,  Samuel  Clark,  George 
Cummings,  Luther  W.  Glazier,  J.  W.  Hess,  Charles  Hopkins,  Thomas  Kar- 
ren,  David  Miller,  William  A.  Park,  Jonathan  Pugmire,  Jr,  Roswell  Steph 
ens,  Bailey  Jacobs.     These  were  detached  and  sent  to  Pueblo  on  account  of 
sickness;  first  detachment  from  the  crossing  of  the  Arkansas,  and  a  second 
one  from  Santa  Fe.     Those  who  had  families  were  ordered  to  send  them  to 
Pueblo,  except  such  as  were  retained  for  laundresses;  bnt  as  their  names  are 
given  but  once,  and  that  before  the  division,  it  is  impossible  to  give  the  num 
ber  of  women  who  wintered  in  Colorado.     There  were  34  married  women 
with  the  battalion,  with  children  of  all  ages,  to  the  number  of  60  or  70. 
There  were  also  several  men,  not  enlisted,  with  the  families,  as  John  Bosco, 
David  Black,  James  P.  Brown,  and  others.     Milton  Kelley,  Joseph  W. 
Richards,  John  Perkins,  Norman  Sharp,  Arnold  Stephens,  M.  S.  Blanchard, 
Milton  Smith,   Scott,  and  Abner  Chase,  died  in  Pueblo,  or  on  the  road  to 
that  place.     The  first  white  American  born  in  Colorado  was  Malinda  Cather 
ine  Kelley,  daughter  of  Milton  and  Malinda  Kelley,  in  Nov.,  soon  after  the 
death  of  her  father,  whose  first  child  she  was.     Subsequently  Mrs  Fanny  M. 
Huntington,  wife  of  Captain  Dirnick  B.  Huntington,  gave  birth  to  a  child, 
which  died  in  a  few  hours.     Eunice,  wife  of  James  P.   Brown,  bore  a  son, 
John;  Mrs  Norman  Sharp  a  daughter;  Albina,  wife  of  Thomas  S.  Williams, 
a  daughter,  Phebe.     A  child  of  Capt.  Jefferson  Hunt,  by  his  wife,   Celia, 
died  and  was  buried  at  Pueblo,  and  probably  others,  whose  names  have  been 
forgotten;  but  from  this  record  it  is  easy  to  imagine  the  remainder  of  a  sad 
story  of  privation,  death,  and  burial  in  a  savage  land,  and  children  born  to 
sorrow. 

22  See  Sterne's  Gen.    View,  MS. ;  Byers*  Hist.   Colo,  MS.     The  detachment 
sent  from  Santa  Fe  built   18  rooms    14  feet   square,  of  timbers  cut  in  the 
woods.   Tylers  Hist.  Mormon  Battalion,  171.     The  first  detachment  may  have 
built  others. 


ROUTES  AND  EXPLORATIONS.  359 

winter  quarters,  and  here  were  born,  married,"  and 
buried  a  number  of  their  people.  Driven  out  of 
Illinois  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  seeking  homes  on 
the  western  side  of  the  continent,  they  had  accepted 
service  under  the  government,  which  had  failed  to 
protect  them  in  their  direst  need,  for  the  sake  of  being 
provisioned  and  having  their  families  transported 
across  the  continent.  Of  their  strange  history  the 
winter  in  Pueblo  was  but  an  incident.24  Another 
portion  of  General  Kearny's  army,  under  Colonel 
Price  and  Major  Emory,  travelled  up  the  Arkansas 
as  far  as  Bent's  fort,  where  it  turned  off  to  Santa 
Fe  by  the  Raton  pass.  This  force  consisted  of  1,658 
men,  including  Doniphan's  1st  regiment  of  Missouri 
mounted  volunteers. 

Meanwhile  there  were  no  real  military  establish 
ments  in  the  whole  region  west  and  north-west  of  Fort 
Leavenworth  ;  although,  to  protect  the  Oregon  immi 
gration,  a  chain  of  posts  across  the  continent  had  been 
much  talked  of  in  congress ;  and  it  had  been  announced 
that  Fremont's  explorations  were  ordered  with  the 
design  of  establishing  a  permanent  overland  route, 
and  selecting  the  sites  for  the  posts  which  were  to 
guard  and  render  it  safe.  I  have  shown  in  my  history 
of  Oregon  that  this  was  not  actually  done  before  1849, 
the  intervention  of  the  war  with  Mexico  diverting 
the  army  to  that  quarter.  But  measures  were  taken 
early  in  March  1847  to  select  locations  for  two  United 
States  forts  between  the  Missouri  and  the  Rocky 
mountains,  the  sites  selected  being  those  now  occupied 
by  Kearney  City  and  Fort  Laramine,  the  latter  being 

23Almira,  daughter  of  Capt.  Nelson  Higgins,  was  married  to  John  Chase 
at  Pueblo. 

24 1  have  noticed  some  erroneous  statements  concerning  the  Mormon  bat 
talion  in  my  Colorado  manuscripts.  It  was  commanded  in  the  first  place 
by  a  regular  officer,  Col  James  Allen,  1st  dragoons,  though  it  was  an  in 
fantry  force.  He  died  soon  after  the  battalion  left  Leavenworth,  and  the 
command  was  taken  by  Lieut  A.  J.  Smith,  who  reported  to  Col  Doniphan  at 
Santa  Fe,  the  whole  being  under  the  command  of  Gen.  Kearny.  From 
Santa  Fe  to  Los  Angeles  Col  P.  St  George  Cook  commanded  the  battalion. 
See  Hist.  Cal  and  Hist.  Utah,  this  series. 


360  DISCOVERY  AND  OCCUPATION. 

purchased  from  the  American  Fur  company.28  The 
work  of  constructing  and  garrisoning  these  forts  pro 
gressed  slowly,'6  and  it  was  not  until  some  months 
after  the  close  of  the  Mexican  war  that  troops  were 
stationed  at  them,  although  in  1847—8  there  was  a  con 
siderable  force  kept  moving  on  the  plains.  In  1 850  Fort 
Massachusetts  was  erected  on  Ute  creek,  at  the  west 
base  of  the  main  chain  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  near 
Sangre  de  Cristo  pass ;  the  site  being  chosen  the 
better  to  intercept  the  raiding  bands  of  Utes,  and  was 
occupied,  although  the  situation  proved  unhealthful, 
until  1857,  when  the  present  Fort  Garland  was  sub 
stituted.27 

In  1853  congress  passed  an  act  authorizing  a  sur 
vey  of  railroad  routes  from  the  Mississippi  river  to 
the  Pacific  ocean,  that  between  the  38th  and  39th 
parallels  being  entrusted  to  Captain  J.  W.  Gunnison, 
of  the  Topographical  engineers.  Captain  Gunnison 
began  his  survey  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas  river, 
proceeded  westward  to  Bent's  fort,  up  the  Arkansas 
to  the  Apishapa  and  Huerfano  affluents,  through 
Sangre  de  Cristo  pass  into  San  Luis  park,  the 
Saguache  valley,  and  Cochetopa  pass,  down  the  Gun 
nison  branch  of  the  Colorado  to  its  junction  with 
Grand  river,  thence  westward  across  the  Wasatch 
range,  in  Utah,  as  far  as  the  valley  of  Sevier  lake 
and  river,  where  he,  with  several  of  his  party,  was 
murdered  October  26th28  by  Pah  Utes.  Gunnison's 

25  Fort  Laramie  was  sometimes  called  Fort  John.     Byrse  in  his  Hist.  Colo, 
MS,,  66,  says  it  was  St  John,  and  that  the  government  changed  its  name  to 
Laramie.     But  it  was  known  to  travellers  as  Laramie  a  number  of  years  be 
fore  the  purchase;  and  in  Bonnevilles  Adventures  it  is  called  Fort  William, 
probably  after  William  Sublette,  who  built  it  in  1834,   in  conjunction  with 
Robert  Campbell.     They  sold  it  the  following  year  to  Milton  Sublette  and 
James  Bridger,  who  went  into  partnership  with  the  American  Fur  Company. 
There  is  a  more  complete  account  of  Fort  Laramie  in  my  History  of  Wyoming, 
this  vol.     Hastings,  in  his  Or.  and  CaL,  136,  mentions  Ft  John  as  being  one 
mile  south  of  Fort  Laramie. 

26  Kept  of  W.  L.  Marcy,  sec.  war,  in  Niles'  Reg.,  Dec.  13,  1848. 

27  Fort  Garland  is  located  in  latitude  27°  35'  north;  longitude  27°  20'  west; 
with  an  altitude  of  7,805  feet.     The  reservation  comprises  4  square  miles, 
and  lies  between  Sangre  de  Cristo  and  Ute  creeks  in  San  Luis  park.  Surgeon- 
gen.  Circ.,  1870-4,  257;  Beckwtih,  in  Pac  R.  R.  Sept,  ii.  38. 

28  Gunnison  had   an  escort  of  a  dozen  mounted  riflemen,   Co.   A,  under 
Capt.  Morris.     On  the  morning  of  Oct.   25th  Gunnison,  with  F.    Creutzfeldt 


ROUTES  AND  EXPEDITIONS.  361 

survey  of  the  mountain  passes  of  Colorado  rendered 
it  conclusive  that  there  was  no  route  equal  to  that 
travelled  by  the  immigration  through  the  great 
depression  about  the  42d  parallel;"9  although  the 
apprehension  of  obstruction  from  snow  in  this  lati 
tude  continued  to  govern  the  views  of  those  in 
authority,  and  in  spite  of  the  survey  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  railroad  line,  until  the  civil  war  forced  the 
abandonment  of  the  more  southern  routes. 

botanist,  R.  H.  Kern  topographer,  William  Potter  guide,  John  Bellows,  and 
a  corporal  and  6  men,  left  camp  to  explore  the  vicinity  of  Sevier  lake,  On 
the  next  morning,  most  of  the  party  being  at  breakfast,  the  Indians  fired 
upon  them  from  a  thicket,  and  stampeding  the  horses,  prevented  their  es 
cape.  Only  4  out  of  the  12  survived  the  attack.  The  corporal,  who  was 
able  to  mount,  gave  the  first  information  to  Capt.  Morris,  and  the  escort  ar 
rived  on  the  scene  of  the  massacre  that  evening  too  late  to  collect  the  re 
mains  of  the  murdered,  which  had  been  mangled  by  the  savages,  though  not 
scalped,  and  torn  and  almost  devoured  by  wolves  during  the  night.  Beck- 
with  in  Pac  R.  R.  Rcpt,  ii.  73-4;  Olympia  Wash.  Pioneer,  Jan.  21,  1854.  See 
Hi#t.  Utah,  this  series. 

'*9  See  Hist.  Northwest  Coast,  this  series*  The  other  government  expedi 
tions  which  have  surveyed  Colorado  have  been  those  military  reconnoissances. 
connected  with  railroads  and  mail  routes.  In  1854  Steptoe,  on  his  way  to 
Oregon  with  300  troops,  surveyed  the  country  from  New  Mexico  to  Salt 
Lake  City,  and  expended  $25,000  in  improving  the  route  from  that  place  to 
the  southern  California  coast  by  the  way  of  the  Rio  Virgen  and  Muddy 
river  and  the  Cajon  pass.  U.  S.  Ex.  Doc.,  34th  coiig.  1st  sess.,  i.  pt2,  504-7. 
The  overland  mail  was  carried  over  this  route  for  several  years,  or  until  the 
war  with  the  south  compelled  the  adoption  of  the  central  route.  In  1857  the 
government  sent  out  an  expedition  under  William  M.  Magraw  to  locate  a 
wagon-road  through  the  South  pass.  It  was  accompanied  by  a  corps  of  sci 
entific  men,  who  made  collections  of  the  plants,  minerals,  and  animals  of  the 
country.  S  mitlisonian  Rept,  1858,  50.  Congress  had  at  different  times  made 
appropriations  for  the  exploration  of  the  Rocky  rats  in  the  interest  of  science, 
and  especially  of  geology.  An  expedition  to  the  lower  Yellowstone,  under 
the  command  of  G.  K.  Warren,  of  the  U.  S.  Eng.  corps,  as  early  as  1856, 
was  the  first  to  become  interested  in  the  marvellous  reports  of  the  Yellow 
stone  country  through  the  medium  of  the  fur-traders.  James  Bridger  offered 
to  guide  the  command  to  the  head  of  the  river,  but  the  undertaking  was  not 
entered  upon  at  that  time.  Warren  had  planned  an  expedition  to  Yellow 
stone  lake  for  the  years  of  1859-60,  but  was  superseded  in  command  by  Col 
Reynolds  of  his  corps.  Prof.  F.  V.  Hayden  was  connected  with  the  expedi 
tion  of  1856,  and  had  charge  of  the  geological  department  in  1859-60;  but 
Reynolds  failed  to  make  the  passage  of  the  Wind  River  mts,  from  which  side 
he  made  his  approach.  At  the  same  time  a  small  party  under  Cook  and 
Folsom,  by  approaching  by  the  valley  of  the  Yellowstone,  crossed  the  divide 
into  the  geyser  basin  of  the  Madison  river,  but  not  until  after  W.  W.  De 
Lacy,  as  I  have  shown  in  my  History  of  Montana,  had  penetrated  to  that  spot 
from  the  head  of  Snake  river,  in  1863.  In  1870  the  sur.-gen.  of  Montana, 
Henry  D  Washburne,  with  a  party  of  settlers  reached  the  upper  geyser 
basin,  at  the  head  of  the  Yellowstone,  and  N.  P.  Langford,  one  of  the  party, 
published  an  account  of  the  discoveries  made  by  the  expedition  in  the  May 
and  June  numbers  of  Scrihmr's  Mayazine  for  1871.  An  army  officer  who 
accompanied  the  excursion  in  command  of  a  small  escort — Lieut  G.  C.  Doane, 
2d  cav.  — made  an  official  report  to  Gen.  Hancock,  who  forwarded  it  to  the 


362  DISCOVERY  AND  OCCUPATION. 

sec  of  war,  Belknap.  These  revelations  of  the  wonders  of  the  Rocky  mts 
greatly  stimulated  research.  Under  the  direction  of  the  sec.  of  the  int., 
Delano,  the  geological  survey  was  resumed  in  1871  in  the  mountain  regions, 
Prof.  Hay  den  being  in  charge.  He  proceeded  from  Odgen  to  Fort  Hall,  and 
thence  to  Fort  Ellis,  Montana,  where  he  obtained  an  escort  and  made  the 
long-contemplated  visit  to  the  geyser  basin,  of  which  there  is  a  description 
in  his  report  for  1871,  being  the  5th  of  the  series.  In  the  following  year 
Hay  den,  with  his  photographer,  W.  H.  Jackson,  made  a  tour  through  a  part 
of  Colorado,  and  in  his  report  for  1872  gave  a  brief  general  sketch  of  the 
scenery  and  the  geological  features,  with  analyses  of  the  mineral  springs; 
but  his  explorations  were  confined  principally  to  the  country  north  of  the 
41st  parallel.  In  1873  and  1874  the  survey  of  Colorado  was  prosecuted  with 
zeal.  The  headquarters  of  the  company  was  at  Denver,  but  it  was  separated 
into  7  divisions  to  prosecute  specifically  the  work  of  the  topographical,  geo 
logical,  botanical,  zoological,  archaeological,  paleontological,  and  photo- 
graphical  branches  of  the  service,  which  in  all  respects  was  of  great  value  to 
the  country  and  to  science  at  large.  Hayden's  report  for  1874  contains, 
besides  the  strictly  scientific  history  of  the  state,  many  interesting  observ 
ations  on  the  conditions  of  the  country  and  its  development  at  this  date.  All 
of  his  reports  are  written  in  a  popular  style,  which  enables  the  least  studious 
reader  to  find  some  ch-irm  in  them.  Daly's  Address  Am.  Geoy.  Soc.,  1873, 
9-12,  55-6.  In  1880  Hay  den  published  a  volume  of  general  and  scientific 
information  concerning  the  intramontane  states  and  territories  which  he  called 
The  Great  Wext,  containing  over  500  pages,  and  made  up  of  selected  matter 
from  other  sources,  with  some  descriptive  matter  from  his  own,  in  which  75 
pages  are  devoted  to  Colorado.  In  1873  an  expedition  was  thrown  into  the 
field  by  the  war  department,  under  the  general  charge  of  Lieut  George  M. 
Wheeler,  the  primary  object  being  to  discover  the  most  available  routes  for 
the  transport  of  troops  and  wagons  between  interior  posts,  and  incidentally  to 
conduct  researches  in  geology,  zoology,  botany,  archaeology,  and  other 
special  branches  of  science.  The  expedition  wasiii  the  field  three  years,  and 
a  part  of  it  in  Colorado  most  of  the  time.  The  force  for  1875  was  divided 
into  two  sections,  one  under  the  immediate  direction  of  Wheeler,  to  start 
from  Los  Angeles  for  the  survey  of  southern  Cal.  and  Arizona,  and  another 
under  Lieut  William  L.  Marshall,  to  start  from  Pueblo  for  the  survey  of  the 
southern  part  of  Colo,  and  New  Mex.  I  have  referred  in  my  History  of 
Nevada  to  Wheeler's  work  in  that  state.  Marshall's  route  from  Pueblo 
meandered  the  sage  plains  east  of  the  mountains,  rounded  the  base  of  Pike's 
peak,  through  the  Sangre  de  Cristo  pass  to  Conejos,  on  the  Cone j as  branch 
of  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte,  where  the  real  work  of  the  expedition  for  Colo, 
began.  The  topography  of  the  whole  country  west  of  the  100th  meridian 
and  between  the  parallels  was  secured  by  triangulation,  and  a  series  of  maps 
made  which  omitted  no  faintest  trail  or  smallest  stream.  Wheeler's  publi 
cations  consist  of  reports,  maps,  and  photographs,  and  are  of  great  geogra 
phical  value.  In  1867  the  government  ordered  the  geological  survey  of  the 
40th  parallel,  and  the  explorations  were  placed  in  charge  of  Clarence  King, 
a  man  of  many  attainments,  to  whose  work  and  that  of  his  party  I  have  re 
ferred  in  my  History  of  Nevada.  A  large  octavo  volume  published  in  1870 
at  Washington  on  mining  industry  contains  chapters  on  gold  and  silver  min 
ing  in  Colorado,  by  James  D.  Hague,  with  general  and  particular  histories 
of  the  most  noted  mines  and  mineral  districts,  with  illustrations,  the  whole 
being  of  much  interest  and  value. 


CHAPTER  III. 

GOLD  DISCOVERIES. 
1853-1859. 

MYTHOLOGICAL  MINES — MEN  FROM  GEORGIA — THE  CHEROKEES — HICKS  AND 
RUSSELL — THE  LAWRENCE  PARTY — OTHER  COMPANIES — AURARIA  VERSUS 
DENVER — THE  TOWN  BUILDERS — EARLY  MERCHANTS  AND  MANUFAC 
TURERS — FIRST  GUIDE  BOOKS  AND  JOURNALS — GOLD  DISCOVERIES  ON 
BOULDER  CREEK  AND  CLEAR  CREEK — RUSSELL  AND  GREGORY — CENTRAL 
CITY  AND  FAIR  PLAY — PIONEER  BIOGRAPHY. 

UP  to  1853  Colorado's  scant  population  still  lived 
in  or  near  some  defensive  establishment,  and  had  been 
decreasing  rather  than  increasing  for  the  past  decade, 
owing  to  the  hostility  of  the  Indians.1  The  great 
wave  of  population  which  rolled  westward  after  the 
gold  discoveries  in  California  had  its  effect  on  this 
intermediate  territory.  Traditions  of  gold  nuggets 
carried  in  shot-pouches  of  mountaineers  are  of  early 
date,  a  Frenchman  named  Duchet2  being  one  of  the 
careless  finders  of  the  royal  metal,  "  away  back  in 
the  thirties."  These  stories  were  wafted  abroad,  and 
piqued  the  curiosity  of  the  California  bound  pilgrims, 
who  prospected,  as  opportunity  offered-  anywhere 
along  the  branches  of  the  Platte  river.3  A  party  of 
Cherokees  being  en  route  to  California,  looking  not 
only  for  gold,  but  for  a  new  country  in  which  to 
locate  their  people  who  had  been  invited  to  sell  their 

1  Fremont,    in  his  Explor,  Exped.,  1843-4,  mentions  the  taking  of  Roubi- 
deau's  fort,  on  the  Uintah  branch  of  Green  river,   in  northwestern  Utah, 
by  the  Utes,  soon  after  he  passed  it  in  1814.     The  men  were  all  killed  and 
the  women  carried    into  captivity.     Bent's  fort    was  also  captured  subse 
quently,  and  the  inmates  slaughtered.     The  absence  of  the  owners  alone  pre 
vented  their  sharing  the  fate  of  their  employes. 

2  Hollltter's  Mines  of  Colorado,  6;  Stuart's  Montana,  68—9. 
8  Colorado  Rein,  in  San  Juan,  MS.,  1, 

(363) 


364  GOLD  DISCOVERIES. 

lands  in  Georgia,  taking  the  Arkansas  valley  route, 
and  the  trail  by  the  Squirrel  creek  divide  to  the  head 
of  Cherry  creek,  made  the  discovery  that  gold 
existed  in  the  streams  of  this  region.  The  party 
continued  on  to  California,  and  returned  in  time  to 
Georgia,  where  they  attempted  to  organize  an  expe 
dition  for  the  Rocky  mountains.  The  news  came  to 
the  ears  of  W.  Green  Russell,  a  miner  of  Dahlonega, 
Georgia,  who  also  projected  an  expedition  to  this 


region. 


In  the  meantime  a  Cherokee  cattle  trader  from 
Missouri,  named  Parks,  in  driving  his  herds  along 
the  trail,  and  having  had  his  eyes  sharpened  by  the 
report  of  the  previous  company  of  his  people,  dis 
covered  gold  in  1852,  on  Ralston  creek,  a  small  afflu 
ent  of  Vasquez,  or  Clear  creek.4  A  column  of  troops 
marching  through  the  country  a  few  years  later  made 
a  similar  discovery,  on  Cherry  creek,  on  the  south 
west  corner  of  the  present  state  of.  Colorado;  and  in 
1857  other  troops  made  the  same  report  concerning 
Cherry  creek  in  the  Platte  region.6  Still,  but  little 
gold  was  found,  and  no  excitement  followed  at  that 
time. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1858  the  Cherokees  organ 
ized  for  a  prospecting  expedition  to  the  vicinity  of 
Pike's  peak.  W.  Green  Russell  joined  their  company 
with  a  party  of  white  men.  Some  difficulties  occur 
ring  in  passing  through  the  country  of  the  Osages, 
part  of  the  Cherokees  turned  back.  The  expedition, 
as  finally  organized  for  the  plains,  consisted  of  twelve 
white  persons  and  thirty  Indians,  among  whom  were 
George  Hicks,  Sen.,6  leader  of  the  company,  George 
Hicks,  Jr,  John  Beck,  who  had  organized  the  expedi 
tion,  Ezekiel  Beck,  Pelican  Tigre,  and  others.  The 

*  Poker's  Colo,  as  an  Agricultural  State,  21-22;  King's  Geol.  Explor.,  iii. 
48V92. 

5 Richardson 's  Hist.  Gunnhon  County,  MS.,  4;  Gilpins  A  Pioneer  of  18,'fl, 
MS..  3;  Corbett's  Leyis.  Manual,  36;  Hayden's  Great  West,  99-100;  Harpers 
Mag.,  xli.  373-4. 

6  Hicks  was  a  lawyer  by  prof ession,  had  served  on  the  bench  as  judge,  and 
was  a  notable  man  among  the  Cherokees. 


PROSPECTING  EXPEDITIONS.  365 

white  persons  were  George  McDougal,  brother  of 
Governor  McDougal  of  California,  who  had  a  trading 
post  on  Adobe  creek,  a  Mr  Kirk,  wife  and  two  chil 
dren,  Levi  Braumbaugh,  Philander  Simmons,  a  moun 
taineer  of  a  dozen  years'  experience,  and  Messrs 
Brown,  Kelly,  Johns,  Taylor,  and  Tubbs.  Kelly  had 
a  Cherokee  wife,  who  with  her  sister  accompanied 
him.  The  company  left  the  Missouri  frontier  May 
1 2th,  and  arrived  at  Bent's  new  fort  in  good  season ; 
but  the  winter  had  been  severe  and  the  spring  late,7 
which  made  travelling  difficult.  Nor  were  their 
labors  rewarded  that  season,  though  they  prospected 
from  the  head  of  the  Arkansas  to  the  Platte,  and 
thirty  miles  to  the  north  ;  and  only  Kussell  remained, 
with  half  a  dozen  men,  who  ultimately  found  diggings 
where  they  took  out  fair  wages,  on  a  dry  creek  put 
ting  into  the  Platte  seven  miles  south  of  the  mouth 
of  Cherry  creek. 

The  fame  of  the  Cherokee  expedition  spread  through 
the  Missouri  river  towns,  and  soon  other  companies 
were  on  the  road  to  the  mountains,  without  waiting 
for  confirmation  of  the  rumored  discoveries.  A  com 
pany  left  Lawrence,  Kansas,  soon  after  the  passage  of 
the  Hicks  and  Russell  parties,  consisting  of  fifty  men, 
two  of  whom,  Holmes  and  Middleton,  had  families, 
and  went  by  the  Arkansas  valley  route  to  the  foot 
hills  of  the  Front  range.  At  Pueblo  they  found  a 
few  Mexicans,  and  at  Fountain  City  a  mixed  settle 
ment  of  Americans  and  Mexicans,  presided  over  by 
George  McDougal.  The  company  prospected  south 
ward  as  far  as  the  Sangre  de  Cristo  pass,  some  cross 
ing  the  mountains  to  Fort  Massachusetts  for  supplies. 
Returning  northward  along  the  base  of  the  mountains, 
they  remained  two  or  three  months  in  the  Garden  of 
the  Gods  at  the  foot  of  Pike's  peak,  which  a  party, 
including  Mrs  Holmes,  ascended,  this  woman,  being 

7  Simmons  relates  that  in  the  Squirrel  creek  pineries  they  found  the  de 
serted  camp  of  Capt.  Marcy,  who,  on  his  way  to  join  Jonnson's  army,  lost 
several  men  and  a  large  number  of  sheep  by  the  cold  and  snow  encountered 
here.  Arkansas  Vol.  Hist.,  548. 


366  GOLD  DISCOVERIES. 

the  pioneer  of  her  sex  upon  this  lofty  summit.     Their 
camp  at  this  place  was  called  by  them  Red  rocks. 

While  in  this  vicinity,  the  Lawrence  company  laid 
out  a  town  at  the  site  of  Colorado  springs,  which  they 
called  El  Paso,  from  its  location  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Ute  pass  of  the  mountains,  Some  of  the  company 
took  land  claims  along  the  Fontaine-qui-Bouille  river, 
above  El  Paso  town  site,  covering  portions  of  the 
site  where  Colorado  City  now  stands.  Bat  as  no  one 
came  to  purchase  lots,  and  as  no  gold  had  been  found 
in  the  vicinity,  El  Paso  town  company  became  rest 
less,  and  moved  northward  to  the  Platte,  a  number 
of  them  encamping  five  miles  above  the  present  city 
of  Denver,  where  they  again  laid  out  a  town,  putting 
up  eighteen  or  twenty  cabins,  and  calling  it  Montana.8 
Here  the  company  finally  disbanded.  Part  of  them 
again  engaged  in  a  real  estate  venture,  laying  out  the 
town  of  St  Charles,  the  site  of  which  embraced  1,280 
acres  of  the  ground  now  occupied  by  Denver,  pos 
session  of  which  was  subsequently  acquired  by  the 
Denver  people.9  The  greater  portion  of  the  Law 
rence  company  returned  to  Kansas,  some  in  the 
autumn  and  others  in  the  following  spring.  A  few 
wintered  at  Pueblo,10  and  while  there  were  joined  by 
other  companies  n  from  the  Missouri  border. 

8  There  was  also  a  place  called  The  Eleven  Cabins,  14  miles  below  Denver, 
on  the  Platte,  but  of  its   history  I  learn  nothing,  except  the  name  of  the 
builder,  John  Roth  rack,  of  Pa. 

9  The  would-have-been  founders  of  St  Charles  were  Frank  M.  Cobb,  Ad- 
nah  French,  William  Smith,  and  William  Hartley.     Cobb  returned  later  in 
the  autumn  to  Kansas,  leaving  Charles  Nichols  in  charge  of  the  new  town. 
On  his  reappearance  on  Cherry  creek  in  1859,  he  found  the  Denver  company 
in  possession.     Cobb  mined  for  three  years,  and  was  sutler  from  1861  to  1865 
to  the  army  in  the  south,  after  which  he  went  to  Worcester,  Mass.,  where  he 
was  engaged  in  business  until  1869,  when  he  embarked  in  cattle  raising  and 
mining  in  the  Gunnison  country.     He  was  born  at  Minot,  Maine. 

ld  Among  those  who  returned  to  Pueblo  to  winter  were  George  Peck,  Mid- 
dleton,  wife  and  child,  and  one  McClellan.  They  returned  to  the  states  in 
the  spring,  and  to  Colorado  in  the  autumn  of  1859.  Peck,  with  a  brother, 
went  to  farming  on  the  Goodnight  rancho,  where  he  remained  till  1865,  at 
which  time  he  engaged  in  mercantile  business  in  the  east.  In  1872  he  re 
turned  once  more  to  Colorado,  settling  at  Las  Animas,  where  he  again  en 
gaged  in  farming  and  cattle  raising.  In  1880  he  was  elected  probate  judge 
for  Bent  county.  He  married  Mary  E.  Rice  in  1871.  Arkansas  Val.  Hist., 
877-8. 

11  Few  of  the  names  of  the  Lawrence  party  have  been  preserved.  John 
T.  Younker  was  one  of  those  who  remained.  He  was  a  native  of  Ohio,  born 


AURARIA.  367 

Meanwhile  several  other  parties  had  set  out  from 
various  points  along  the  Missouri,  arriving  at  Cherry 
creek  in  the  autumn,  by  the  route  up  the  Platte. 
Foremost  among  these  was  a  little  company  from 
Mills  county,  Iowa,  consisting  of  D.  C.  Cakes,12  H. 
J.  Graham,  George  Pancoast,  Abram  Walrod,13  and 
Charles  Miles.  They  arrived  on  the  10th  of  Octo 
ber  on  the  site  of  Denver,  and  after  paying  a  visit  to 
W.  Green  Russell  at  Placer  camp,  pitched  their  tents 
at  this  place. 

Two  weeks  later  a  company  of  fifteen  men  arrived 
on  Cherry  creek,  encamping  on  the  west  side  of  the 
stream.  Among  them  was  Henry  Allen  from  Coun 
cil  Bluffs,  Iowa,  a  practical  surveyor,  whose  talent 
and  instruments  were  soon  called  into  the  service  of 
town  companies.  Small  parties  continued  to  arrive 
every  few  days,  encamping  for  the  most  part  on  the 
west  side  of  Cherry  creek,  which  suggested,  of  course, 
a  town  ;  and  Auraria  was  duly  organized  in  the  latter 
part  of  October,  with  Allen  as  president  of  the  com 
pany.  The  town  plat  was  surveyed  by  him,  assisted 
by  William  Foster.  The  first  building  erected  was 
by  Anselm  H.  Barker.14  To  add  to  the  population, 

Aug.  28,  1833,  and  bred  a  farmer.  From  farm  life  he  went  to  school  teach 
ing,  and  next  to  telegraphy.  He  emigrated  to  Kansas  just  in  time  to  be 
come  involved  in  the  troubles  there,  joining  the  free  state  men,  and  fighting 
'border  ruffians.'  After  the  failure  of  the  Lawrence  company  to  find  gold, 
he  took  a  land  claim  on  the  Platte,  five  miles  from  Denver,  where  he  resided 
'until  1879,  when  he  removed  to  the  city.  In  1867  he  married  Annie  R. 
Thompson. 

la  D.  C.  Oakes  was  born  at  Carthage,  Maine,  April  3,  1825.  At  the  age 
of  six  yeare  he  removed  with  his  parents  to  Gillion,  Ohio,  four  years  later  to 
Ind.,  and  the  following  year  to  Iowa.  In  1849,  his  parents  having  died, 
young  Oakes  accompanied  Abram  Walrod  to  Cal.,  and  mined  on  American 
river  in  partnership  with  A.  R.  Colton.  Returning  home  after  a  few  years 
of  life  in  the  mines,  he  married,  and  settled  at  Glenwood,  Iowa,  as  a  con 
tractor  and  builder,  remaining  there  until  1858,  when  he  started  for  Pike's 
Peak.  From  this  time  his  life  is  a  part  of  the  history  of  Colorado.  Denver 
Hist.,  538. 

13  Abraham  Walrod  wag  born  in  N.  Y.,  Jan.  22,  1825,  bred  a  farmer,  and 
educated  at  the  common  schools.     In  1843  he  removed  to  Iowa,  and  in  1849 
accompanied  D.  C.  Oakes  to  Cal. ,  working  in  the  mines  for  two  years.     On 
returning  to  Iowa  he  settled  at  0-lenwood,  whence  he  came  to  Colo  in  1858, 
and  engaged  in  mining.     In  1852  he  married  Emily  A.  Cramblet  of  111.     His 
daughter  Mary  was  the  first  white  girl  born  in  Denver.   Denver  Hist. ,  644-5. 

14  Barker  was  a  native  of  Ohio,  born  in  Gallia  county,  Nov.  23,  1822,  and 
bred  a  farmer  and  blacksmith,     He  married  Aug.  7,  1843,  and  removed  to 


363  GOLD  DISCOVERIES. 

the  settlers  at  Montana  were  persuaded  to  move  their 
cabins  to  Auraria 15  and  become  incorporated  with  the 
prospective  city,16  every  settler  being  allowed  as  many 
lots  as  he  would  build  upon. 

Iowa  soon  after.  In  1857  he  again  removed  to  the  new  town  of  Plattsmouth 
in  Neb.,  whence  he  came  to  Colorado,  where  he  remained  and  worked  at  his 
trade.  Among  his  discoveries  was  the  Total  Eclipse  mine  at  Leadville.  He 
was  sergeant-at-arms  of  the  constitutional  convention  of  187G. 

15  Auraria  was  named  after  a  town  in  Lumpkin  county,  Georgia,  by  some 
persons  from  that  mining  region.  Some  authorities  state  that  it  was  named 
after  some  person,  for  which  assertion  I  find  no  ground.  There  were  many 
miners  from  Georgia  who  would  wish  to  compliment  their  former  residence 
or  preserve  their  home  memories  in  this  way.  I  quote  Byers'  Hist.  Colo.,  MS., 
17;  Sopris'  Settlement  of  Denver,  MS.,  1.  In  HplKster'n  Mines  of  Colorado, 
10,  it  is  said  that  J.  L.  Russell  of  Auraria,  Geogia,  named  the  place. 

1G  Richard  Sopris,  one  of  the  Auraria  town  company,  was  born  in  Bucks 
co.,  Pa.,  June  20,  1813.  He  was  bred  a  farmer,  and  learned  the  trade  of  a 
carpenter.  On  the  5th  of  June,  1837  he  married  Elizabeth  Allen,  of  Trenton, 
N.  J.,  and  removed  to  Ind.,  changing  his  residence  frequently,  as  he  took 
canal  and  railroad  contracts  in  various  parts  of  the  state.  He  arrived  at 
Cherry  creek  Feb.  1,  1859,  in  company  with  Parks.  He  took  an  active  part 
in  public  affairs  in  Colorado;  was  a  capt.  in  the  first  Colo  inf. ;  first  president 
of  the  Colorado  Agricultural  society;  for  two  years  sheriff  of  Arapahoe 
county,  1864-6;  assisted  in  building  the  railroads  of  the  state;  and  has  been 
mayor  of  Denver,  and  president  of  the  Pioneer  association.  1  found  him  in 
telligent  and  reliable  authority  on  Colorado  affairs,  and  his  contribution  of 
The  Settlement  of  Z><mv?r,MS.,  very  important.  His  family  consisted  in  1884 
of  five  sons  and  three  daughters. 

Andrew  J.  Williams  was  a  native  ,of  N.  Y.,  born  Nov.  22,  1833.  When 
the  Pike 'speak  gold  fever  broke  out  he  left  for  the  mountains  in  the  autumn 
of  1858,  in  company  with  Charles  H.  Blake — after  whom  Blake  street, 
Denver,  was  named — having  four  wagons  drawn  by  four  yokes  of  oxen  each, 
carrying  merchandise.  They  arrived  Nov.  1st  with  the  first  stock  of  goods, 
and  erected  the  first  store  in  Auraria,  or  West  Denver.  In  Dec.  they  joined 
the  Denver  town  company,  and  helped  to  survey  the  ground,  removing  to 
the  east  side  of  the  creek  in  the  spring  of  1859,  where  they  erected  the  first 
hotel,  a  log  house,  110  by  32  feet,  and  roofed  with  canvas,  situated  on  Blake 
street  near  15th  street.  It  was  burned  in  1863.  In  1859  Williams  engaged 
in  freighting  and  contracting  in  Colorado  and  New  Mexico,  which  he  fol 
lowed  until  1865.  He  also  bought  large  herds  of  cattle  which  he  drove  to 
Colorado  from  Texas,  making  good  profits.  He  became  one  of  the  incorpo- 
rators  and  directors  of  the  Exchange  bank  in  1876,  and  president  in  1878. 

Judson  H.  Dudley,  born  in  N.  Y.,  April  8,  1834,  in  1857  went  to  Neb., 
and  from  there  to  Pike's  peak,  where  he  arrived  October  20,  1858,  and  assisted 
in  organizing  the  town  company  of  Auraria,  of  which  he  was  vice-president. 
Subsequently  he  joined  the  Denver  company.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war  he  was  appointed  quartermaster  with  the  rank  of  major.  He  was  owner 
of  the  Moose  mine,  and  manager  of  the  reduction  works  at  Dudley  for  five  vears. 

William  Cole,  a  native  of  N.  Y.,  was  born  Feb.  16,  1836,  and  educated  at 
a  common  school.  After  a  brief  experience  as  a  salesman  in  a  mercantile  es 
tablishment,  he  travelled  through  several  of  the  western  states,  and  being 
caught  by  the  current  setting  toward  the  new  gold  region,  found  himself  on 
the  20th  of  October,  1858,  at  Cherry  creek,  and  when  Auraria  was  being  or 
ganized  joined  the  town  company.  Then  he  went  to  Missouri  to  purchase 
beef  and  stock  cattle,  and  soon  after  obtained  contracts  for  furnishing  the 
government  posts.  In  1865  he  engaged  in  stock  raising  on  a  large  scale. 
With  Williams  &  Co.  he  built  40  miles  of  the  Kansas  Pacific  railroad. 


THE  AURARIA  COMPANY.  369 

Some  time  during  the  winter  there  arrived  at 
Auraria  a  party  from  Leavenworth,  which  had  come 
by  the  Arkansas  route.  It  consisted  of  Richard  E. 
Whitsitt,"  George  William  Larimer,  William  Lari 
mer,  Jr,  Charles  A.  Lawrence,  Folsom  Dorsett,  M. 
M.  Jewett,  E.  W.  Wynkoop,  Hickory  Rogers,  and 
H.  A.  P.  Smith,  the  last  three  having  been  picked  up 
at  Pueblo  by  the  Leavenworth  party.  Immediately 
on  viewing  the  situation  of  Auraria,  and  the  relation 
of  Cherry  creek  to  all  the  routes  of  travel,  these  new 
comers  jumped  the  town  site  of  St  Charles  on  the 
opposite  or  east  side  of  the  creek,  and  organized  a 
company  to  build  a  town,  which  was  to  be  called  Den 
ver,  after  the  governor  of  Kansas.  A  number  of  the 
Auraria  company  joined  the  Denver  company,  and 

John  D.  Rowland,  another  of  the  Auraria  company,  was  a  native  of 
Zanesville,  Ohio,  born  May  7,  1843,  and  educated  at  Marietta  college.  In 
1857  he  took  up  his  residence  among  the  Sioux,  in  order  to  paint  mountain 
scenery.  He  enlisted  in  the  1st  Colo  Cavalry,  serving  four  years,  and  then 
went  to  Europe.  On  returning  from  abroad  he  made  his  home  in  Colorado, 
acting  as  secretary  of  the  peace  commission  to  the  northern  Sioux  in  1867, 
and  serving  as  a  government  scout  for  a  number  of  years.  After  this  he 
gave  himself  up  to  his  art,  having  his  studio  in  Denver. 

George  C.  Schleier,  a  native  of  Baden,  Germany,  who  immigrated  to  the 
U.  S.  in  1833  at  the  age  of  six  years,  was  one  of  a  party  of  30  which  left 
Leavenworth  in  Sept.  1858,  arriving  at  Auraria  Dec.  1st,  where  they  win 
tered.  In  Schleier,  Teutonic  phlegm  and  American  enterprise  were  happily 
united,  making  him  a  typical  pioneer.  He  acquired  a  fortune  by  the^e 
qualities,  and  became  an  influential  citizen  of  his  adopted  state.  D.  C. 
Collier,  Frank  Dorris,  George  Le  Baum,  and  Cyrus  Smith  were  members  of 
this  Leavenworth  company,  which  travelled  the  Arkansas  route. 

Matthew  L.  McCaslin,  a  native  of  Pa,  wintered  at  Auraria  in  1858-0. 
He  went  to  Gold  hill  the  following  summer,  where  he  mined  for  four  years, 
after  which  he  settled  on  a  land  claim  on  St  Vrain  creek,  where  he  secured 
750  acres  of  land.  He  is  a  wealthy  cattle  owner. 

William  R.  Blore,  of  English  ard  Carman  parentage,  was  born  in  N.  Y., 
July  27,  1833,  and  removed  to  Pa  in  childhood.  In  1856  he  went  to  Neb., 
and  thence  to  Colorado,  being  one  of  the  Auraria  town  company.  After 
putting  up  some  buildings  he  went  to  Gold  run,  and  in  company  with  Mc 
Caslin  and  Horsfal,  discovered  the  famous  Horsfal  lode  at  Gold  hill.  He 
became  president  of  the  Gold  Hill  Mining  co.  in  1 860,  and  realized  a  fortune. 

George  R.  Williamson  was  another  pioneer  of  1858.  He  was  born  July 
14,  1824,  removed  to  Nebraska,  and  was  elected  sheriff  of  Decatur  county  in 
1856.  Thence  he  went  to  the  Pike's  peak  country.  In  1861-2  in  company 
with  H.  C.  Norton  he  built  the  Bear  canon  toll  road.  In  1875  he  discovered 
and  located  the  Yellow  Pine  mine,  and  the  Nucleus,  Gray  Copper,  and  Duroc 
lodes,  in  Sugar  Loaf  district.  They  yielded  him  over  half  a  million  dollars. 

17  Whitsitt  was  a  native  of  Ohio,  born  March  30,  1830.     He  was  bred  to 
mercantile  pursuits,  and  removed  to  Kansas  on  the  organization  of  that  ter 
ritory,  settling  at  Leavenworth,  where  he  operated  in  real  estate.     This  prob 
ably  suggested  to  him  the  course  he  took  in  Colorado.  Denver  Hist.,  631. 
HIST.  NEV.    24 


370  GOLD  DISCOVERIES. 

when  the  founder  of  St  Charles  returned  from  a  visit 
to  Kansas  in  the  spring  he  was  compelled  to  take 
shares  in  the  new  company  or  lose  all,  his  agent  hav 
ing  already  been  overpowered.  The  first  secretary  of 
the  company  was  P.  T.  Basset.  He  was  followed  by 
Whitsitt,  who  was  secretary,  treasurer,  and  donating 
agent  until  a  grant  was  obtained  from  the  govern 
ment,  all  the  deeds  passing  through  his  hands.  The 
town  was  surveyed  by  E.  D.  Boyd,  Larimer  and  A. 
J.  Williams  carrying  the  chain.  It  was  this  survey 
ing  which  was  assumed  to  give  the  new  company  the 
superior  right.  Larimer  built  the  first  house  18  after 
u  stockade  occupied  by  William  McGaa.19  It  was 
a  log  cabin  16  by  20  feet,  with  a  ground  floor/9 
and  probably  a  turf  roof.  It  stood  near  the  corner 
of  Larimer  and  Fifteenth  streets.  The  second 
house  was  erected  by  Moin  and  Rice,  carpenters  and 
wagon-makers,  on  Fifteenth  street,  opposite  Larimer, 
which  goes  to  show  that  this  part  of  town  became 
the  business  centre. 

The  first  trader  in  Denver  was  John  Smith,  who 
was  acting  as  agent  for  Elbridge  Gerry,  one  of  the 
brothers  before  mentioned  as  a  wealthy  fur-trader. 
When  Blake  and  Williams  opened  their  stock  of 
goods,  Gerry  hastened  from  Fort  Laramie  and  took 
charge  of  the  business."  A  tin-shop  was  the  third 

18  Sopris'  Settlement  of  Denver,  MS.,   3.     There  is  some  doubt  about  the 
builder  of  the  first  house  in  Denver.     Like  so  many  first  things,  it  has  sev 
eral  claimants.     David  C.  Collier,  a  native  of  Mina,  N.  Y.,  born  Oct.   13, 
1832,  a  descendant  of  puritan   ancestors,  a  student  of  Oberlin  college,  in 
Ohio,  is  one  of  those  who  built  the  first  house  on  the  east  side  of  Cherry 
creek.'  Clear  Creek  and  Boulder  County  Hist.,  444.     Collier  drove  an  ox-team 
from  Leavenworth,  and  was  the  first  lawyer  who  offered  his  professional  ser 
vices  in  Colorado.    He  erected  several  houses  in  Denver.    He  explored  a  con 
siderable  portion  of  Gilpin  and  Clear  Creek  counties,  White  and  Uncom- 
pahgre  rivers,  and  the  head  waters  of  the  Del  Norte  and  Arkansas  rivers, 
and  also  the  San  Juan  country.     In  1862  he  removed  to  Central  city,  and 
besides  practising  law,  edited  the  Register.     He  was   connected    with  the 
educational  interests  of  Colorado  as  supt  of  the  public  school;}  for  Gilpin 
county. 

19  Hollister's  Mine  of  Colorado,   16. 

20  The  first  building  having  a  wooden  floor  was  at  the  store  of  Wallingf  ord 
and  Murphy,  at  the  corner  of  Larimer  and  17th  street.  Moore's  Early  Days 
in  Denver,  MS.,  3. 

21  Denver  Rocky  Mountain  Herald,  Jan.  8,  1876. 


DENVER  VERSUS  AURARIA.  371 

business  place  opened,  kept  by  Kinna  and  Nye,  who 
had  brought  a  small  stock  of  tin  and  sheet-iron  to 

O 

make  into  such  articles  as  were  required  by  miners. 
They  began  business  in  Auraria  in  November,  but 
were  soon  induced  to  remove  to  Denver.  The  first 
stove  in  Colorado  was  made  by  them  out  of  sheet- 
iron  for  Blake  and  Williams'  public  hall,  known  as 
Denver  hall,  for  which  they  were  paid  $150.  On 
Christmas  1858  a  train  of  six  large  wagons  belong 
ing  to  Richard  Wooten  and  brother  arrived  from  New 
Mexico,  loaded  with  provisions,  and  these  goods  being 
placed  on  sale,  made  the  third  trading  establishment, 
and  the  last  before  immigration  began  in  1859.  The 
next  large  stock  of  goods  which  arrived  belonged  to 
J.  B.  Doyle  and  Fred  Z.  Salomon,  and  came  from 
'  the  States/  It  consisted  of  twelve  large  wagon- 
loads  of  groceries,  provisions,  boots  and  shoes,  and 
miners'  tools.  A  warehouse  was  erected  in  Auraria, 
and  an  active  rivalry  in  trade  was  carried  on  between 
the  two  towns,  Denver  soon  after  receiving  almost  as 
large  a  stock  from  New  Mexico,  belonging  to  St  Vrain 

_^ 

and  St  James,  whose  store  was  on  Blake  street,  and 
was  the  largest  in  Denver  at  the  time.  It  furnished 
women's  and  children's  shoes,  the  first  offered  in  Col 
orado. 

Women  and  children  were  not  reckoned  among  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Pike's  peak  mining  region  in  1858, 
although  there  were  five  of  the  former  who  saw  the 
beginning  of  Denver.  They  were  Mrs  and  Miss 
Rooker  from  Salt  Lake ;  Mrs  H.  Murat ;"  Mrs 
Smoke,  who  afterward  went  to  Montana ;  and  Mrs 
Wooten,  a  native  of  Mexico.  To  these  were  added 
in  August  1859  Mrs  W.  N.  Byers,  Mrs  Henry  Allen, 
arid  two  daughters.  Before  winter  of  that  year  there 
were  many  of  all  classes  in  Denver.  The  first  child 

22 H.  Murat,  commonly  called  'the  count,'  was  a  lineal  descendant  of 
Marshal  Murat,  king  of  Naples.  The  countess  washed,  and  the  count 
shaved  men's  beards — occupations  more  useful  than  noble  personages  usually 
engage  in.  He  later  became  an  inmate  of  the  Arapahoe  county  hospital. 
Byers  Hist.  Colo,  MS.,  82. 


372  GOLD  DISCOVERIES. 

born  in  the  town  was  a  half-caste  son  of  McGaa,23  one 
of  the  original  town  company,  who  voted  to  name  it 
after  his  friend,  the  governor  of  Kansas,  and  to  give 
him  a  share  in  the  town  site." 

The  destiny  of  east  Denver  as  against  Auraria 
was  settled  in  the  autumn  of  1859  by  the  arrival  of 
two  trains  from  Leavenworth,  aggregating  thirty 
wagons,  loaded  with  merchandise,  belonging  to  Jones 
and  Cartwright,  who  opened  stores  on  Blake 
street.  "  Now,"  said  the  Denver  partisans,  "  no  more 
Mexican  trash  for  free  Americans.  No  more  one 
hundred  per  cent.  The  trade  is  ours,  and  Denver  is 
saved."  They  made  good  their  word,  as  it  afterward 
proved — all  but  the  one  hundred  per  cent.25 

-3  McGaa  went  by  the  name  of  Jack  Jones  among  mountain  men.  It  is 
said  by  Moore  in  his  Early  Days  in  Denver,  MS. ,  9,  that  he  was  the  son  of 
an  Irish  baronet,  but  Eyers,  in  Hist.  Colo,  MS.,  73,  says  he  was  an  American. 
At  all  events  he  was  an  educated  man,  aud  a  good  writer.  He  was  a  friend 
and  guide  of  Gen.  J,  W.  Denver,  and  a  shrewd  business  man.  But  he  fell 
into  dissipated  habits,  and  lost  his  standing.  The  town  company  hastened 
his  final  end  by  changing  the  name  of  McGaa  street  to  Holladay  street  in 
honor  of  Ben  Holladay.  This  insult  broke  his  heart.  At  least,  so  Bays 
Moore,  quoted  above.  McGaa  died  about  18GG. 

a4  Denver  did  not  visit  the  place,  or  claim  his  lots  in  accordance  with  the 
terms  of  the  grant,  until  1882,  when  his  share  had  been  taken  possession  of, 
and  divided  among  some  of  the  other  members  of  the  company.  He  would 
not  disturb  titles,  as  the  property  had  passed  to  innocent  purchasers. 

25 1  find  mention  of  a  number  of  the  pioneers  of  1858  belonging  to  the  set 
tlement  of  Denver  who  have  not  been  here  recorded.  William  M.  Slaughter, 
from  Plattsmouth,  Neb.,  later  mayor  of  Central  City,  was  one  of  the  early 
arrivals.  John  J.  Keithmann,  born  in  Lausanne,  Switzerland,  in  1838,  came 
to  the  U.  S.  at  the  age  of  10  years,  and  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of 
Indianapolis,  where  he  was  employed  in  the  bank  of  the  capital.  In  1858 
the  family  removed  to  Council  Bluffs,  from  which  place  he  soon  after  emi- 

g rated  with  his  brother,  L.  D.  Reithmann,  to  Colorado.  They  did  not  go  to 
herry  creek,  but  the  latter  wintered  at  a  place  known  as  Hough  and  Ready, 
2.3  miles  below  the  mouth  of  Cherry  creek,  on  the  Platte,  while  the  former 
returned  to  Council  Bluffs,  carrying  the  first  mail  between  Colorado  and  Iowa. 
In  the  spring  of  1859  he  recrossed  the  plains  to  Denver,  where  he  engaged  in 
manufacturing  crackers;  and  in  1868  began  selling  drugs.  He  made  a  for 
tune,  and  spent  it  freely  in  travel  and  the  education  of  his  children.  He  was 
president  of  the  German  bank — later  the  German  National  bank — of  Denver, 
which  position  he  resigned  to  go  abroad.  Louis  D.  Reithmann  was  also  a 
Swiss,  although  not  of  the  same  family.  Brought  up  in  Ohio,  he  lived  after 
ward  near  Indianapolis,  and  removed  to  Council  Bluffs  in  1856,  whence  he 
came  to  Colorado  in  1858.  He  mined  until  1865,  went  to  Salt  Lake,  and 
thence  to  Montana,  where  he  opened  a  bakery  in  company  with  Frank  Hogert, 
but  three  years  afterward  returned  to  Colorado  and  engaged  in  dairy  farming, 
and  later  in  the  grocery  trade  in  Denver.  Henry  Reitz,  a  German  by  birth, 
learned  the  trade  of  a  baker  in  London,  after  which  he  came  to  the  U  S., 
working  as  a  painter  for  a  time.  On  arriving  in  Colorado,  he  sold  his  ox- 
team,  and  with  the  money,  opened  a  bakery,  making  §3,500  in  a  few  months, 


THE  PIKi.  S  PEAK  COUNTRY.  373 

But  I  will  not  further  anticipate.  D.  C.  Oakes 
having  obtained  possession  of  a  journal  kept  by  W. 
Green  Russell,  who  returned  with  him  late  in  the 
autumn  to  the  states,  published  the  same  with  a  way 
bill,  under  the  title  of  Pike's  Peak  Guide  and  Journal; 
and  although  it  was  printed  in  the  little  town  of 
Pacific  City  in  Mills  county,  Iowa,  it  was  widely  cir 
culated  with  similar  publications,  causing  a  large  emi 
gration  to  set  out  for  the  mountains  as  soon  as  the 
grass  began  to  start  in  the  spring,  and  even  before. 
On  the  white  covers  of  thousands  of  wagons  was 
inscribed  "  Pike's  Peak,"  often  with  the  addition  of 
some  jocose  legend;26  this  conspicuous  landmark,  in 
the  absence  of  an  official  name  for  this  region,  stand 
ing  for  all  the  country  from  which  this  mountain  was 
visible. 

In  April  1859  there  were  ten  or  twelve  hundred 
persons  encamped  at  Aurariaand  Denver,  the  advance 
of  that  army  stretching  across  the  great  plains  from 
the  Missouri  river  in  different  lines,  but  principally 
up  the  Platte  valley.  Among  the  first  to  arrive  was 
D.  C.  Oakes,  with  a  saw-mill,  which  he  placed  on 

after  which  he  went  to  mining,  and  accumulated  a  comfortable  fortune  by 
that  means,  and  by  painting.  Edmund  A.  Willoughby,  son  of  Gen.  Frank 
lin  AVilloughby,  was  born  in  Groton,  N.  Y.,  Jan.  6,  1836,  and  removed  in 
1857  to  Omaha,  Neb.  In  1858  he  joined  a  party  for  Pike 'speak,  which  ar 
rived  Oct.  27th  at  Cherry  creek,  where  he  associated  himself  with  M.  A. 
Avery  in  contracting  and  building,  erecting,  among  other  structures,  Denver 
hall,  famous  in  early  times.  He  manufactured  the  Willoughby  brick.  He 
was  sheriff  of  Arapahoe  county  in  1873,  and  two  years  alderman  of  the  4th 
ward  of  Denver.  Andrew  Sagendorf  was  born  in  N.  Y.,  Aug.  26,  1828,  and 
bred  a  farmer.  In  1856  he  removed  to  Neb.,  and  in  1858  he  left  Omaha  for 
Pike's  peak,  and  arrived  at  Cherry  creek  November  5th,  remaining  there  over 
winter.  In  the  spring  he  went  prospecting,  and  with  others  discovered 
Spanish  bar,  where  he  mined  until  July.  Returning  to  Auraria  he  was 
elected  secretary  of  the  town  company,  which  office  he  held  for  two  years. 
He  wa3  also  weighing  clerk  in  the  mint  at  Denver  in  1863.  In  1866  he  was 
appointed  postmaster  for  Denver,  holding  the  office  three  years.  He  subse 
quently  erected  the  government  buildings  at  the  White  River  Ute  agency, 
and  afterward  engaged  in  stock  raising  in  Douglas  county.  In  1874  he  re 
moved  to  Colorado  Springs,  and  for  two  years  ran  the  express  and  transfer 
line,  and  finally  went  into  the  drug  business  in  this  place. 

^6rw,Q   wagon  bore  the  inscription,  'Pike's  Peak  or  bust!'    The   disap 


pointed  gold  seeker  returned  soon  after  with  his  addenda:  'Busted,  by 
Thunder  ! '  emblazoned  on  his  wagon  cover.  Elfwrt's  Public  Men  and  Measures, 
MS.,  2;  IngersolCs  Knockiny  around  the  Rockies,  6;  Sop)*is'  Settlement  of  Denver, 
MS.,  1. 


374  GOLD  DISCOVERIES. 

Plum  creek,  twenty  miles  south  of  Denver,  and  which 
furnished  the  first  lumber  for  the  improvement  of  that 
town  on  the  21st  of  April.'7  On  that  same  day  there 
arrived  from  Omaha  a  newspaper  company  with  a 
printing  press,  which  was  destined  to  do  as  much 
toward  building  up  the  town  of  Denver  as  the  saw 
mill,  though  in  a  different  way.  The  head  of  the 
company  was  William  N.  Byers,  who,  like  Oakes,  had 
published  a  Guide  to  Pikes  Peak,  which  had  been 
extensively  sold  to  the  immigrants.28  It  happened 
that  before  he  arrived  at  Cherry  creek  signs  of  a 
panic  began  to  appear,  and  he  encountered  persons 
who  threatened  to  have  satisfaction  of  him  for  having 
raised  expectation  by  his  Guide  which  had  not  been 
fulfilled.  Oakes  was  regarded  with  still  greater  dis 
favor,  because  he  had  been  the  first  to  represent  Pike's 
peak  as  a  mining  region,  and  his  name  was  mentioned 
with  execrations.29  Henry  Allen  arid  William  Lari- 

27  The  first  lumber  was  purchased  by  Richard  Wooten,  who  came  to  Colo 
rado  in  1838,  and  Thomas  Pollock,  who  erected  the  first  frame  houses.  Den 
ver  Hist.,  186.  Wooten  was  living  in  Trinidad  in  1882.  Denver  Colorado 
Antelope,  April,  1882.  The  2d  saw  mill  was  erected  by  Little,  and  the  3d  by 
Whittemore.  Sopris  Settlement  of  Denver,  MS.,  12. 

"8  Mr  Byers  had  a  most  important  influence  in  shaping  the  history  of  Col 
orado.  I  am  indebted  to  him  for  very  valuable  material,  collected  during  a 
tour  through  the  state  of  Colorado  in  1884,  in  four  different  manuscript  con 
tributions;  namely,  History  of  Colorado,  The  Newspaper  Press  of  Colorado, 
The  Sand  Creek  Affair,  and  The  Centennial  State,  each  filled  with  the  very 
essence  of  history.  Byers  was  born  in  Ohio,  Feb.  22,  1831.  At  the  age  of 
19  he  removed  to  Iowa,  and  joined  a  government  surveying  party  for  Cal. 
and  Or.  in  1851,  returning  to  Washington  in  1853,  after  which  he  settled 
at  Omaha,  then  in  its  infancy.  He  continued  surveying  until  he  came  to 
Colo.  In  changing  his  occupation  he  followed  the  natural  bent  of  his  mind, 
and  made  the  best  use  of  his  talents.  He  founded  the  Rocky  Mountain  News, 
the  first  newspaper  issued  in  Colorado.  The  first  number  appeared  April 
22d,  the  day  after  his  arrival,  and  proceeded  by  20  minutes  the  Cherry  Creek 
Pioneer,  owned  by  Jack  Merrick  of  St  Joseph,  who,  being  beaten  in  the  race, 
sold  to  Thomas  Gibson,  also  of  the  News,  and  never  issued  a  second  number 
of  his  paper.  This  left  a  clear  field  for  Byers  and  Gibson,  which  they  im 
proved.  George  C.  Monell  of  Omaha  had  an  interest  in  the  News,  but  turned 
back  on  his  way  to  Denver,  and  sold  it.  Byers'  Hist.  Colo,  MS. 

29 The  following  distich  was  made  familiar  to  thousands  on  the  plains: 
'  Here  lies  the  body  of  D.  C.  Oakes, 
Killed  for  aiding  the  Pike's  Peak  hoax.' 

Hill's  Tales  of  Colo  Pioneers,  27.  His  effigy  was  buried  by  the  wayside,  and 
on  a  buffalo  skiill  planted  at  the  head  was  written: 

'  Here  lies  the  bones  of  Major  Oakes, 
The  author  of  this  God  damned  hoax.' 


ANGRY  GOLD  SEEKERS.  375 

mer  came  in  for  a  share  of  blame  also.  There  was 
as  little  reason  in  this  revengeful  feeling  as  there  had 
been  in  the  unbounded  credulity  which  had  led  them 
on  the  first  unproved  statement  of  a  bookmaker  to 
hasten  to  place  themselves  in  the  front  rank  of  gold- 
seekers. 

But  their  panic  was  not  groundless.  Gold  had  not 
yet  been  found  in  amount  to  justify  any  excitement, 
although  it  was  the  belief  of  old  miners  on  the  ground 
that  it  was  there.  Very  few  of  those  who  came  to 
mine  knew  anything  of  indications,  or  the  methods  of 
mining.  They  needed  to  be  taught;  but  until  mining 
had  been  begun  they  could  learn  nothing.  Other 
employments  there  were  none  at  that  early  date. 
The  last  argument  for  quitting  the  country  was  fur 
nished  on  the  16th  of  April,  when  a  man  named  John 
Scudder  killed  another  named  Bassett  in  a  quarrel. 
If  a  course  of  outlawry  was  about  to  commence,  they 
would  none  of  that  country ;  so  away  they  went  like 
senseless  steers — senseless  in  coming  or  in  returning 
—  stampeding  down  the  Platte  sixty  or  seventy 
strong,  swearing  they  would  kill  D.  C.  Oakes  and 
W.  N.  Byers  if  peradventure  they  could  lay  hands 
on  them. 

On  foot,  unfurnished  with  transportation  or  pro 
visions  for  a  journey  of  such  length,  the  backward 
moving  men  kept  on.  The  stories  they  told  of  Pike's 
peak  affairs  were  at  least  as  exaggerated  as  the  rep 
resentations  of  the  guide-books  which  they  condemned, 
big  lies  in  their  minds  seemingly  being  neccessary  to 
counteract  the  effect  of  big  lies.  And  every  man 
they  turned  back  added  to  the  apparent  weight  of 
evidence,  gaining  like  a  rolling  snow-ball.  If  sixty 
could  turn  back  sixty,  twice  sixty  could  turn  back 
their  own  number  at  least,  and  240  might  be  able  to 
influence  not  only  480,  but,  by  that  power  which 
crowds  have  to  create  a  state  of  feeling,  a  much 
larger  number  could  be  made  to  share  in  the  alarm. 
Of  the  150,000  persons  on  the  plains  in  the  spring 


376  GOLD  DISCOVERIES. 

and  summer  of  1859,  not  less  than  50,000  were  thus 
turned  back.  This  was  doubtless  the  greatest  suc 
cess  these  sixty  men  ever  achieved ;  and  their  reward 
was  free  transportation  for  themselves,  and  provisions 
for  the  journey.  The  return  began  far  up  the  Platte, 
and  many  who  had  loaded  their  wagons  with  mer 
chandise  to  sell  in  the  mines,  or  property  for  their 
own  use,  threw  it  away  rather  than  tax  their  tired 
oxen  to  drag  it  back  five  or  six  hundred  miles  to  the 
Missouri  river.  The  route  was  strewn  with  goods  of 
every  description  for  hundreds  of  miles,  and  of  the 
100,000  that  pushed  on  to  the  mountains,  less  than 
40,000  remained  there.  Some  tarried  but  a  few 
weeks,  and  others  remained  all  summer,  going  home 
when  cold  weather  approached. 

But  there  was  really  something  back  of  all  this 
running  to  and  fro,  this  seemingly  wasted  effort.  It 
was  slow  in  appearing,  revealing  itself  little  by  little 
in  a  tantalizing  fashion  which  is  sufficient  apology  for 
the  discontent  of  those  who  imagined  gold  could  be 
picked  up  like  pebbles.  On  the  15th  of  January 
1859.  gold  was  discovered  in  a  small  affluent  of 
Boulder  creek,  to  which  the  name  of  Gold  run  was 
given ;  and  about  the  end  of  January  a  discovery  was 
made  in  a  gulch  filled  with  fallen  timber,  on  the  south 
Boulder,  and  called  Dead  wood  diggings.30  In  the 
spring  J.  D.  Scott  discovered  a  gold-bearing  quartz 
vein,  and  named  it  after  himself,  the  Scott,  and  the 
place  Gold  hill.  Out  of  these  discoveries  grew  the 
town  of  Boulder 

On  the  6th  of  May  a  party  of  Chicago  men,  headed 
by  George  Jackson,  a  California  miner,  made  a  rich 
discovery  on  a  branch  of  Clear  creek.  The  diggings 
took  the  name  of  Chicago  bar,  or  Jackson  diggings, 
and  soon  overflowed  with  anxious  miners,  many  of 

30  Compare  Moore  s  Early  Days  in  Denver,  MS. ;  Sopris  Settlement  of  Den- 
ver,  MS.;  Byers1  Hist.  Colorado,  MS.;  Bradford's  Hist.  Colorado,  MS.;  and 
Hollisters  Mines  of  Colorado, 


MINING  CAMPS.  377 

whom  were  compelled  to  look  further  for  want  of 
room.  A  short  distance  above  the  mouth  of  Fall 
river  and  Chicago  bar  was  Spanish  bar,  so  called 
because  there  were  evidences  of  former  mininor  at  that 

O 

place ;  in  the  vicinity  were  Fall  river  and  Grass  Val 
ley  mining  camps.  But  the  principal  camp  on  this 
part  of  Clear  creek  was  opposite  Jackson  diggings, 
and  became  the  foundation  of  the  town  of  Idaho 
Springs,  which  began  to  take  shape  the  following  year. 
On  the  10th  another  party,  led  by  John  H.  Greg 
ory,  a  Georgian,31  made  a  discovery  just  over  the 

31  Gregory  was  a  lazy  fellow  from  Gordon  county,  Georgia,  and  drove  a 
government  team  from  Leaven  worth  to  Fort  Laramie  in  1858,  intending  to 
go  to  Fraser  river,  but  being  detained  at  Laramie  by  want  of  means  had 
drifted  off  to  Clear  creek,  and  with  some  others  had  encamped  at  a  point 
between  Denver  and  Golden,  and  called  the  place  Arapahoe.  It  is  said  by 
Hollister,  in  his  Mines  of  Colorado,  63,  that  he  prospected  in  January,  and 
found  the  color  in  the  north  fork  of  Clear  creek;  and  that  being  out  of  pro 
visions  he  was  forced  to  return  to  camp.  It  does  not  appear  that  he  made 
any  further  effort  for  several  months.  He  was  finally  '  grub  staked  '  (furnished 
with  provisions  for  an  interest  in  his  success)  by  David  K.  Wall,  and  induced 
to  lead  a  party,  consisting  of  Wilkes  De  Frees,  his  brother,  and  Kendall,  to 
the  mountains  and  the  stream  where  he  had  seen  the  color.  The  party  set 
out  in  April,  proceeding  from  Arapahoe  up  the  north  forth  of  Vasquez  or 
Clear  creek,  climbing  many  successive  ridges,  and  floundering  through  snow 
banks,  until  they  came  to  the  mouth  of  a  gulch  near  the  head  of  the  creek, 
and  consequently  well  up  in  the  mountains.  Here  Gregory  suggested  that 
it  would  be  well  to  dig  and  look  for  float  gold.  While  the  other  men  dug  he 
looked  on.  They  obtained  a  fair  prospect,  and  went  on  excavating.  Then 
said  Gregory  to  Wilkes  De  Frees,  who  had  grub  staked  him,  '  Bring  your 
shovel,  and  come  with  me.'  They  went  about  300  feet  further  up  the  side  of 
the  gulch,  when  Gregory  pointed  to  the  ground  and  said,  'Here  is  a  good 
looking  spot;  stick  your  shovel  in  there,  Wilk.'  De  Frees  obeyed,  turning 
over  a  few  shovelfuls  of  earth.  '  Give  me  some  in  the  pan, '  said  Gregory 
again,  and  De  Frees  filled  the  pan  half  full  of  dirt,  which  the  Georgian  pro 
ceeded  to  wash  at  the  little  stream  running  through  a  gulch  close  at  hand.  The 
product  of  that  half  pan  of  dirt  was  half  an  ounce  of  gold  !  Gregory  went  back 
for  another  panful,  with  the  same  result.  Claims  were  immediately  staked 
off.  The  effect  of  his  extraordinary  fortune  crazed  the  weak  brain  of  poor 
Gregory.  All  through  the  night  sleep  deserted  him,  and  his  companions 
heard  his  self-communings.  He  sold  his  discovery  claim,  under  the  impres 
sion  that  he  could  easily  find  another  as  good.  The  price  he  obtained,  $22,- 
000,  was  a  fortune  to  him.  At  length,  in  1861-2,  he  disappeared  from  a 
hotel  in  Illinois,  and  was  never  seen  again.  The  man  to  whom  Gregory  sold 
his  mine  was  Edward  W.  Henderson.  He  was  born  in  Austinburg,  Ohio, 
Nov.  29,  1818,  and  bred  a  farmer,  receiving  a  common  school  education.  In 
1844  he  removed  to  Iowa,  and  from  there  he  went  to  Pike's  peak,  where  he 
arrived  in  April  1859.  After  prospecting  for  a  few  weeks,  he  went  to  Greg 
ory  gulch  on  the  16th  of  May,  and  on  the  29th,  in  company  with  Amos 
Gridley,  he  purchased  the  Gregory  claims,  paying  for  them  out  of  the  pro 
ceeds  of  the  mine.  It  was  a  fortunate  venture,  although  he  lost  some  of  the 
money  he  made  in  other  ones.  He  erected  a  quartz  mill  in  1861,  where  the 
Eureka  foundry  later  stood,  in  company  with  D.  A.  January,  Ely  R.  Lack 
land,  and  Judge  Lackland,  in  which  was  a  loss,  He  afterward  purchased  a 


378  GOLD  DISCOVERIES. 

mountains  west  of  Jackson  bar,  on  the  north  fork  of 
Clear  creek,  the  richest  ever  found  in  Colorado,  and 
one  of  the  richest  in  the  world.  These  discoveries 
arrested  the  backward  flow  of,  immigration  to  some 
extent.  Not  less  than  30,000  persons  hastened  after 
Jackson  when  they  heard  of  Chicago  bar,  and  when 
Gregory  point  was  made  known  they  threw  them 
selves  in  there  pell  mell,  each  striving  to  be  first. 

But  the  Gregory  party  had  taken  the  precaution 
before  giving  their  discovery  publicity  to  admit  their 
friends  and  organize  a  district,  with  rules  and  regula 
tions  by  which  all  future  claimants  should  be  gov 
erned.32  Comparatively  few  of  those  who  came  found 
ground  to  work;33  for  which  reason  much  discontent 
was  exhibited,  and  a  mass  meeting  was  called  to  change 
the  laws  of  the  district.34  The  new-comers  were 
unable  to  cope  with  the  more  experienced  miners,  and 
were  surprised  to  find  that  the  committee  appointed 
by  themselves  to  revise  the  laws  made  no  material 
change  in  them.  They  had  failed  to  perceive  that 
the  pioneers  were  mingling  with  the  assemblage  in 
every  part,  nominating  their  men  on  the  committee. 
Not  knowing  the  nominees,  the  malcontents  voted 

mill  at  Gregory  point  in  company  with  Gridley,  but  lost  in  this  transaction 
also.  He  finally  consolidated  his  claims  with  four  others,  and  sold  out  to  a 
New  York  company,  his  share  of  the  price  obtained  being  ,$100,000,  In  1873 
he  was  appointed  receiver  of  the  U.  S.  land  office  at  Central  City.  Clear  Creek 
and  Boulder  Vol.  Hitf.,  454-5. 

SjThe  mining  laws  adopted  were  nearly  identical  with  those  of  California, 
defining  the  boundaries  of  the  district;  forbidding  the  taking  of  more  than 
one  claim  of  a  kind,  except  by  purchase  properly  attested;  fixing  the  extent 
of  a  mountain  claim  at  100  feet  on  the  lode  and  50  feet  in  width;  and  of  a 
gulch  or  creek  claim  at  100  feet  along  the  creek  or  gulch,  and  extending  from 
bank  to  bank;  limiting  the  time  of  holding  without  working  to  10  days;  giv 
ing  the  discoverer  a  '  discovery  claim,'  in  addition  to  his  working  claim,  which 
he  could  work  or  not  as  he  chose;  dividing  the  water  of  a  stream  equally  be 
tween  miners,  etc.  Disputes  were  to  be  settled  by  arbitration.  On  the  9th 
of  July  another  meeting  was  held,  at  which  it  was  resolved  to  elect  by  ballot 
a  president  of  the  district,  a  recorder  of  claims,  and  a  sheriff.  Richard 
Sopris  was  chosen  president,  C.  A.  Roberts  recorder,  and  Charles  Peck 
sheriff.  A  committee  was  also  appointed  to  codify  the  laws  of  the  district. 
Hollister's  Mines  of  Colo,  77-9. 

33  Bates  and  Taschuer  hired  Gregory  at  a  high  price  to  prospect  for  them, 
and  together  they  found  the  celebrated  Bates  lode.     Colo  Gazetteer,  174. 

34  Byers,  \vho  was  present  at  this  meeting,  describes  it  as  looking  like  a 
'  flock  of  blackbirds,'  so  thickly  were  the  sides  of  the  gulch  covered  with, 
men.     Hist.  Colo,  MS.  34. 


GOLD  FIELDS.  379 

them  into  office,  and  accepted  their  report  because 
they  had  done  so,  with  a  suspicion  that  they  had  been 
outwitted. 

Prospecting  continued  in  the  mountains,  a  number 
of  discoveries  being  made  on  the  headwaters  of  north 
Clear  creek,  Boulder,  south  Clear  creek,  and  the 
Platte.  Early  in  June  W.  Green  Russell  commenced 
mining  on  a  tributary  of  north  Clear  creek,  a  little 
south  of,  but  parallel  with,  the  Gregory  claims,  in  a 
ravine  which  took  the  name  of  Russell  gulch.  Six 
man  in  one  week  took  out  seventy-six  ounces  of  gold, 
worth  from  sixteen  to  eighteen  dollars  to  the  ounce.35 
Something  over  200  men  were  at  work  in  Nevada 
and  Illinois  gulches  and  Missouri  flat,  tributaries  of 
Gregory  and  Russell  gulches,  who  were  producing  an 
average  of  $9,000  a  week.  In  the  latter  part  of  Sep 
tember  there  were  about  900  men  at  work  in  Russell 
gulch,  taking  out  an  average  of  $35,000  a  week. 
Water  becoming  scarce,  ditches  were  constructed  to 
bring  it  from  Fall  river  to  Russell  and  Gregory 
gulches,  which  cost  the  miners  $100.000.  The  dis 
tricts  discovered  in  1859  in  what  were  later  Clear 
creek  and  Gilpin  counties  were,  besides  Gregory, 
Russell,  Spanish  bar,  and  Jackson,  Nevada  district, 
Lake  gulch,  Griffith,  Illinois  Central,  Enterprise, 
Central,  Eureka,  and  Virginia.  The  discoveries  in 
these  districts  were  numerous  enough  to  employ 
many,36  but  by  no  means  all  who  sought  for  claims. 

35  William  Green  Russell  remained  in  Colorado  until  1862,  and  made  con 
siderable  money.  On  his  way  east  he  was  arrested  for  a  confederate  at  Santa 
Fe,  but  he  was  released  and  returned  to  Colorado,  where  he  remained  until 
1875,  when  he  removed  to  the  Cherokee  country,  his  wife  being  a  woman  of 
that  nation,  and  died  a  few  years  afterward.  Bradford's  H'ist.  Colo,  MS.,  4; 
Soprii  Settlement  of  Denver,  MS.,  2. 

a6I  give  herewith  the  names  of  mines  and  their  discoverers  in  1859:  In 
Gilpin  county,  the  Alger,  by  William  Alger;  American  Flag;  Barrett,  by 
Wesley  Barrett;  Burroughs,  Benjamin  Burroughs;  Briggs,  Briggs  Brothers; 
Butler,  James  D.  Wood;  Connelly  and  Beverly,  Connelly  and  Beverly;  Dean- 
Castro,  Dean  and  Castro;  Gaston,  James  Gaston;  Gunr.ell,  Harry  Gunnell; 
Hill  House,  Payne  &  Co.;  Ingles,  Webster  &  Co.;  Indiana,  Thomas  Brothers; 
Jennings,  Thomas  Jennings;  Kansas,  James  Madison;  Kentucky,  Jones  and 
Hardesty;  Miller,  A.  Miller;  Mack,  W.  Mack;  Missouri;  Roderick  Dim, 
Stevens  and  Hall;  Smith,  A.  A.  Smith;  Snow,  James  Snow;  Tarryall;  To- 
peka,  Joseph  Hurst;  Tucker,  John  Nichols;  Virginia,  J.  Oxley;  Whiting, 


380  GOLD  DISCOVERIES. 

A  rumor  of  discovery,  and  they  swarmed  at  that 
place,  alighting  like  locusts  upon  a  field  which  could 
not  furnish  ground  for  one  in  a  thousand  of  those  who 
came.  Finding  themselves  too  late,  they  swarmed 
again  at  some  other  spot,  which  they  abandoned  in  a 
similar  manner. 

Out  of  this  ceaseless  activity  grew  worthy  results. 
From  Araphoe  37  at  the  mouth  of  Table  mountain 
canon,  where  they  had  gathered  during  the  winter, 


MINES  OF  GILPIN  COUNTY. 


Whiting  &  Co.;  Wood,  Robert  Wood;  Leavenworth,  Harsh  Brothers;  Cali 
fornia,  Hutchinson;  French  F.  Terndull;  St  Louis.  In  Clear  creek  county 
the  Griffith,  George  F.  Griffith,  and  the  Virginia.  These  were  discoveries 
which  proved  to  be  real  lodes,  called  at  first  '  mountain  diggings '  to  distin 
guish  them  from  the  gulch  and  bar  diggings;  but  these  were  not  all.  There 
seems  to  have  been  a  good  uniform  yield,  but  never  an  extraordinary  pro 
duction  as  in  some  parts  of  Idaho  and  Montana.  Hollister,  in  Mints  of  Colo, 
66-7,  gives  the  yield  of  the  decomposed  quartz  in  these  mountains  diggings 
as  follows:  the  highest  day's  income  from  the  Gregory,  \vorking  it  with  a 
sluice,  was  $495,  and  the  lowest  §21.  Zeigler,  Spain,  &  Co.  cleaned  up  in 
three  weeks  on  the  Gregory  $2,400.  De  Frees  &  Co.,  cleaned  up  $2,080  in  12 
days  with  one  sluice.  Kehler,  Patton,  &  Fletcher  averaged  witli  5  hands 
$100  a  day  on  the  Bates  lode.  From  $125  to  $450  a  day  were  obtained  from 
single  sluices,  working  four  men;  and  so  on. 

37Arapahoe  was  staked  off  by  George  B.  Allen.  It  contained  in  1859 
nearly  100  houses,  but  was  soon  after  deserted  and  converted  into  farms. 
Clear  Creek  and  Boulder  Val  Hist.,  547.  Allen  became  a  resident  of  a  farm 
near  Golden.  He  was  born  in  Albany,  N.  Y.,  May  17,  1825.  In  1846  he 
removed  to  Akron,  Ohio,  and  subsequently  to  Defiance,  wher,e  he  remained 


TOWN-BUILDING.  381 

went  the  founders  of  Golden,38  Golden  Gate,  Mount 
Vernon,  Central  City,  and  Nevada,39  all  on  the  afflu 
ents  of  Clear  creek.  Golden  Town  company  was 
formed  in  the  spring  of  1859,  and  was  an  afterthought 
of  its  organizers,  who  were  encamped  at  the  Gate  of 
the  Mountains,  or  the  mouth  of  the  canon  of  Clear 
creek.  The  trail  to  the  mines  crossed  the  creek 
here,"  and  the  water  being  high,  J.  M,  Ferrell  con 
structed  first  a  foot-bridge  and  then  a  toll-bridge  for 
teams,  and  improved  the  road,  making  his  bridge  a 
good  piece  of  property,  as  well  as  the  first  of  its  kind 
in  Colorado.  Many  persons  gathered  there,  atf  racted 
by  the  natural  beauties  of  the  scenery,  or  encamped 
preparatory  to  entering  the  mountains,  suggesting 
thereby  a  town,  when  a  company  was  formed,  consist 
ing  of  D.  Wall,  J.  M.  Ferrell.  J,  C.  Kirby,  J.  C. 
B  >wles,  Mrs  Williams,  W.  A.  H.  Loveland,  H.  J. 
Carter,  Ensign  Smith,  William  Davidson,  F.  W.  Bee- 
bee,  E.  L.  Berthoud,  Stanton,  Clark,  and  Garrison. 
They  called  themselves  the  Boston  company  ;  and 
having  selected  two  sections  of  land  laid  out  half  a 
section  in  lots  and  blocks,  the  remainder  not  being 

'  O 

surveyed  until  the  following  year.     A   saw-mill  and 

five  years.  Having  lost  a  stock  of  goods  by  fire  he  engaged  in  brokerage  and 
then  in  buying  and  selling  stock.  In  1857  he  removed  to  Doniphan,  Kansas, 
but  on  account  of  failing  health  determined  to  cross  the  plains.  After  laying 
out  Auraria  and  Arapahoe,  he  became  interested  in  quartz  and  lumber  mills. 
He  moved  his  sawmill  across  the  mountain  into  California  Gulch  in  1861,  and 
'blew  the  first  whistle  across  the  range.'  In  18G4  he  took  160  acres  of  land 
on  Clear  creek  where  he  made  himself  a  home. 

38  The  first  settlers  of  Golden  were  W.  A.  H.  Loveland,  John  M.  Ferrell, 
Fox  Deifenderf,  P.  B.  Cheney,  Dr  Hardy,  George  Jackson,  Charles  M.  Fer 
rell,  John  F.  Kirby,  T.  P.  Boyd,  William  Pollard,  James  McDonald,  George 
West,  Mark  Blunt,  Charles  Remington,  E.  B.  Smith,  J.  C.  Bowles,  Daniel 
McCleary,  I.  B.  Fitzpatrick,  and  W.  J.  McKay. 

09  J.  M.  Beverly  built  the  first  cabin  in  Nevada,  and  was  elected  recorder 
of  the  district  in  the  autumn,  besides  being  sheriff  and  justice  of  the  peace. 
During  the  winter  he  located  Beverly's  discovery  on  the  Burroughs  lode.  In. 
1862  he  erected  a  quartz  mill  in  Nevada  gulch.  He  returned  to  Chicago  in 
1868  and  was  married  there;  but  in  the  great  fire  of  1871  he  lost  all  his  accu 
mulations  and  began  the  study  of  the  law.  After  being  admitted  to  the  bar 
he  revisited  Colorado,  where  he  located  and  purchased  a  number  of  mines, 
which  were  profitably  worked.  Beverly  was  born  in  Culpepper  county,  Vir 
ginia,  in  1843. 

49  It  is  mentioned  by  several  writers  that  Horace  Greeley  visited  the  mines 
this  year;  and  it  is  related  that  he  attempted  to  swim  his  mule  across  Clear 
creek,  and  would  have  been  drowned  but  for  assistance  rendered  him. 


382  GOLD  DISCOVERIES. 

shingle-mill  in  the  pineries  furnished  material  for 
building,  which  went  on  rapidly,  the  town  having 
seven  or  eight  hundred  inhabitants  before  winter.*1 

Golden  Gate,  two  miles  north  of  Golden,  where  the 
Denver  and  Gregory  road  entered  the  mountains,  was 
a  flourishing  settlement.  At  the  mouth  of  Left  Hand 
creek  was  a  town,  later  abandoned,  called  Davenport 
in  1859.  Mountain  City  at  Gregory  point  was  laid 
out  early  in  May,  the  first  house  being  started  on  the 
22d  by  Richard  Sopris,  who,  with  J.  H.  Gest,  was 
one  of  the  Mammoth  quartz  mining  company,  which 
owned  thirty  claims  on  that  lode.  A  near  neighbor 
to  Mountain  City  on  the  south  was  a  miner's  camp 
called  Black  Hawk,  and  adjoining  it  on  the  north,  in 
Kendall  gulch,42  was  Central  City,  so  named  by  W. 
N".  Byers,  its  first  inhabitant  *3  after  its  founders, 
Harrison  Gray  Otis,  Nathaniel  Albertson,  and  John 
Armor."  Central  finally  absorbed  the  other  two 

41  Helm's  Gate  of  the  Mountains,  MS.,  1;  Early  Records,  MS.,  4.     The  Rocky 
Mountain  Gold  Reporter  and  Mountain  City  Herald,  of  Aug.  6,   1859,  says  that 
Golden  at  that  date,  when  it  had  been  surveyed  but  one   month,  had   50 
houses,  1,930  men,  and  70  women.     Most  of  these  must  have  been  transient, 
if  indeed  that  might  not  be  said  of  all.     Helm  says  the  first  garden  he  knew 
of  in  Colorado  was  at  Golden.     This  of  course  applies  to  the  mining  popu 
lation. 

42  Named  after  Kendall  in  Gregory's  company.     In  seems  the  honors  were 
divided  by  naming  the  gulch  after  Kendall  and  the  hill  or  point  after  Gregory. 

43  Sopris'  Settlement  of  Denver,  MS.,  7;  Bradford's  Hist.  Colo,  MS.,  4. 

44 Thomas  Gibson  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  News  had  a  newspaper  office  at 
Central  city  in  July  1859,  and  published  the  Rocky  Mountain  Gold  Reporter 
on  the  press  purchased  of  Jack  Merrick,  a  cap  size  lever  machine.  It  had  a 
brief  existence  of  five  months,  when  it  was  discontinued,  and  the  press  sold 
to  the  Boston  company  of  Golden,  whose  managers  established  the  Western 
Mountaineer^  which  a  few  months  later  was  enlarged  and  printed  on  a  new 
press.  Among  its  editors  in  the  winter  of  1859-60  where  A.  D.  Richardson 
and  Thomas  W.  Knox,  both  of  whom  afterward  achieved  national  reputations 
as  newspaper  correspondents.  While  the  press  was  in  Central  City  it  occu 
pied  part  of  a  double  log  house  owned  by  George  Aux,  author  of  Mining  in 
Colorado  and  Montana,  MS. ,  in  my  collection.  Aux  was  born  in  Marryat, 
Pa,  in  1837.  At  the  age  of  14  years  he  removed  to  Cleveland,  Ohio.  Five 
years  afterward  he  went  to  Kansas,  and  May  1850  to  Pike's  peak.  He  went 
to  Gregory  point,  or  Mountain  city,  where  he  remained  until  he  enlisted  in 
Gilpin's  reg.  of  volunteers  raised  to  keep  the  territory  in  the  union.  In  1864 
he  went  to  Montana,  with  his  wife  and  infant,  in  an  ox  wagon,  but  soon 
returned  and  engaged  in  farming  and  stock  raising  in  Douglas  county.  His 
manuscript  is  an  account  of  early  settlements  and  military  matters  chiefly. 
Benjamin  P.  Haman  erected  and  kept  the  first  hotel  in  Central  City.  Haman 
was  born  in  Vt  and  immigrated  from  Iowa.  He  married  Rachel  Berry  in 
1847,  Hugh  A.  Campbell  opened  the  first  stock  of  goods  in  Mountain  City 


TARRYALL  AND  FAIR  P 


places.  On  the  headwaters  of  Clear  creek  George 
F.  Griffith  laid  out  a  town  and  called  it  after  himself, 
Georgetown.  It  did  not  grow  much  that  season,  nor 
for  several  seasons  thereafter,  but  its  importance  was 
demonstrated  after  the  discovery  of  silver  mines  a  few 
years  later. 

A  part  of  the  population  spread  across  the  range, 
and  located  Breckenridge  on  a  tributary  of  Blue 
river,  in  what  is  now  Summit  county,  where  several 
hundred  miners  were  soon  congregated.  Others  pene 
trated  the  South  park,  and  a  miner  named  W.  J. 
Holman  discovered  on  a  branch  of  the  Platte  the 
Pound  diggings,  *D  which  had  a  great  reputation,  the 
name  signifying,  as  some  thought,  that  a  pound  of 
gold  a  day  was  their  average-production — an  opulence 
which  nature  does  not  often  bestow  upon  diggings 
anywhere.  So  magnanimous  were  the  first  locators 
in  the  prospect  of  sudden  riches  that  they  gave  the 
place  and  the  creek  on  which  the  placers  were  situ 
ated  the  inviting  name  of  Tarry  all.  So  many  tarried, 
and  such  was  the  squabbling  over  claims  that  a  por 
tion  of  the  population  determined  to  seek  for  mines 
elsewhere,  and  to  their  delight  soon  discovered  them. 
But  the  first  party  of  eight  men  which  left  Tarryall 
was  killed  by  the  Indians,  except  one,  while  passing 
through  a  ravine,  which  took  from  this  circumstance 
the  name  of  Dead  Men's  gulch.46 

It  was  decided  that  there  should  be  no  cause  for 
dissension  in  the  new  district,  but  that  even-handed 

in  a  brush  tent,  and  was  the  first  to  place  a  sign  above  his  place  of  business 
with  the  new  name  of  Central  City  upon  it,  and  to  have  his  letters  addressed 
to  Central  City,  by  which  means  the  P.  0.  department  was  brought  at  last 
to  recognize  the  change.  He  built  the  Atchison  house  in  Denver  in  the 
winter  of  1859.  He  discovered  the  Cincinnati  lode  onCasto  hill,  and  became 
the  owner  of  40  acres  of  Placer  mines  on  Quartz  hill,  besides  other  mining 
property.  He  was  born  in  Adams  county,  Pa,  and  married  Mattie  W. 
Whitsitt,  of  Centreville,  Ohio. 

45  Named  after  Daniel  Pound.     The  amount  actually  taken  out  by  the 
Mountain  Union  company  in  one  week,  with  4  men,  was  $420.     Holman, 
with  5  men,  took  out  $686  in  the  same  time.     Bowera  &  Co.  took  out  in  one 
week  $969,  with  3  men— 57  ounces  worth  817. 

46  W.   N.   Byers,  in  Out   West,  Oct.    1873;  Dead  Men's  Gulch  and  Other 
Sketches,  MS,,  1, 


384  GOLD  DISCOVERIES. 

justice  should  rule  the  camp,  and  to  emphasize  this 
determination  it  was  named  Fair  Play.47  Eight  miles 
north-west  of  Fair  Play  a  discovery  was  made  by  a 
mountaineer,  whose  characteristic  dress  of  tanned 
skins  gave  him  the  descriptive  appellation  of  Buck 
skin  Joe,  and  the  Buckskin  Joe  mines  next  attracted 
the  unsatisfied.  This  camp  became  the  town  of  Alma. 
Hamilton  and  Jefferson  followed  in  South  park  the 
same  season,  the  latter  becoming  a  town  of  several 
thousand  inhabitants  in  the  first  few  years.48 

47  Sopris  Settlement  of  Denver,  MS.,  8.  There  are  several  stories  to  account 
for  this  name,  all  of  them  far  fetched  and  inaccurate. 

43  Before  proceeding  further  with  the  history  of  settlement,  I  will  record 
the  names  of  some  of  the  pioneers  of  this  part  of  Colorado  in  1859.  Joseph 
M.  Brown,  born  in  Maryland  in  1832,  was  with  General  Walker  in  Nicaragua 
in  1855.  He  returned,  drifted  west,  and  became  a  farmer  and  stock-raiser. 
Samuel  W.  Brown,  born  near  Baltimore  Dec.  23,  1829,  removed  to  New 
York  in  1844,  became  a  cabinet-maker,  served  in  the  Mexican  war,  going 
from  these  battle-fields  to  Cal.,  and  afterward  to  Chicago.  He  followed 
Walker  to  Nicaragua,  and  furnished  supplies  to  the  army  for  one  year.  In 
1857  he  married  a  daughter  of  John  Perry,  at  Olathe,  Iowa.  On  coming  to 
Colorado  he  secured  500  acres  and  went  to  farming.  Thomas  Donelson,  a 
native  of  Ohio,  was  born  June  20,  1824,  and  bred  a  farmer.  After  several 
removes  westward  he  came  to  Colorado,  where,  after  one  season  of  mining, 
he  brought  out  his  family  and  settled  on  the  Platte,  17  miles  below  Denver. 
Henry  Crow,  born  in  Wis.,  bred  a  merchant,  came  to  Colorado  in  1859,  and 
after  mining  for  a  season  returned  to  Iowa  for  his  family,  and  located  at 
Central  City.  He  served  in  the  Indian  war  of  1864,  after  which  he  removed 
to  Georgetown.  Selling  his  mines  at  that  place  he  settled  in  Denver  and 
organized  the  City  national  bank  in  1870;  but  in  1876  withdrew  from  the 


years 

Colorado.  In  1861  he  was  elected  clerk  and  recorder  of  Arapahoe  county. 
He  has  ever  since  been  in  the  real  estate  business.  S.  B.  Morrison,  born  in 
Oneida  Castle,  N.  Y.,  May  2,  1831,  removed  to  Jefferson,  Wis.,  at  the  age 
of  10  years,  and  in  1859  came  to  Colorado,  where  he  turned  his  attention  to 
farming  and  stock-raising,  3  miles  north  of  Denver.  He  also  erected  some 
quartz-mills  inGilpin  and  Park  counties.  John  H.  Morrison  graduated  from 
Rush  Medical  college,  Chicago,  and  after  coming  to  Colorado  he  resided  first 
on  a  farm  and  then  in  Denver,  where  he  died  July  21,  1876.  Jasper  P.  Sears 
was  born  in  Ohio,  in  1838,  and  educated  at  Delaware,  after  which  he  removed 
to  St  Paul,  Minnesota,  where  he  traded  with  the  Sioux.  In  Sept.  1858,  he 
started  for  Pike's  peak  with  a  stock  of  merchandise,  but  did  not  arrive  for  a 
year  afterward,  owing  to  sickness  and  Indian  hostilities.  In  company  with 
C.  A.  Cook  he  opened  a  store  at  the  corner  of  15th  and  Larimer  streets,  Den 
ver.  After  4  years  of  prosperous  trade  they  opened  a  banking-house.  In 
1869  Sears  became  a  government  contractor,  and  dealer  in  real  estate,  and 
made  a  fortune.  Thomas  Skerritt,  born  in  Ireland,  in  1828,  immigrated  in 
1848  to  the  U.  S.  and  Canada.  In  1855  he  married  Mary  K.  Skerritt,  who 
was  one  of  the  first  women  to  go  to  Central  City,  and  accompanied  her  hus 
band  across  the  mountains  to  Breckenridge.  In  the  autumn  of  1859  he  took 
a  land  claim  on  the  Platte  river,  but  all  his  improvements  were  swept  away 
by  the  flood  of  1864.  What  remained  of  the  land  itself  was  purchased  by 


BIOGRAPHICAL.  385 

Peter  Magnus  for  the  site  of  the  Harvest  Queen  Mill,  and  Skerritt  settled 
upon  another  claim  6  miles  from  Denver,  where  he  cultivated  200  acres. 
Edward  C.  Sumner,  a  native  of  La  Fayette,  Ind.,  joined  the  rush  to  Pike's 

rk,  and  found  permanent  employment  in  the  Denver  post-office.  Alfred 
Miles,  born  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  Sept.  4,  1820,  set  out  with  his  family  for 
Cal.  in  1859,  but  stopped  in  Colo  and  selected  a  farm  011  Clear  creek,  9  miles 
from  Denver.  He  remained  there  for  7  years,  when  he  moved  to  Cherry 
creek  and  finally  to  Denver.  He  has  been  one  of  the  most  successful  farm 
ers  of  Colorado.  Isaac  E.  McBroom  a  native  of  Ind.,  born  April  22,  1830, 
removed  to  St  Joseph,  Missouri,  at  an  early  age,  and  in  1850  to  Iowa.  He 
came  to  Colo  with  the  first  mining  immigration,  and  settled  on  a  farm  near 
Denver.  John  Milheim,  baker  and  steel  polisher,  a  native  of  Switzerland, 
born  in  1835,  came  to  the  U.  S.  in  1849,  to  Neb.  in  1856,  and  from  there  to 
Pike's  peak.  Just  before  leaving  Omaha,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Reithmann, 
whose  brothers  also  became  citizens  of  Denver,  and  with  whom  he  opened 
the  first  bakery  there,  which  laid  the  foundation  of  his  fortune.  James  W. 
Richards,  a  native  of  Ohio,  worked  on  a  farm  in  111.,  and  thence  went  to  the 
Colo  mines.  In  1865  he  established  a  fast  freight  line  between  Denver  and 
Central  City,  remaining  in  the  business  7  years,  when  he  went  into  a  flour  and 
grain  trade  He  shipped  the  first  car-load  of  grain  over  the  Kansas  Pacific 
railroad  to  Denver,  and  established  the  first  line  of  transfer  wagons  in  the 
city,  upon  which  he,  with  W.  J.  Kinsey,  had  a  patent.  Peter  Magnus,  born 
in  Sweden,  in  1824,  bred  a  farmer,  came  to  the  U.  S.  in  1852,  and  in  1859  to 
Colo,  and  selecting  a  farming  claim  brought  out  his  family.  The  flood  of 
1864  took  his  improvements,  and  grasshoppers  in  1873-4-5,  nearly  destroyed 
his  crops,  yet  he  prospered.  He  received  all  the  medals  at  the  agricultural 
exhibition  of  Colorado  in  1870.  He  was  county  commissioner  for  Arapahoe 
in  1867-9.  Mason  M.  Seavy,  born  in  Maine  in  1839,  removed  to  III.,  and 


thence  started  with  other  gold-seekers  for  Pike's  peak  in  1859,  but  turned 
r,  and  did  not  reach  the  mountains  until  the  following 
year,  when  he  settled  in  Golden  and  went  into  the  grocery  trade,  doing  well 


back  at  Fort  Kearny, 


until  he  lost  a  large  and  valuable  train  by  the  Arapahoes,  which  compelled 
him  to  suspend  business.  He  began  a  second  time  in  Central  City,  but  failed 
again,  owing  to  commercial  complications.  In  1872  he  settled  in  Denver, 
and  again  prosecuted  the  grocery  business,  this  time  with  better  success. 
Daniel  J.  Fulton,  a  native  of  Va,  removed  to  Ohio  in  1836,  and  a  few  years 
later  to  Iowa.  In  1849  crossed  the  plains  to  Cal.  where  he  mined  for  3  years, 
returned  to  the  states,  and  in  1859  came  to  Colo.  After  mining  for  a  year, 
and  trying  his  fortunes  in  Idaho,  he  settled  upon  a  farm  on  the  Platte,  16 
miles  below  Denver.  George  W.  Hazzard  was  born  at  Elk  Grove,  Wis., 
Dec.  7,  1837,  came  to  Denver  in  1859,  and  went  to  the  mines  of  Gregory 
point  and  Missouri  flats,  where,  with  his  brother,  he  took  out  gold  enough 
to  start  in  farming  16  miles  from  Denver.  John  W.  Iliff,  a  native  of  Ohio, 
born  in  1831,  bred  a  farmer,  and  educated  at  Delaware  college,  came  to  Col 
orado  in  1859  with  a  small  train  of  provisions,  purchased  with  a  few  hun 
dred  dollars  which  his  father  gave  him,  and  selling  out  invested  in  a  small 
herd  of  cattle.  He  followed  up  the  cattle  business  for  18  years,  mastering 
all  its  details,  and  making  a  large  fortune.  He  owned  200,000  acres  of  pas 
ture  lands,  took  government  contracts,  and  shipped  cattle  to  eastern  mar 
kets  at  the  rate  of  13,000  a  year.  He  died  February  9,  1878.  Libeus  Bar 
ney,  a  native  of  Vt,  crossed  the  plains  in  the  first  coach  of  the  Denver  and 
Pike's  peak  passenger  line.  After  mining,  with  a  brother,  he  tried  house 
building,  and  erected  the  hall  in  which  the  first  provisional  legislature  met. 
Farming  was  next  attempted,  but  a  grocery  store  in  Denver  was  the  final 
resort  after  these  ventures,  and  in  that  he  did  well. 

Caleb  S.  Burdsal;  from  Ohio,  mined  near  Golden  in  1859,  and  in  1864 
was  appointed  surgeon  of  the  3d  Colo  reg.  Since  then  he  has  practised 
medicine  in  Denver.  He  discovered  and  named  Soda  lakes,  near  Morri 
son.  Joseph  W.  Bowles,  born  in  Rockford,  N.  C.,  came  to  Denver  in  1858. 
He  located  a  mine  on  Quartz  hill,  in  the  Nevada  district,  on  Clear  creek, 
HIST.  NEV  25 


386  GOLD  DISCOVERIES. 

where  he  worked  for  three  years  on  an  extension  of  the  Burroughs'  lode. 
He  was  twice  elected  sheriff  for  the  district  under  the  miners'  organization. 
In  1862  he  purchased  a  rancho  on  the  Platte,  10  miles  above  Denver,  near 
the  present  village  of  Littleton.  George  W.  Drake,  born  in  Ohio,  came  to 
Colo  in  1859,  and  opened  a  hotel  on  the  old  Gregory  road  7  miles  from  Black 
Hawk,  at  Cold  Spring  rancho,  in  partnership  with  Homer  Medbury,  of 
Ohio.  In  1863,  he  became  agent  for  Gibson's  pony  express  between  Den 
ver  and  the  mountain  towns.  In  1864  he  set  up  a  store  in  Black  Hawk,  and 
in  1870  joined  the  colony  at  Greeley,  which  he  helped  to  build  up.  Three 
years  later  he  settled  in  Denver,  where  he  purchased  a  marble-yard  in 
1874.  Charles  Eyser,  a  native  of  Holstein,  Germany,  born  in  1822,  came 
to  Colo  in  1859,  opened  a  provision  store  in  the  mines,  but  returned  to  Den 
ver  in  1863,  where  he  kept  a  boarding-house,  which  in  1869  was  washed  away 
by  a  flood.  After  that  he  settled  at  farming.  E.  W.  Cobb,  born  in  Boston, 
was  sent  to  Cal.  as  the  first  agent  of  Adams'  Express  co.  After  two  years 
he  went  to  Australia,  returning  to  Boston  in  1857,  then  to  Denver,  where  he 
sold  groceries  for  two  years,  then  carried  on  the  Elephant  corral  a  year  or  so, 
and  after  that  mined  for  a  few  years,  until  in  1869  he  was  appointed  chief  of 
the  mineral  dept  of  the  eur.  -gen.  office.  John  W.  Cline,  a  native  of  Canada, 
mined  during  the  summer  of  1859  in  Russell  gulch  and  at  Breckenridge,  but 
in  the  autumn  took  a  piece  of  land  7  miles  north  of  Denver,  where  he  made 
himself  a  home.  Samuel  Brautner,  born  in  Md,  came  to  Cal.  in  1852,  and 
finally  to  Colo,  where  he  engaged  in  mining  and  farming.  His  oldest  child 
is  said  to  be  the  first  white  girl  born  in  Colo,  but  I  have  shown  that  white 
children  were  born  here  before  the  gold  discoveries.  George  L.  Henderson, 
born  in  1836,  in  1859  came  to  Central  City,  and  in  1860  to  California 
gulch.  He  was  the  first  postmaster  at  Leadville,  which  camp  was  thua 
named  at  his  suggestion. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

PROGRESS  OF  SETTLEMENT. 
1859-1860. 

THE  ARKANSAS  VALLEY — ROAD  INTO  SOUTH  PARK — EL  PASO  CLAIM  CLUB 
— COLORADO  CITY  COMPANY — IRRIGATION — THE  FIGHTING  FARMERS  OF 
FONTAINE  CITY — CANON  CITY— CLEAR  CREEK — PUEBLO — CALIFORNIA 
GULCH — PIONEERS  IN  THE  SEVERAL  LOCALITIES — ORO  CITY — LEADVILLB 
— FRYING  PAN  GULCH — ROAD-MAKING — MINING  DEVELOPMENTS — 
FREIGHTING — MAIL  FACILITIES — PONY  EXPRESS — STAGE  COMPANIES. 

WHILE  the  valleys  and  head  waters  of  the  Platte 
and  its  tributaries  were  being  actively  explored  by 
one  part  of  the  immigration,  another  part  began  to 
occupy  the  Arkansas  valley.  A  portion  of  the  Law 
rence  party  of  1858  had  wintered  five  miles  above 
Denver,  where  afterward  was  Younker's  rancho. 
They  contemplated  making  a  town  there,  and  erected 
a  few  houses ;  but  before  spring  they  became  restless, 
and  some  returned  to  the  Arkansas  valley,  with  the 
design  of  going  back  to  Kansas.  This  party  of  about 
a  dozen  persons,  among  whom  were  Charles  Gilmore, 
Julian  Smith,  George  A.  Bute,  and  Anthony  Bott, 
crossed  the  ridge  between  the  Platte  and  Arkansas 
rivers  when  the  snow  on  the  summit  was  three  feet 
deep;  but  on  coming  to  the  spot  overlooking  the 
southern  slope,  and  seeing  a  sunny  valley  below,  they 
changed  their  purpose,  and  selected  a  site  for  a  town 
in  the  delightful  region  of  the  Fontaine-qui-Bouille, 
which  they  called  El  Dorado. 

On  hearing  what  had  been  done,  others  of  the 
original  company  who  had  located  land  claims  on  the 
Fontaine-qui-Bouille  the  previous  autumn,  some  of 
which  covered  the  new  town  site,  came  over  from  the 

1387) 


388  PROGRESS  OF  SETTLEMENT 

Platte  to  dispute  for  possession  of  the  ground.  The 
quarrel  ran  high,  but  a  compromise  was  effected  by 
admitting  the  land  claimants  into  the  town  company, 
all  joining  in  the  erection  of  a  large  log  house  as  the 
nucleus  of  their  future  city.1 

This  being  done,  Bute,  with  two  others  of  the  El 
Dorado  company,  and  Tucker,  a  squatter  on  Fontaine- 
qui-Bouille,  with  two  associates,  making  a  party  of  six, 
set  out  to  search  for  a  route  into  the  South  park, 
where  they  believed  gold  existed.  Following  the 
Indian  trail  westward  to  Soda  springs,  where  the 
Lawrence  company  had  located  the  town  of  El  Paso2 
the  previous  autumn,  the  explorers  encamped  for  two 
days  to  admire  and  enjoy  the  natural  charms  of  the 
place,  after  which  they  proceeded  as  far  on  their  way 
as  the  Petrified  stumps ;  but  falling  short  of  provis 
ions,  returned  and  loaded  a  wagon  with  supplies. 
This  wagon  they  took  into  the  park,  its  wheels  being 
the  first  to  print  the  sod  in  this  beautiful  mountain 
basin.  Gold,  as  I  have  shown,  was  discovered  in  the 
park  during  the  summer,3  the  mines  drawing  away 

1  El  Paso  Co.,  etc.,  MS.,  6. 

2  There  was  at  this  time  a  log  cabin  at  these  springs,  which  had  been 
erected  by  Richard  Wooten,  as  evidence  that  he  claimed  the  site  before  the 
El  Paso  town  was  projected.     Sometime  in  1859  Wooten  sold  his  claim  to 
R.E.  Whitsitt  &  Co.,  for  $500.  A  year  or  two  later,  Whitsitt's  partner  sold  his 
interest  to  the  Tappan  Brothers  from  Boston.     They  bought  about  the  same 
time  48  J  acres  on  the  west  side  of  Monument  creek,  which  was  known  as  the 
Boston  tract,  and  was  only  put  into  market  as  an  addition  to  Colorado  springs 
in  1874.     Whitsitt  and  Tappan  lost  their  right  to  the  springs  by  abandon 
ment,  and  they  were  jumped  by  one  Slaughter,  son  of  a  methodist  minister 
from  Illinois,  who  erected  a  frame  house  on  the  claim.     He  in  turn  aban^ 
doned  it,  and  it  was  again  taken  by  Thompson  Girter,  who  secured  the  sul 
phur  springs  in  South  park.     He  made  some  improvements  and  sold  to  Col 
Chivington  for  $1,500,  and  he  to  his  son-in-law,  Pollock,  who  made  a  trans 
fer  of  the  property  to  some  other  person  as  security  for  a  debt,  this  person 
selling  the    springs   for   $1,500.      George   Crater  of    Denver   subsequently 
organized  a  company  which  purchased  the  property,  paying  $10,000  for  it, 
and  afterward  sold  the  80  acres  on  which  are  the  soda  springs  for  $26,000  to 
the  company  which  finally  founded  the  present  town  of  Colorado  Springs,  of 
which  further  mention  will  be  made  in  the  proper  place.  El  Paso  County,  etc., 
MS.,  9-11.     It  has  been  stated  that  H.  A.  W.  Tabor  built  the  first  house  at 
Colorado  Springs  in  the  winter  of  1859;  that  he  came  back  to  Denver  in  the 
following  year,  and  endeavored  to  organize  a  company  to  go  down  and  lay  off 
a  town,  but  failed.     The  statement  is  erroneous,  but  that  Tabor  was  at  some 
time  about  this  date  interested  in  the  place  is  perhaps  true. 

3  A  writer  in  the  Colorado  Springs  Gazette  of  May  23,  1874,  ascribes  the 
discovery  of  gold  at  Fair  Play  to  this  party.     The  discovery  was  made  in 


EL  PASO  CLAIM  CLUB.  389 

all  the  settlers  at  El  Dorado  City,  which  was  aban 
doned.  The  richness  of  the  South  park  diggings, 
however,  caused  the  revival  of  the  town  in  the  autumn 
under  a  new  name.  It  had  been  observed  by  certain 
enterprising  persons  that  the  pass  of  the  Fontaine-qui- 
Bouille  seemed  to  offer  the  most  practical  wagon  route 
for  the  immigration  to  these  mines,  thousands  of  per 
sons  travelling  through  it  during  the  summer,  a  succes 
sion  of  delightful  park-like  valleys  furnishing  a  natural 
and  easy  road  into  the  main  park.  A  company  was 
formed  at  Denver  and  Auraria  consisting  of  L.  J. 

O 

Winchester,  Lewis  N.  Tappan,  Anthony  Bott,  George 
A.  Bute,  Melancthon  S.  Beech,  Julian  Smith,  H.  M. 
Fosdick,  D.  A.  Cheever,  R  E.  Whitsitt,  S.  W. 
Wagoner,  W.  P.  McClure,  P.  McCarty,  A.  D. 
Richardson,  T.  H.  Warren,  C.  W.  Persall,  A.  B. 
Wade,  George  W.  Putnam,  John  S.  Price,  John  T. 
Parkinson,  G.  N.  Woodward,  Charles  F.  Blake,  E. 
P.  Stout,  Clark  and  Willis,  Mr  Cable,  and  Higgins 
and  Cobb,  with  two  or  three  others,  with  the  object 
of  founding  a  city  on  the  deserted  site  of  El  Dorado. 
The  president  of  the  company  was  Winchester,  and 
the  secretary  Tappan. 

One  of  the  peculiar  phases  of  squatter  sovereignty 
in  Colorado  in  1859  was  an  organization  known  as 
El  Paso  Claim  club,4  shadowing  forth  the  provisional 
government.  A  meeting  having  been  called  in  the 
Arkansas  valley  to  deliberate  upon  the  best  method 
to  be  pursued  in  holding  land  in  the  absence  of  law 
and  land-offices,  El  Paso  Claim  club  was  the  result. 
The  limits  over  which  the  club  had  jurisdiction,  and 
the  powers  and  duties  of  its  officers,  were  defined;  a 
president  and  secretary  were  chosen,  and  provision 
made  for  the  selection  of  jurors  to  decide  upon  cases 
under  arbitration.  A  book  of  records  was  kept,5  and 

Aug.  by  miners  from  Tarryall;  but  there  were  other  parties  in  the  park  at 
the  time,  who  joined  in  working  the  ground  if  not  in  the  discovery. 

4  Fowler,    Around   Colorado,   MS.,   3,    6;    Helm,    Gate  of  the  Mountains, 
MS.,  4. 

5  The  names  of  A.  D.  Richardson,  D.  A.  and  C.  B.  Chever,  Samuel  Tap- 
pan,  William  Larimer,  S.  W.  Wagoner,  and  other  prominent  men  may  be 


390  PROGRESS  OF  SETTLEMENT. 

on  its  pages  was  recorded  the  declaration  of  the  Colo 
rado  City  company's  claim  of  1,280  acres,  signed  by 
the  secretary  of  the  club,  H.  J.  Burghardt,  and  dated 
December  20,  1859.  The  following  summer  there 
were  three  hundred  houses  in  the  town,  and  lots  were 
sdling  at  four  hundred  dollars.6  It  was  a  short-lived 
prosperity.  The  breaking  out  of  the  civil  war,  and 
other  causes,  forced  travel  away  from  the  Arkansas 
valley  to  the  Platte  route,  and  built  up  Denver  at 
the  expense  of  Colorado  City,  which  lost  its  hold 
upon  the  car  of  progress,  and  was  left  behind  in  the 


race.7 


It  will  be  remembered  that  Robert  Middleton  and 
family,  and  a  few  others  of  the  Lawrence  company  of 
1858,  wintered  at  or  near  Pueblo,  where  they  were 
joined  by  others  in  1859,  who  had  arrived  early  in 
that  year.  A  number  of  these  persons,  rightfully 
judging  that  when  corn  was  worth  from  five  to  fifteen 
cents  a  pound,  farming  was  as  profitable  as  mining, 
and  much  less  laborious,  determined  to  put  in  crops 
in  the  rich  Arkansas  bottoms.  Accordingly  they 
constructed  a  ditch  which  conducted  the  water  of  the 
Fontaine-qui-Bouille  over  their  fields,  arid  planted 
corn.8  When  the  corn  had  reached  a  good  height, 
and  waved  temptingly  in  the  wind  and  sun,  a  com 
pany  of  disgusted  prospectors,  returning  to  Missouri, 
encamped  near  the  settlement,  which  was  called  Fon 
taine  City,  and  foraged  their  lean  and  hungry  cattle 
on  the  glistening  green  blades  and  juicy  stalks.  The 

seen.  Houses  were  erected  on  the  Fontaine-qui-Bouille  by  R.  B.  Willis,  H. 
S.  Clark,  John  Bley,  Hubbard  Talcott,  William  Campbell,  the  last  three  of 
whom  opened  farms  in  1860.  Arkansas  Vol.  Hist.,  420. 

6  The  first  store  in  Colorado  City  was  owned  by  Gerrish  and  Cobb,   in 
charge  of  William  Garvin,  the  original  claimant  of  the  Garden  of  the  Gods. 
John  George,  who  still  resides  in  the  old  town,  opened  the  first  saloon.    Tap- 
pan  &  Co.  put  up  the  first  frame  house  in  1860,  which  was  still  standing  in 
1874.     It  was  occupied  as  the  county  court-house  before  the  removal  of  the 
county  seat  to  Colorado  springs.   El  Paso  Cminty,  etc.,  MS.,  19. 

7  Tabors  Cabin  Life  in  Colo,  MS.,  1-2;  ffowbert's  Indian  Troubles,  MS.,  2. 

8  The  first  farmers  in  this  region,  other  than  the  fur-traders,  were  Robert 
Middleton,  George  Peck,  Charles  D.  Peck,  Josiah  F.  Smith,  Otto  Winneka, 
Frank  Doris,   George  Lebaum,  William  H.  Green,    and  William  Kroenig, 
Arkansas  Val.  Hist,,  766, 


FIGHTING  FARMERS.  £9i 

ranchmen  remonstrated,  but  the  Missourians  outnum 
bered  them.  The  settlers  then  demanded  pay,  which 
was  refused,  and  whenever  opportunity  came  drove 
the  cattle  into  the  field,  where  they  were  kept  and 
guarded  as  indemnity  for  the  loss  of  their  corn.  Then 
followed  a  struggle  on  the  part  of  the  Missourians  to 
recover  their  teams  ;  but  the  settlers  had  entrenched 
themselves,  and  prepared  to  fight.  In  the  battle 
which  ensued  some  of  the  Missourians  were  killed, 
and  some  on  both  sides  were  wounded.  The  victory, 
however,  was  with  the  farmers,  who  received  at  last 
payment  of  damages,  and  restored  the  cattle  to  their 
owners.  The  Missourians  were  glad  to  get  away, 
having  apparently  no  further  use  for  the  fighting 
farmers  of  Fontaine  City.' 

In  October  a  town  was  laid  off  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Arkansas  river  pass  of  the  mountains,  called  Canon 
City.10  Its  founders  were  Josiah  F.  Smith,  Stephen 
S.  Smith,  William  H.  Young,  Robert  Bearcaw, 
Charles  D.  Peck,  and  William  Kroenig.  They  erected 
a  single  log  house  on  the  level  ground  above  the  hot 
springs,  which  were  found  here,  as  well  as  at  the  pass 
of  the  Fontaine-qui-Bouille ;  and  Robert  Middleton 
and  wife  went  to  reside  in  it,  this  being  the  actual 
first  family  of  Canon  City.  The  following  year  the 
house  was  taken  as  a  blacksmith  shop  by  A.  Rudd. 

In  the  spring  of  1860  the  town  site  was  jumped  by  a 
company  from  Denver,  which  magnanimously  retained 
some  of  the  former  claimants.  They  relocated  the 
town,  making  it  embrace  1,280  acres,  and  in  April  it 
was  surveyed  into  lots  and  blocks.  The  new  com 
pany  consisted  of  William  Kroenig,  E.  Williams,  W. 
H.  Young,  A.  Mayhood,  J.  B.  Doyle,  A.  Thomas, 
H.  Green,  J.  D.  Ramage,  Harry  Youngblood,  W.  W. 

9  The  first  store  in  Fontaine  City  was  opened  by  Cooper  and  Wing.  Some 
of  the  first  settlers  afte^  the  Lawrence  party  were  S.  S.  Smith,  W.  H. 
Young,  Matthew  Steel,  O.  H.  P.  Baxter,  George  M.  Chilcott,  John  W. 
Shaw,  Mark  G.  Bradford,  George  A.  Hinsdale,  Francisco,  and  Howard. 

19  Rudd" s  Early  Affairs,  MS.,  1-9;  Fowler's  Around  Colorado,  MS.,  1-8; 
A  Woman*  E.rperience,  MS.,  3-8;  Helm's  Gate  of  the  Mountains,  MS.,  12; 
Pi-escorts  Throwjh  Canon  de  Shea,  MS.,  2-3. 


392  PROGRESS  OF  SETTLEMENT. 

Ram  age,  J.  Graham,  M.  T.  Green,  Alvord  and  Com 
pany,  St.  Vrain  and  Easterday,  and  Buel  and  Boyd, 
surveyors.  Having  jumped  a  town  site  claim  them 
selves,  they  organized  a  claim  club  for  their  protec 
tion,  in  which  those  taking  up  agricultural  lands 
joined.11  Coal  creek,  in  the  coal  region,  was,  in  1885, 

11  The  first  grist-mill  in  Fremont  county  was  erected  by  Lewis  Conley  in 
1860  on  Beaver  creek,  and  was  washed  away  in  1802.  No  other  was  built 
till  1806  or  1867,  4  miles  east  of  Canon  City.  In  1872  a  grist-mill  was 
erected  in  the  town.  The  first  saw-mill  was  built  the  same  year  by  J.  B. 
Cooper,  J.  C.  Moore,  Karkins,  and  A.  Chandler,  on  Sand  creek,  above  the 
soda  springs.  As  a  premium  they  were  presented  with  an  original  share  in 
the  town  of  Canon  City.  R.  R.  Kirkpatrick  ran  a  shingle-machine  in  con 
nection  with  the  mill.  The  first  merchants  were  Dold  &  Co.,  whose  stock 
was  presided  over  by  Wolfe  Londoner;  Doyle  &  Co.,  represented  by  Solomon 
brothers;  C.  W.  Ketchum  and  brother;  Stevens  &  Curtis;  Majors  &  Russell, 
who  built  a  stone  store  100  feet  in  length;  R.  0.  Olds,  J.  A.  Draper,  James 
Gormly,  James  Ketchum,  G.  D.  Jenks,  Paul  brothers,  Harrison  &  Macon, 
and  D.  P.  Wilson.  These  were  all  in  business  in  Canon  City  in  1860,  before 
the  decline  of  its  early  prospects.  G.  D.  Jenks  also  opened  the  first  hotel. 
Custer  and  Swisher  kept  the  first  meat-market,  and  E.  B.  Sutherland  the 
first  bakery.  W.  C.  Catlin  established  the  first  brick-yard  about  1872,  to 
employ  the  prisoners  in  the  penitentiary.  The  first  newspaper  was  the 
Canon  City  Times,  issued  in  Sept.  1860  by  Millett,  since  of  Kansas  City.  The 
first  postmaster  was  M.  G.  Pratt.  In.  1870  there  were  but  two  post-offices 
in  the  county.  The  first  district  court  was  held  at  Canon  City  in  the  spring 
of  1863  by  B.  F.  Hall,  who  held  but  one  term  before  resigning.  He  found 
that  men  who  had  conducted  people's  courts  were  hard  to  awe  into  respect 
for  imported  judges.  The  discoverer  in  1862  of  the  oil  springs  6  miles  from 
Canon  City  was  Gabriel  Bowen.  He  sold  them  to  A.  M.  Cassidy,  who  man 
ufactured  in  1862-5,  and  shipped  to  other  parts  of  the  country  300,000  gal 
lons  of  superior  quality  of  illuminating  and  lubricating  oil.  Since  that  time 
prospecting  has  been  going  on  to  find  flowing  wells.  Some  of  the  first  set 
tlers  in  Fremont  county,  outside  of  Canon  City,  were  George  and  Al.  Toof, 
John  Pierce,  Hiram  Morey,  John  Callen,  John  McClure,  and  Foster,  on 
Beaver  creek;  J.  Witcher,  T.  Virden,  William  Irwin,  Ambrose  Flournoy, 
and  Robert  Pope,  on  Ute  creek;  B.  M.  Adams,  M.  D.  Swisher,  Ebenezer 
Johnson,  Sylvester  H.  Dairs,  James  Murphy,  Jesse  Rader,  and  Mills  M. 
Craig,  in  Oil  Creek  valley;  Philip  A.  McCumber,  John  Smith,  James  A. 
McCandless,  Ira  Chatfield,  Stephen  Frazier,  Gid.  B.  Frazier,  Jesse  Frazier, 
B.  F.  Smith,  John  Locke,  Jacob  R.  Reisser,  and  William  H.  May,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Florence;  James  Smith,  Bruce,  and  Henry  Burnett,  on  Hard- 
scrabble  creek. 

I  have  said  that  the  town  site  of  Canon  City  was  jumped  in  the  spring 
of  1860.  The  company  remained  in  possession  till  1864,  when  all  abandoned 
it,  and  sought  newer  fields  of  enterprise  in  the  mining  camps.  Three  fam 
ilies  only  remained  in  the  town.  Not  long  afterward  the  government  sur 
veyed  the  township  and  the  town  site,  whereupon  it  was  preempted  by  Ben 
jamin  Griffin,  W.  C.  Catlin,  Jothan  A.  Draper,  Augustus  Macon,  and  A. 
Rudd,  who  deeded  to  the  owners  of  improvements  the  lots  on  which  they 
were  placed,  and  proceeded  to  set  affairs  again  in  motion.  These  men  belonged 
to  a  company  of  20  families,  which  migrated  from  Iowa  that  year,  and  who 
were  known  as  the  resurrectionists,  because  they  brought  back  life  to  Canon 
City.  They  were  Thomas  Macon,  who,  while  a  member  of  the  legislature  of 
1867-8,  secured  for  his  town  the  location  of  the  penitentiary;  Mrs  Ann  Har 
rison,  Mrs  George,  John  Wilson,  Joseph  Macon,  Fletcher,  Augustus  Sartor, 


BIOGRAPHICAL.  393 

next  to  Canon  City  in  size,  having  a  population  of 
five  hundred. 

The  first  farm  located  in  what  is  now  Fremont 
county  was  by  J.  N.  Haguis,  on  the  1st  of  January, 

Zach.  Irwin,  and  others  with  their  families.  Anson  Rudd  was  one  of  the 
three  original  settlers  who  would  not  forsake  the  place  of  his  choice.  He 
was  first  sheriff,  county  commissioner  two  terms,  provost-marshal,  oil  in 
spector,  postmaster,  clerk  of  the  people's  court,  candidate  for  lieut-gov.,  and 
blacksmith  for  the  county.  He  was  one  of  the  locators  of  the  roads  to  Wet 
Mountain  valley,  to  which  he  guided  the  German  colony;  of  the  road  to  the 
upper  Arkansas  region,  and  to  Currant  creek  and  South  park;  was  for  sev 
eral  years  president  of  the  Canon  City  Ditch  company,  and  was  the  first 
warden  of  the  penitentiary  after  the  admission  of  the  state,  as  well  as  one 
of  the  commissioners  to  locate  it.  The  first  child  born  was  a  son  of  M.  D. 
Swisher,  who  died  in  ipfancy.  W.  C.  Catlin  was  also  of  the  original  set 
tlers,  as  was  J.  A.  Draper,  who  was  second  postmaster,  and  county  treas 
urer,  collecting  the  first  taxes  ever  gathered  in  the  county.  He  gave  the 
ground  on  which  the  penitentiary  was  placed.  When  he  sold  a  tract  to  the 
Central  Colorado  Improvement  company  it  was  with  the  intention  of  reserv 
ing  for  the  use  of  the  public  the  soda  springs;  but  through  some  inadvert- 
aiice  in  the  deed  he  failed  to  do  so.  Other  early  Canonites  were  William  H. 
Green,  captain  of  the  1st  Colorado  regiment;  Folsom,  who  also  enlisted,  and 
was  crippled  for  life;  Piatt,  W.  R.  Fowler,  author  of  Around  Colorado,  MS.; 
J.  Reid,  Benjamin  F.  Griffin,  S.  D.  Webster,  county  surveyor,  judge,  and 
member  of  the  legislature;  Frank  Bengley,  who,  although  a  Canadian,  en 
listed  in  the  union  arrny;  Albert  Walthers,  first  keeper  of  the  penitentiary; 
S.  H.  Boyd,  hotel-keeper;  H.  W.  Saunders,  W.  H.  McClure,  who  built  the 
McClure  house  and  ruined  himself  by  the  help  of  the  D.  &  R.  G.  railroad 
company;  B.  Murray,  who  kept  the  house,  and  S.  W.  Humphrey.  The  first 
church  organized  in  Canon  City  was  in  1860-1,  by  Johnson  of  Kansas,  a 
methodist,  with  about  ten  members.  None  of  these  were  left  when  the 
Iowa  colony  arrived,  and  George  Murray  again  organized  a  church,  with  45 
members,  who  purchased  a  stone  building  and  fitted  it  up  for  worship.  In 
1865  the  missionary  baptists  formed  a  church,  with  B.  M.  Adams  pastor, 
and  18  members,  who  in  1869  built  a  small  church  edifice.  In  1867  the 
Cumberland  presbyterians  organized  under  their  elders,  B.  F.  Moore, 
Stephen  Frazier,  and  J.  Blanchard.  In  187'2  the  presbyterians  were  organ 
ized  by  Shelden  Jackson,  J.  K.  Brewster  being  ruling  elder,  and  soon  built 
a  small  but  pleasant  church.  In  1874  or  1875  the  renowned  episcopal 
bishop,  Randall,  organized  that  church,  which  after  a  few  years  erected  a 
brick  edifice. 

The  public  schools  of  Canon  City  were  somewhat  late  in  securing  a 
proper  building,  which  was  not  erected  until  1880.  It  was  of  stone,  tine, 
and  commodious.  The  board  that  secured  the  bonds  for  its  erection  con 
sisted  of  Charles  E.  W'aldo  president,  Mrs  M.  M.  Sheets  secretary,  John 
Wrilson  treasurer.  The  fire  department  was  organized  in  Jan.  1879,  consist 
ing  of  the  Relief  Hook  and  Ladder  company  No.  1,  of  20  members.  The 
following  year  H.  A.  Reynolds  Hose  company  of  13  members  was  added  to 
the  department.  Mount  Moriah  lodge  No.  15  of  masons  was  instituted  in 
Nov.  1867,  under  a  dispensation  of  Henry  M.  Teller,  M.  W.  G.  Master  of 
Colorado,  and  chartered  Oct.  7,  1868.  In  1881  there  were  72  members. 
Canon  City  lodge  No.  7  of  odd  fellows  was  instituted  Nov.  10,  1868,  the  first 
lodge  south  of  the  divide.  It  had  in  1881  46  members.  Grand  Canon  En 
campment  No.  18,  July  29,  1881.  The  united  workmen  organized  Royal 
George  Lodge,  No.  7,  June  25,  1881,  with  24  members. 

Canon  City  was  incorporated  April  1,  1872.  In  1879  a  board  of  trade  was 
organized,  which  greatly  assisted  the  city  government  in  purifying  morals  by 
forcing  out  of  town  certain  disreputable  characters,  a  function  which,  if  un- 


394  PROGRESS  OF  SETTLEMENT. 

1860.  It  was  recorded  by  B.  H.  Bolin,  and  was 
taken  previous  to  the  organization  of  the  claim  club, 
whose  constitution  was  dated  March  13,  I860.12  The 
pretensions  of  Canon  City  to  become  the  metropolis 
of  the  future  state  were  founded  similarly  to  these  of 
Colorado  City,  and  were  rendered  nugatory  by  the 
same  causes.  The  first  company  surveyed  a  road  to 
the  Tarry  all  mines,  setting  up  mile  posts  the  whole 
distance  of  eighty  miles.  A  large  part  of  the  immi 
gration  of  1860  took  this  route  to  the  mines,  and 
Canon  City  enjoyed  for  a  year  or  two  a  prosperous 
growth;  and  there,  for  the  time,  it  ended.13 

In  the  winter  of  1859-60  the  American  town  of 
Pueblo  was  laid  off,  on  the  site  of  the  abandoned 
Pueblo  of  Mexican  times,  by  a  company  composed  of 

usual  for  such  a  board,  proved  beneficial.  In  Dec.  of  that  year  a  joint  stock 
company  was  organized,  with  a  capital  of  $50,000,  to  construct  water  works, 
consisting  of  James  Clelland,  James  H.  Peabody,  George  R.  Shaeffer,  Ira 
Mulock,  August  Heckscher,  Wilbur  K.  Johnson,  David  Caird,  and  O.  G. 
Stanley.  On  July  9,  1881,  was  laid  the  corner  stone  of  the  court  house,  a 
handsome  edifice,  the  county  commissioners  managing  the  business  being 
Edwin  Tobach,  Louis  Muehlbach,  and  Joseph  J.  Phelps;  also  of  the  masonic 
temple,  another  fine  structure — both  of  brick.  In  1881  there  were  25  stores 
in  Canon  City,  well  stocked,  some  carrying  a  trade  of  over  $300,000  an 
nually,  besides  shops  of  all  kinds. 

12  This  claim  was  taken  on  the  north  side  of  the  Arkansas   river,  on  a 
creek  whose  name  is  not  given.     Two  brothers  named  Costans  took  claims 
on  the  south  side,  7  miles  below  Caiion  City.     On  the  record  they  were  de 
scribed  as  'situated  in  Mexico.'     The  names  of  M.  V.  B.  Coffin  and  B.  F. 
Allen  occur  among  the  inhabitants  of  Canon  City  precinct  in  1860. 

13  Towns  and  settlements  of  Fremont  county,  besides  those  mentioned, 
are  Badger,  Barnard  Creek,  Carlisle  Springs,  Clelland,  Coal  Junction,  Copper 
Gulch,  Cotopaxi,  Fairy,   Fidler,  Florence,  Galena,  Galena  Basin,  Glendale, 
Grape  Creek  Junction,  Greenwood,  Hayden,  Hayden  Creek,  Haydenville, 
Hillsdale,  Howards,  Juniper,  Labran,  Lake,  Marsh,  Mining  Camp,  New  Chi 
cago,  Oak  Creek,  Parkdale,  Park  Station,  Pleasant  Valley,  Rockvale,  Sales- 
burgh,  Spike  Buck,  Texas,  Texas  Creek,    Titusville,  Tomichi,   Twelve  Mile 
Bridge,    Vallie,  Webster,  Williamsburgh,  and  Yorkville.     Among  the  con 
tributors  to  this  part  of  my  work  are  Eugene  Weston,  W.  A.  Helm,    and 
Anson  S.  Rudd.     Weston  was  born  in  Maine  in  1805,  and  came  to  Colorado 
in  18b'0,  and  to  Canon  City  the  same  year,  where  I  found  him  in  1884.     He 
is  the  author  of  The  Colorado  Mines,  MS.,  treating  of  placers  and  early  trans 
portation.     Helm  was  born  in  Pa  in  1831.     After  migrating  to  several  of  the 
western  states,  he  came  to  Colorado  in  1860,  and  in  1861  settled  in  Canon 
City  with  his  family.     On  the  '  resurrection  '  of  that  town  he  opened  a  hotel. 
He  is    the  author  of   The  Gate  of  the  Mountain,  MS.,  well  filled  with  reminis 
cences.     Rudd,  who  furnished  Early  Affairs  in  Canon  City,  MS.,  and  whose 
account  forms  the  basis  of    early  history  here,  was  born  in  Erie  co.,  Pa,  in 
1819,  and  after  learning  the  printer's  trade  visited  Kansas,  Mexico,  and  Cal 
ifornia,  coming  to  Colorado  in  1860,  and  settling  at  Canon  City.     How  he 
acted  his  part  as  pioneer,  I  have  said, 


PUEBLO.  395 

Belt,  Catterson,  Cyrus  Warren,  Ed.  Cozzens,  J. 
Wright,14  Albert  Bearcaw,  W.  H.  Green,  and  others. 
It  was  surveyed  by  Buell  and  Boyd,  who  laid  it  out 
on  a  broad  scale,  and  the  former  name  was  retained. 
It  did  not  at  first,  however,  extend  over  the  bottom 
land  in  front  of  the  town  subsequent  additions  hav 
ing  been  made  by  other  companies  and  railroad  cor 
porations.15 

14 Stone's  Gen.  View,  MS.,  19.  Wright  built  the  first  house  in  Pueblo,  on 
the  corner  of  Front  street  and  Santa  Fe  avenue.  Dr  Catterson's  cabin  was 
on  Second  street,  near  the  avenue.  The  first  family  in  Pueblo  was  that  of 
Aaron  Sims,  and  the  second  that  of  Josiah  F.  Smith.  Jack  Allen  opened  a 
small  grocery  and  drinking  saloon.  A  stock  of  other  goods  was  opened  in  a 
Btore  on  Santa  Fe  avenue,  over  which  Dr  Cattersoii  presided,  and  the  town 
•was  launched  upon  the  sea  of  commerce.  Emory  Young,  son  of  W.  H. 
Young,  was  the  tirst  male  child  born  in  Pueblo,  and  Hattie  Smith  the  first 
girl,  fi ice's  Politico  in  Pueblo,  MS.,  1;  Rudd's  Early  Affairs  in  Canon  City,  MS.; 
Westons  Colorado  Mines,  MS.;  Helm's  Gate  of  the  Mountains,  MS. 

15  Of  the  pioneers  of  Arkansas  valley  the  f  ollowing  mention  may  be  made 
in  this  place  ;  Harry  Youngblood  came  out  with  Robert  Middletoii,  and  went 
tinder  an  assumed  name  from  some  connection  he  was  alleged  to  have  had 
with  the  death  of  Joseph  Smith,  the  founder  of  Mormonism.  George  \V. 
Hepburn,  a  native  of  N.  Y.,  in  1855  went  to  Omaha,  where  he  owned  an  in 
terest  first  in  the  Nebraskian,  and  then  in  the  Times.  In  1867  he  settled  in 
Pueblo,  where  he  started,  in  1871,  a  newspaper  called  The  People.  Charles 
Nachtrieb,  a  German,  brought  a  small  stock  of  goods  to  Colorado  in  1859. 
Jesse  Frazer,  from  Mo.,  settled  in  the  spring  of  1860  on  the  Arkansas,  8 
miles  below  Canon  City,  and  was  the  first  to  turn  a  furrow  in  that  region,  which 
he  did  with  a  forked  cotton  wood  limb.  Reuben  J.  Frazier,  a  native  of  Ind., 
started  a  farm  in  the  upper  Arkansas  valley  in  the  spring  of  I860. 

There  are  many  more  pioneers,  known  and  unknown,  of  1859.  Of  those 
of  whom  something  is  on  record,  not  elsewhere  mentioned,  are  the  follow 
ing:  Lewis  W.  Berry,  a  capt.  in  the  Mexican  war,  was  born  in  N.  Y.,  mined 
at  Central  City,  and  finally  settled  at  Idaho  Springs.  Corbit  Bacon,  born  in 
N.  Y.,  erected  a  plank  house  with  a  shake  roof  in  Denver  in  the  winter  of 
1858-9,  and  went  to  Central  City  in  the  spring.  John  W.  Edwards,  a  Welsh 
man,  resided  at  Idaho  springs.  Then  there  were  Thomas  Cooper,  an  English 
man,  miner;  David  D.  Strock  of  Ohio,  miner.  Anthony  Tucker,  from  Pa, 
set  up  a  saw  mill  engine  for  Bentley  and  Bayard  of  Central  City — the  first 
steam  mill  in  Colorado;  Andrew  H.  Spickerman,  from  N.  Y.,  stock  raiser  on 
Turkey  creek.  D.  D.  Mcllvoy,  from  Ky,  farmer  and  miner;  Frank  J.  Wood, 
from  Chico,  opened  the  first  drug  store  in  Georgetown;  William  M.  Allen, 
of  New  Brunswick,  farmer;  Joseph  S.  Beaman,  from  Germany,  brewer, 
Central  City;  Reuben  C.  Wells,  from  111.,  purchased  the  Golden  Paper  mill, 
the  first  establishment  of  the  kind  in  the  state;  Jay  Sternberg,  from  N.  Y., 
erected  the  Boulder  City  Flouring  mills  in  1872;  Hiram  Buck,  from  Ohio, 
farmer;  August  Burk,  a  Swede,  opened  a  bakery  in  Denver  in  1859;  Wil 
liam  Arbuthnot  from  Pa,  farmer;  Norman  R.  Howard,  from  111.,  farmer; 
Robert  Niver,  a  native  of  N.  Y.,  farmer;  Henry  B.  Ludlow,  from  Ohio, 
farmer;  Thomas  J.  Jones,  born  in  111.,  merchant;  John  Reese,  from  Pa,  far 
mer;  L.  A.  Williams,  from  Vt,  erected  a  steam  saw  mill  at  Denver;  George 
C.  Griffin,  born  in  Ct,  farmer;  Edwin  Lobach,  bora  in  Pa,  freighter  and 
farmer;  Henry  Burnett,  from  Mass,  farmer;  Francis  R.  Ford,  from  Maine, 
miner  and  farmer;  B,  F.  Sahaffer,  from  Pa,  carpenter;  Robert  L.  Lambert, 


396  PROGRESS  OF  SETTLEMENT. 

Late  in  the  autumn  a  party  of  prospectors  consist 
ing  of  C.  F.  Wilson,  RafFerty,  Stevens,  Abram  Lee, 
Currier,  Slater,  and  two  others,  crossed  the  range  on 
the  west  of  South  park,  and  discovered  good  dig 
gings  in  a  gulch  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Arkansas, 
river,  which  they  named  California,16  and  which  at 
tracted  thousands  to  that  locality  1T  in  the  spring  fol 
lowing.  The  first  house  erected  in  the  new  mines 
was  on  the  present  site  of  Leadville,  and  the  place 
was  called  Oro  City.  The  post-office,  which  was  es 
tablished  at  this  place,  being  removed  in  1871  two 
and  a  half  miles  up  the  gulch,  the  name  followed  it, 
and  Oro  City  left  its  first  location  open  for  subsequent 
development  by  other  town  locators.  California  gulch 
was  thickly  populated  for  six  miles,18  and  had  two  un 
important  towns  besides  ^Oro;  namely,  Malta  and 

freighter  and  stage  owner;  Aaron  Ripley,  from  Ohio  farmer;  Emmett  Nuckolls, 
a  native  of  Va,  stock  dealer,  N.  C.  Hickman,  born  in  Mo.,  miner;  David  Clark, 
born  in  111.,  stock  raiser;  Rufus  Shute,  a  native  of  N.  Y.,  cattle  raiser;  J 
W.  Lester,  born  in  Pa,  miner.  George  Rockafellow,  was  a  capt.  in  the 
6th  Mich,  cavalry  during  the  war,  and  served  afterward  under  Gen.  Conner 
in  the  Powder  river  expedition  against  the  Indians. 

16  Three  men  in    three  months   took  out  §60,000.    Westons    Colo   Mine*, 
MS.,  2. 

17  Among  the  first  were  H.  A.  W.  Tabor  and  wife,  S.  P.  Kellogg,  and  Na 
thaniel  Maxey.     They  came  up  the  Arkansas  from  Canon  City  with  an  ox- 
team,  and  encamped  a  month  at  Cache  creek,  where  Granite  city  now  is, 
finding  gold;  but  being  unable  to  separate  it  from  the  black  sand  without 
quicksilver,  of  which  they  had  none,  they  were  compelled  to  abandon  the 
diggings.     Word  then  came  from  the  discoverers  of  Cal.  gulch  to  move  up 
to  their  camp,  and  as  provisions  were  scarce,  the  oxen  had  to  be  killed.    The 
men  in  camp  soon  erected  a  cabin  for  Mrs  Tabor;  and  by  and  by  a  second 
woman,  Mrs  C.  L.  Hall,  came,  and  a  third,  Mrs  Bond,  whose  husband  after 
ward  became  blind.    Tabor's  Cabin  Life  in  Colorado,  MS.,  114.     Tabor  was 
afterward  elected  to  the  state  senate,  and  became  one  of  the  wealthiest  and 
most  prominent  citizens  of  Denver,  which  city  is  in  no  slight  measure  in 
debted  to  him  for  its  prosperity. 

18 Says  Wolfe  Londoner,  in  his  Colorado  Mining  Camps,  MS.,  7-.  *  Cali 
fornia  gulch,  in  1860  and  1861,  had  a  population  of  something  over  10.000, 
and  was  the  great  camp  of  Colorado.  It  was  strung  all  along  the  gulch,  which 
was  something  over  5  miles  long.  .  .  There  were  a  great  many  tents  in  the 
road  and  on  the  side  of  the  ridge,  and  the  wagons  were  backed  up,  the  people 
living  in  them.  Some  were  used  as  hotels.  They  had  their  grub  under  the 
wagons,  piled  their  dishes  there,  and  the  man  of  the  house  and  his  wife 
would  sleep  in  the  wagon.  Their  boarders  took  their  meals  off  tables  made  of 
rough  boards.  ...  Gamblers  had  tables  strung  along  the  wayside  to  take  in 
the  cheerful  but  unwary  miner.  The  game  that  took  the  most  was  three- 
card  monte. '  Indeed,  one  mining  camp  differed  little  from  another  in  this 
respect.  See  also  Chipleys  Twom,  MS.,  2;  Rand's  Guide  to  Colo,  30, 
JBayle's  Politics  and  Mining,  MS.,  3. 


ROADS  AND  DITCHES.  397 

Slabtown.  Twenty  miles  below,  on  the  Arkansas 
river,  the  town  of  Granite  was  started  not  long  after, 
rich  mines  being  at  this  place,  which  were  first  dis 
covered  by  H.  A.  W.  Tabor,  in  the  spring  of  1860. 
They  required  quicksilver  in  separating  the  gold  from 
the  black  sand,  and  were  afterward  owned  by  Bailey 
and  Gaff  of  Cincinnati.19 

During  the  summer  of  1860  gold  was  discovered  in 
Frying  Pan  gulch,  at  the  base  of  Mount  Massive, 
opposite  the  mouth  of  California  gulch,  by  C.  F. 
Wilson,  the  diggings  receiving  their  name  from  the 
circumstance  of  a  frying  pan  being  used  to  pan  out 
the  first  metal.  These  mines  did  not  prove  of  much 
value  until  1863,  when  the  name  was  changed  to  Col 
orado  gulch.  Chalk  creek  mines  were  also  discov 
ered  this  season  by  Stephen  B.  Kellogg  and  others. 
A  pretended  discovery  was  made  in  1860  in  the  San 
Juan  country  by  one  Baker,  which  drew  1,000  per 
sons  to  that  region,  who  found  no  gold,  although  it 
was  there,  as  subsequent  exploration  and  development 
proved. 

Some  improvements  were  made  in  1859  in  the 
matter  of  roads  and  mining  ditches.  There  was  a 
road  from  Denver  into  the  mountains  via  Golden 
Gate,  and  another  via  Bradford ;  also  one  into  South 
park,  via  Mount  Vernon  and  Bergeri's  raricho,  under 
construction.  Three  others  were  surveyed,  the  St 
Vrain,  Golden,  and  Colorado  wagon  road,  and  the 
roads  into  South  park  via  Canon  arid  Colorado  cities. 
A  mining  ditch  eleven  miles  long  was  constructed  at 
Missouri  flats  by  a  company  of  which  W.  Green  Rus 
sell  was  president.  Boulder,  South  Boulder,  and 
Four  Mile  creeks  were  diverted  from  their  channels 
for  some  distance. 

19  Some  of  the  pioneers  on  the  head  waters  of  the  Arkansas  were  the  fol 
lowing:  Samuel  Arbuthnot,  from  Pa;  David  C.  Dargin,  from  Me;  Robert 
Berry,  from  Ohio;  Charles  F.  Wilson,  from  Ky;  Charles  L.  Hall,  from  N.  Y.; 
John  Riling,  from  Ohio;  George  W.  Huston,  from  Pa;  and  Philo  N.  Weston, 
from  N.  Y. 


398  PROGRESS  OF  SETTLEMENT. 

Those  who  returned  to  the  states  carried  reports 
sufficiently  confirmed  by  the  gold  they  exhibited  to 
re-arouse  the  gold  fever,  causing  an  immigration  the 
following  summer  equal  to,  if  riot  exceeding,  that  of 
1859.'°  The  settlements  already  founded  were  greatly 
enlarged,  and  new  ones  made,  both  in  the  mining  and 
agricultural  districts.21  Over  the  600  miles  of  road 
from  the  Missouri  to  the  mountains,  a  stream  of  ma 
terial  wealth  rolled,  which  was  expected  to  flow  back 
again  in  a  stream  of  gold  dust  a  few  months  later. 
Contrary  to  the  usual  practice  of  the  eastern  journals, 
the  New  York  Tribune  contributed  to  the  furore  for 
emigration  to  the  mines  by  advertising  Colorado  cli 
mate  and  scenery  in  terms  of  lavish  praise,  its  editor- 
in-chief,  Horace  Greeley,  and  others  of  its  staff  having 
visited  the  mountains  in  1859,  at  which  time  Greeley 

™Sopris'  Settlement  of  Denver,  MS.,  3.  By  the  middle  of  July  an  arastra 
was  running  at  the  mouth  of  Gregory  gulch,  owned  by  Lehmer,  Laughlin, 
and  Peck,  which  was  the  pioneer  quartz  mill  in  Colorado.  In  September 
Prosser,  Conklin,  and  co.  had  a  small  steam  stamp  mill  in  operation.  The 
following  month  there  were  five  arastras  running  on  north  Clear  creek,  and 
two  small  wooden  stamp  mills,  all  operated  by  water  power.  Another  steam, 
mill,  belonging  to  Coleman,  Le  Fevre,  and  co.,  started  up  the  same  month- 
but  broke  dowix,  and  took  a  month  for  repairs.  When  it  started  again,  how 
ever,  running  on  Gunnell  quartz,  it  produced  1,442  pennyweights  of  gold  in 
seven  days,  the  rock  being  taken  out  at  a  depth  of  fifty-six  feet.  At  the 
depth  of  seventy-six  feet,  fifteen  tons  of  rock  yielded  $1,700.  A  rude  three- 
stamp  quartz  mill,  owned  by  T.  J.  Graham,  was  in  operation  at  Gold  hill 
during  the  summer,  and  a  large  mill,  run  by  water,  was  erected  there  in  the 
autumn.  Where  no  mills  had  been  erected,  miners  were  busy  getting  out 
ore  for  those  that  were  expected  to  be  built  the  coming  spring.  As  winter 
approached,  many,  under  the  impression  that  mining  in  the  cold  season  would 
be  impracticable,  returned  to  their  former  homes  to  spend  the  interval  in 
more  comfortable  quarters,  and  prepare  for  future  enterprises;  but  many 
there  were  who  stayed  by  their  claims  in  the  mountains,  fortifying  them 
selves  against  the  expected  cold  by  banking  up  the  earth  around  their 
cabins,  and  filling  them  with  a  store  of  provisions  sufficient  to  outlast  the 
anticipated  snow  blockade,  which  never  came.  Some  mining  was  carried  on 
throughout  the  entire  season,  even  in  the  mountains,  and  there  was  almost 
uninterrupted  travel,  to  the  surprise  and  delight  of  the  imperfectly  sheltered 
inhabitants  of  the  different  towns. 

21  At  the  close  of  1860  there  were  71  steam  quartz  mills  in  the  Clear  creek 
region  running  609  stamps,  of  an  average  weight  of  416  pounds;  and  38 
water  mills,  with  230  stamps,  weighing  352  pounds,  besides  50  arastras,  the 
total  power  employed  being  equal  to  960  horse  power.  In  the  Boulder  region 
there  were  four  steam  mills,  five  water  mills,  and  29  arastras,  equalling  150 
horse  power.  South  park  and  California  gulch  had  also  a  number  of  mills 
and  arastras  in  1860.  Collins'  Rocky  Mountain  Gold  Reyion,  51-3.  This  is  an 
emigrant's  guide,  containing  tables  of  distances,  maps,  and  a  business  direc 
tory,  with  information  cencerning  mining  and  a  miner's  outfit. 


OVERLAND  TRAFFIC.  399 

extended  his  visit  to  Nevada  and  California,  Fortun 
ately  for  the  prosperity  of  Colorado  at  this  period, 
there  was  nothing  to  interrupt  the  influx  of  people  or 
property.  The  freight  trains  of  Russell  and  Majors 
dragged  their  winding  length  along  the  Arkansas  or 
Smoky  hill  route  day  after  day,  bringing  cargoes  of 
goods,  which  were  stored  at  their  depots  and  sold  to 
retail  merchants  on  their  own  account,22  or  carrying 
the  goods  of  others.  Many  thousand  wagons  stretched 
in  a  continuous  line  along  the  Platte  also,  from  its 
mouth  to  its  source.23  Prices  were  necessarily  high, 
and  likewise  high  because  everybody  who  had  any 
thing  to  sell  desired  to  become  rich  out  of  it  without 
loss  of  time.  Mail  facilities  were  introduced,  and 
more  quickly  than  could  have  been  anticipated  corre 
spondence  with  the  east  became  established.24  On 
the  4th  of  March,  1860,  Kehler  and  Montgomery 
started  a  line  of  coaches  from  Denver  to  the  mining 

22  Helm's  Gate  of  the  Mountains,  MS.,  2;  Aux'  Mining  in  Colo,  MS.,  6-7. 

"According  to  Davis,  Hist,  Colo,  MS.,  there  were  between  8,000  and 
10,000  men  of  the  freighting  class,  mostly  drivers,  in  Colorado,  whom  he  de 
scribes  as  '  turbulent  fellows,  spending  most  of  their  leisure  and  all  of  their 
money  in  saloons.' 

'•^Besides  the  many  who  travelled  with  conveyances  of  their  own,  there 
were  some  who  took  passage  with  transportation  companies,  of  which  Russell 
and  Majors,  of  St  Joseph,  were  the  chief  firm.  This  company  organized  a 
line  of  stages  in  the  spring  of  1859,  the  first  coach  for  Denver  leaving  Leav- 
enworth  March  9th,  carrying  the  mail.  They  called  themselves  the  Leaven- 
worth  and  Pike's  Peak  Express  company,  and  charged  an  extra  postage  of 
25  cents  on  a  letter,  having  post  offices  of  their  own  at  Auraria  and  other 
towns.  The  postmaster  at  Leavenworth  was  directed  to  deliver  all  mail 
matter  for  Pike's  peak  to  the  express  company  so  long  as  they  would  carry 
it  without  expense  to  the  government.  Nelson  Sargent  was  superintendent 
of  this  company.  He  resigned  in  the  autumn.  In  the  winter  of  1859-60  a 
charter  was  obtained  from  the  Kansas  legislature  incorporating  the  Central 
Overland  California  and  Pike's  Peak  Express  company,  which  was  a  reorgan 
ization  of  the  former  company,  the  principal  men  in  it  being  William  H. 
Russell,  John  S.  Jones,  William  B.  Waddell,  Luther  R.  Srnoot,  Alexander 
Majors,  and  J.  B.  Simpson.  The  route  pursued  by  the  express  companies  in 
1859  was  via  the  Smoky  hill  fork  of  the  Kansas  river,  on  the  line  adopted 
by  the  Kansas  Pacific  railroad.  I  have  already  given  the  history-  of  the  Cal 
ifornia  and  Salt  Lake  mail  in  my  Nevada.  Chorpening  owned  the  line  in 
conjunction  with  Holladay.  In  the  winter  of  1859-60  the  fertile  brains  of 
W.  H.  Russell  and  B.  F.  Ficklen,  president  and  superintendent  of  the  C.  O. 
and  P.  P.  Express  co.,  conceived  a  plan  of  rapid  communication  with  the 
Pacific  coast  and  intermediate  points  by  means  of  the  pony  express,  and  hav 
ing  prepared  the  stations,  started  out  their  first  pony,  April  3,  1860,  from  St 
Joseph.  The  route  connected  with  the  mail  near  Atchison,  passing  through 
Troy  aiid  Maryoville  to  Fort  Kearny,  keeping  on  the  south  side  of  the  Platte 


400  PROGRESS  OF  SETTLEMENT. 

camps.  Iii  May,  Sowers  and  company  established  a 
line,  and  in  June  the  Western  Stage  company  another, 
all  together  being  insufficient  to  carry  the  increasing 
crowd  of  passengers.  To  this  point  of  progress  had 
the  Pike's  peak  region  arrived  in  its  second  year  of 
growth. 

to  Julesburg,  where  it  sent  a  branch  to  Denver,  crossing  to  the  north  side  of 
the  Platte,  and  continuing  to  Salt  Lake,  via  Scott  Bluff,  Fort  Laramie,  and 
Fort  Bridger.  From  Salt  Lake  it  followed  the  route  by  Ruby  valley  and 
Carson  to  Sacramento,  California.  The  success  of  this  enterprise  caused  the 
transfer  of  the  C.  0.  and  P.  P's  stages  and  freight  wagons  to  this  route;  and 
the  successful  operations  of  this  company  on  the  central  route  is  said  by  its 
friends  to  have  led  to  its  adoption  by  the  first  overland  railroad.  It  demon 
strated  that  it  could  be  travelled  in  winter,  which  had  hitherto  been  doubted; 
but  it  was  the  attitude  of  the  southern  states,  more  than  anything,  which 
caused  the  central  route  to  be  adopted.  These  causes  together,  in  the  sum 
mer  of  1861,  caused  the  transfer  of  the  overland  mail  from  the  southern  or 
Butterfield  route  to  the  Platte  route.  In  that  year,  also,  the  Overland  Mail 
co.  purchased  the  interest  of  Chorpening  in  the  -western  half  of  the  overland 
route.  Later  in  the  year  the  C.  O.  and  P.  P.  Express  company  and  pony 
express  were  sold  to  Ben  Holladay,  the  western  half  being  retained  by  the 
Overland  Mail,  under  the  management  of  Fred  Cook,  Jacob  King,  H.  S. 
Rumfield,  general  agent  and  superintendent.  Holladay  afterward  secured 
mail  contracts  through  the  north-west . 


CHAPTER  V. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  GOVERNMENT. 
1858-1861. 

BLEEDING  KANSAS— REPRESENTATIVE  FROM  ARAPAHOE  COUNTY — PROVIS 
IONAL  GOVERNMENT — TERRITORY  OR  STATE  OF  JEFFERSON — ELECTIONS 
AND  CONVENTIONS — GOVERNOR  STEELE — DIVERS  GOVERNMENTS — POPU 
LAR  TRIBUNALS — THE  TURKEY  WAR — SQUATTERS — THE  NAME  COLO 
RADO — TERRITORIAL  ORGANIZATION — GILPIN,  GOVERNOR — BOUNDARIES 
— CONDITION  OF  THE  COUNTRY — SEAL — MINT — LEGISLATIVE  PROCEED 
INGS — GILPIN 's  MILITARY  OPERATIONS — THE  COLORADO  REGIMENTS  IN 
THE  CIVIL  WAR. 

WHILE  gold  was  the  spirit  of  the  mountain  miner's 
dreams,  there  was  a  desperate  political  struggle  going 
on  in  Kansas  between  the  advocates  of  free  soil  and 
slave  soil.  There  were  alternating  territorial  legisla 
tures  and  state  legislatures,  and  it  was  a  question 
under  which  form  of  government  the  people  were 
living.  If  Kansas  were  a  territory  it  extended  to  the 
summit  of  the  Rocky  range,  and  embraced  the  Pike's 
peak  country.  If  it  were  a  state,  its  western  bound 
ary  did  not  reach  within  three  degrees  of  the  historic 
mountain. 

The  little  handful  of  Americans  gathered  at  Au- 
raria  in  the  autumn  of  1858,  with  that  facility  for 
politics  which  distinguishes  our  people,  took  into  con 
sideration  these  questions  as  affecting  their  future,  and 
proceeded  in  a  characteristic  manner  to  meet  the  diffi 
culty.  A  mass  meeting  was  held  to  organize  a  county, 
to  be  named  Arapahoe,  after  one  of  the  plains  tribes 
of  Indians,  with  the  county  seat  at  Auraria ;  and  an 
informal  election  was  held  for  a  representative  from 
this  county  to  proceed  to  the  capital  of  Kansas  and 

HIST.  NEV.    26  (401) 


402  ORGANIZATION  OF  GOVERNMENT. 

procure  the  sanction  of  the  legislature  to  its  establish 
ment,  the  representative  chosen  being  A.  J.  Smith.  He 
was  not  admitted  to  the  Kansas  legislative  body,  but 
was  successful  in  his  mission,  Governor  Denver,  with 
out  waiting  for  the  action  of  the  legislature,  appoint 
ing  county  commissioners,  who  proceeded  at  once 
to  the  performance  of  their  duties. x  The  county  be 
ing  divided  into  twenty-three  precincts  or  districts, 

ll  find  that  all  the  writers  who  mention  this  subject  speak  of  Arapahoe 
county  as  having  been  actually  established,  which  was  not  the  case.  An 
other  error  is  apparent,  the  date  of  Smith's  election  being  given  as  Nov.  6th 
in  Hollfeters  Mines  of  Colorado,  18;  Colorado  Gazetteer,  1870,  24;  and  Corbett's 
Directory  of  Mines^  38;  while  in  the  History  of  Denver,  631,  the  commissioners 
appointed  by  Gov.  Denver  are  represented  as  arriving  Nov.  12th,  6  days 
after  the  election.  Probably  Smith  was  sent  on  his  errand  some  time  in  ad 
vance  of  Graham,  whose  mission  was  an  afterthought.  Denver,  comprehend 
ing  the  situation  of  the  miners  600  miles  from  law,  with  no  chance  of  an 
organization  by  the  legislature  for  several  months,  simply  commissioned  H. 
P.  A.  Smith  probate  judge,  and  appointed  for  county  commissioners  E.  "YV. 
Wynkoop,  Hickory  Rogers,  and  Joseph  L.  McCubbin — see  Clear  Creek  and 
Boulder  Vol.  Hist..  468— persons  about  to  start  for  the  mines.  There  was 
no  other  organization  than  this  informal  one  of  Arapahoe  county,  Kansas. 
The  legislature  Feb.  7,  1859,  passed  an  act  creating  5  counties;  namely, 
Montana,  in  which  Denver  was  situated,  El  Paso,  Oro,  Broderick,  and  Fre 
mont  out  of  the  mountain  region  where  gold  might  be  found.  Montana 
county  began  on  the  40th  parallel,  20  miles  east  of  the  105th  meridian,  and 
embraced  the  territory  south  to  within  20  miles  of  the  39th  parallel,  and  west 
to  the  summit  of  the  Rocky  mountains.  Oro  county  lay  in  an  oblong  shape 
east'of  Montana,  and  also  El  Paso,  which  was  south  of  Montana.  Broderick 
county  lay  south  of  Oro  and  El  Paso;  and  Fremont  took  in  the  South  park 
and  all  the  territory  west  of  Broderick  and  El  Paso  to  the  summits  of  the 
Rocky  mountains.  The  commissioners  appointed  were  J.  H.  Tarney,  Wil 
liam  H.  Prentice,  and  A.  D.  Richardson  for  Montana  county;  D,  Newcomb, 
William  J.  King,  and  George  McGee  for  Oro  county;  Simon  C.  Gephart,  W. 
Walters,  and  Charles  Nichols  for  Broderick ;  T.  C.  Dixon,  A.  G.  Patrick,  and 
T.  L.  Whitney  for  Fremont;  and  William  EL.  Green,  G.  W.  Allison,  and 
William  O.  Donnell  for  El  Paso.  The  commissioners  were  required  to  es 
tablish  the  county  seats,  and  to  offer  for  sale  by  public  notice  200  lots  in 
each  of  these  towns,  the  proceeds  of  which  should  be  applied  to  liquidating 
the  expenses  of  location,  any  excess  over  expenses  to  be  paid  into  the  county 
treasury.  They  were  also  required  to  call  an  election  for  county  officers  at 
as  early  a  day  as  practicable,  the  officers  elected,  in  view  of  the  distance 
from  the  capital,  being  authorized  to  qualify  and  proceed  to  the  discharge  of 
their  duties  before  being  commissioned.  The  county  commissioners  were 
to  be  paid  $5  per  day  and  expenses  for  their  whole  term  of  9  months,  but 
the  money  was  to  come  from  the  sale  of  the  lots  before  mentioned,  from 
which  arrangement  it  may  be  inferred  that  not  more  than  one,  if  any,  could 
have  received  full  payment.  Kansas  Laws,  1859,  57-60.  Whether  on  this 
account  or  some  other  it  does  not  appear  that  these  counties  were  organized; 
but  at  the  election  of  March  28,  1859,  the  following  officers  of  Arapahoe 
county,  having  no  legal  existence,  were  chosen:  probate  judge  'S.  W. 
Wagoner,  sheriff  D.  D.  Cook,  treasurer  John  L.  Hiffner,  register  of  deeds 
J.  S.  Lowrie,  prosecuting  attorney  Marshall  Cook,  auditor  W.  W.  Hooper, 
assessor  Ross  Hutchins,  coroner  C.  M.  Steinberger,  supervisors  L.  J.  Win 
chester,  H.  Rogers,  R.  S.  Wooten,  clerk  of  supervisors  Levi  Ferguson. 
Byers'  Hist.  Colo,  MS.,  49, 


TERRITORY  OF  JEFFERSON.  403 

sheriff  and  other  officers  were  chosen  for  the  time 
from  among  the  population  of  the  county. 

On  reflection,  and  in  view  of  the  peculiar  situation 
of  Kansas,  the  politicians  of  Auraria  conceived  the 
idea  of  a  separate  government  under  the  name  of  the 
Territory  of  Jefferson,  and  on  the  6th  of  November 
elected  Hiram  J.  Graham  and  Albert  Steinberger 
delegates  to  proceed  to  Washington  with  a  petition 
to  effect  this  object.  Graham  was  from  New  York, 
but  had  lived  in  Illinois  and  was  one  of  the  pro 
jectors  of  Pacific  City,  Iowa,  from  which  place  he 
went  to  the  Pike's  peak  country.  He  was  a  man  of 
excellent  traits  and  fair  ability,  but  not  likely  to  carry 
out  so  extraordinary  a  scheme  as  that  on  which  he 
was  bent,  of  persuading  congress  to  erect  a  territory 
in  the  Rocky  mountains  to  oblige  a  few  hundred  per 
sons  who  did  not  yet  know  of  any  gold  diggings  of 
much  value,  whatever  their  faith  that  they  should 
find  them.  Graham  gained  nothing  by  his  delegate- 
ship  but  an  enlarged  experience  of  the  ways  of  con 
gressmen  and  the  machinery  of  government.  Stein 
berger  was  a  young  man,  and  dropped  out  of  the 
delegation  at  Omaha.  He  was  afterward  king  of  a 
group  of  islands  in  the  Pacific,  but  was  deposed  by  a 
British  man-of-war. 

During  the  winter  the  isolated  community  of  Ara- 
pahoe  county  governed  itself  without  friction,  by  the 
observance  of  some  simple  regulations,  and  the  au 
thority  of  their  chosen  magistrates;  but  on  the  28th 
of  March,  1860,  an  election  was  held,  under  the  laws 
of  Kansas,  for  the  choosing  of  county  officers.  There 
were  774  votes  polled,  the  population  having  increased 
at  least  500  since  the  last  election.  Continuing  to 
increase  rapidly,  a  public  meeting  was  held  on  the 
llth  of  April  at  Auraria,  which  resolved  that  the 
different  precints  should  be  requested  to  appoint  del 
egates  to  meet  in  convention  on  the  15th,  to  take  into 
consideration  the  propriety  of  organizing  a  state  or 
territory ;  arid  a  central  committee  was  appointed,  one 


404  ORGANIZATION  OF  GOVERNMENT. 

of  whose  duties  was  the  designation  of  as  many  new 
precincts  as  the  spreading  population  required. 

On  the  7th  of  May  an  address  was  issued  by  the 
\  committee,  appointing  an  election  on  the  first  Mon 
day  in  June,  to  choose  delegates  to  a  convention  to 
draft  a  constitution  for  the  state  of  Jefferson.  The 
election  was  held,  but  in  most  precincts  by  acclama 
tion  only,  no  returns  ever  being  made.  Fifty  dele 
gates  met  in  June,  inWooten's  hall,  Denver,  represent 
ing  thirteen  precincts.  W.  N.  Byers  was  chosen 
temporary  chairman  ;  but  on  the  permanent  organiza 
tion  of  the  convention,  S.  W.  Wagoner  was  made 
president,  Henry  Allen,  E.  P.  Stout,  R.  Sopris,  Levi 
Ferguson,  and  C.  B.  Patterson  vice-presidents, 
Thomas  Gibson  and  J.  J.  Shanley  clerks. 

After  a  two  days'  session,  in  which  the  chief  busi 
ness  transacted  was  the  appointment  of  committees 
to  draft  a  constitution,  it  adjourned  to  meet  again  on 
the  first  Monday  in  August,  the  long  interval  being 
taken  to  observe  the  course  of  events.  A.  F.  Garri 
son  was  chosen  president.  A  committee  was  ap 
pointed  by  the  convention  to  form  new  precincts,  so 
that  when  that  body  reassembled  there  were  present 
167  delegates,  representing  forty-six  precincts. 

The  convention  was  now  about  equally  divided  in 
favor  of  and  against  a  state  constitution,  and  discus 
sion  ran  high.  Three  sets  of  resolutions  were  offered, 
one  by  H.  P.  A.  Smith,  providing  that  the  conven 
tion  should  dissolve,  and  memorialize  congress  for  a 
territorial  organization ;  another  by  Beverly  D.  Wil 
liams,  providing  for  a  committee  to  report  to  the  con 
vention  on  the  expediency  of  forming  a  constitution, 
or  memorializing  congress;  and  a  third  by  S.  W. 
Beall,  in  favor  of  forming  a  constitution.  The  resolu 
tions  of  Smith  and  Beall  were  finally  withdrawn,  and 
Williams'  resolution  adopted.  A  committee  was  ap 
pointed,  a  majority  of  whose  members  reported  in 
favor  of  a  constitution.2 

*  Extracts  from  Early  Records,  MS.,  4-6.     Among  those  engaged  in  early 


CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION.  405 

The  convention  remained  in  session  one  week,  the 
constitution  of  the  state  of  Jefferson  being  formed, 
with  limits  similar  to  the  present  state  of  Colorado, 
It  was  submitted  to  the  people  on  the  first  Monday 
in  September,  with  the  alternative,  in  case  of  its  re 
jection,  that  an  election  should  be  held  in  October  to 
choose  a  delegate  to  congress,  who  should  endeavor  to 
have  the  gold  regions  set  off  in  a  territory  to  be  called 
Jefferson.  The  constitution  was  rejected  by  a  vote  of 
2,007  to  649,  demonstrating  by  the  lightness  of  the 
vote  that  gold,  and  not  politics,  absorbed  the  public 
mind. 

And  yet  there  was  a  party  which  found  time  to 
press  the  scheme  of  a  provisional  government,  and 
which  called  a  mass  meeting  at  Auraria  on  the  24th 
of  September  to  consider  the  subject.  An  address  to 
the  people  was  prepared,  requesting  them  at  the  Oc 
tober  election  to  vote  for  delegates  who  should  meet 
a  little  later  for  the  purpose  of  forming  an  independ 
ent  government.3 

The  election  took  place  on  the  5th  of  October,  when, 
owing  to  the  return  to  the  states  of  a  large  part  of  the 
population,  and  the  indifference  of  those  who  remained, 
only  about  8,000  votes  were  polled.  Beverly  D. 
Williams  was  chosen  delegate  to  congress,  and  Richard 
Sopris  representative  from  Arapahoe  county  to  the 
legislature  of  Kansas.  As  on  the  previous  attempt 
to  secure  a  hearing  in  congress,  Williams  accomplished 
nothing  more  than  to  impress  the  government  with 
the  pertinacity  of  this  far  off  and  ambitious  political 
bantling,  variously  known  as  Pike's  peak,  Arapahoe, 
county,  and  Jefferson  territory.  Sopris  was  given  a 
seat  in  the  Kansas  legislature,  Governor  Denver  hav- 

government  affairs  were:  E.  H.  N.  Patterson,  delegate  from  Left  Hand 
creek,  born  in  Va,  and  was  at  one  time  formerly  editor  of  the  Placer  Times, 
of  .Sacramento,  in  California  early  days,  and  again  of  the  Georgetown  Miner 
10  years  afterward;  Charles  C.  Post,,  miner  and  lawyer  from  Missouri  gulch; 
George  M.  Chilcott,  and  I.  J.  Pollock. 

3  The  leaders  in  this  movement  were  Frank  De  La  Mar,  S.  W.  Wagoner, 
B.  D.  Williams,  G.  M.  Willing,  A.  Sagendorf,  H.  P.  A.  Smith,  Henry  Allen, 
&ad  M.  C,  Fisher.  Byers'  Hint.  Colo,  MS.,  55, 


406  ORGANIZATION  OF  GOVERNMENT. 

ing  issued  a  proclamation  to  the  voters  of  Arapahoe 
county  to  elect  a  representative — although  no  such 
county  was  known  to  that  body.* 

According  to  the  plans  arranged  by  the  provisional 
government  or  territorial  party,  the  election  of  their 
delegates  took  place,  and  on  the  10th  of  October  the 
convention  met  at  Auraria,  when  eighty-six  were 
found  to  be  present.  They  adopted  a  constitution  and 
proceeded  to  district  the  mining  region,  providing  for 
a  legislature  consisting  of  eight  councilnien,  and 
twenty-  one  representatives.  An  election  was  ordered 
for  the  24th,  to  choose  a  governor,  secretary,  members 
of  the  legislature,  and  other  territorial  officers,  which 
was  done  with  one  unimportant  exception,  the  vote 
standing  about  1,800  to  300.  R  W.  Steele  was 
elected  governor  of  the  territory  of  Jefferson,  and 
Lucian  W.  Bliss  secretary.  Steele's  message  was 
creditable,  and  so  was  the  action  of  the  legislature, 
which  met  on  the  7th  of  November  and  lasted  forty 
days,  during  which  many  general  and  special  laws 
were  passed.  Among  the  latter  was  a  charter  for  the 
city  of  Denver.  Nine  counties  were  organized,  for 
which  probate  judges  were  appointed  by  the  governor, 
to  hold  until  the  first  county  elections  in  January 
I860.5  A  tax  of  one  dollar  per  capita  was  levied  to 
defray  expenses;  and  the  assembly  adjourned  to  the 
23d  of  January. 

4  In  Sopris,  Settlement  of  Denver,  MS.,  13,  he  says  that  he  obtained  a 
charter  for  a  ditch  to  bring  the  -water  of  the  Platte  into  Denver,  which  was 
perpetual,  the  city  of  Denver  owning  it;  that  he  also  obtained  charters  for 
roads,  banking,  insurance,  and  telegraph  companies,  and  much  necessary 
legislation  of  like  character. 

5 The  other  officers  of  the  provisional  government  were:  C.  R.  Bissell, 
auditor;  R.  L.  Wooten,  treasurer;  Samuel  McLean,  attorney-general;  Oscar 
B.  Totten,  clerk  of  sup.  court;  A.  J.  Allison,  chief  justice;  S.  J.  Johnson  and 
L,  AV.  Borton,  associate  justices;  Hickory  Rogers,  marshal;  H.  H.  McAfee, 
supfc  of  public  instruction.  The  members  of  the  council  from  the  8  council 
districts  were  N.  G.  Wyatt,  Henry  Allen,  Eli  Carter,  Mark  A.  Moore,  J.  M. 
Wood,  James  Emmerson,  W.  D.  Arnett,  D.  Shafer,  in  the  order  in  which 
they  are  named.  The  members  of  the  lower  house  were  John  C.  Moore,  W. 
P.  McClure,  W.  M.  Slaughter,  M.  I).  Hickman,  D.  K.  Wall,  Miles  Patton, 
J.  S.  Stone,  J.  N.  Hallock,  J.  S.  Allen,  A.  J.  Edwards,  A.  McFadden, 
Edwin  James,  T.  S.  Golden,  J.  A.  Gray,  Z.  Jackson,  S.  B.  Kellogg.  William 
Davidson,  C.  C.  Post,  Asa  Smith,  C.  P.  Hall. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JUSTICE.  407 

The  supporters  of  the  Kansas  government  who  had 
sent  their  representative  to  the  capital  of  that  terri 
tory,  refused  to  pay  a  tax  to  support  the  provisional 
government,  in  a  remonstrance  signed  by  six  or  seven 
hundred  miners.  The  men  of  Gregory  district,  which 
the  new  government  had  erected  into  Mountain 
county,  held  an  election  on  the  3d  of  January  1860, 
and  rejected  the  county  organization  by  a  vote  of  395 
to  95.  On  the  other  hand,  Arapahoe  county,  as  cre 
ated  by  the  provisional  legislature,  acknowledged  the 
new  government,  and  held  its  election  according  to 
the  law  by  which  it  was  established. 

On  the  2d  of  January,  a  mass  meeting  was  held  at 
Denver,  at  which  a  memorial  was  adopted,  addressed 
to  the  president,  asking  for  a  territorial  organization,  i 
and  S.  W.  Beall  was  delegated  to  carry  it  to  Wash-  . 
ington  ,  but  no  notice  was  taken  of  the  petition.  The 
assembly  met  again  on  the  23d,  pursuant  to  adjourn 
ment,  and  completed  a  civil  and  criminal  code,  which 
was  observed  and  enforced  in  some  parts  of  the  "  Ter 
ritory  of  Jefferson,"  while  in  others  the  miners'  courts 
held  sway,  and  the  Kansas  government  was  least 
observed  of  any.6 

The  miners  had  invented  a  system  of  regulations, 
and  were  satisfied  with  them,  and  inclined  to  reject 
innovations.  Each  district  had  its  president  or  judge, 
recorder,  and  sheriff,  elected  by  ballot,7  the  rules  laid 
down  for  their  governance  being  simple  and  expedi 
tious.  Claim  clubs,  for  the  protection  of  agricultural 
or  town  site  claims,  with  similar  regulations,  served 
the  purpose  of  legal  statutes,  the  expounding  of  which 
was  too  often  accompanied  by  aggravating  delays  arid 
ruinous  costs.  There  was  little  anxiety  therefore  for 
change,  except  among  professional  politicians  and  their 
friends.  But  the  people  being  generally  order  loving 

6  In  the  autumn  of  1860  Edward  M.  McCook  was  elected  to  the  Kansas 
legislature,  but  secured  no  benefits,   and  probably  no  pay.   Corbctt's  Dir.  of 
Mines,  42. 

7  Jack  Keeler  was  elected  sheriff  of  Arapahoe  district  in  I860,  and  his 
deputy  was  William  Z.  Cozens. 


408  ORGANIZATION  OF  GOVERNMENT. 

and  law  abiding,  obeyed  without  question  either  form 
of  government,  whose  officers  happened  to  be  estab 
lished  in  their  midst,  which  obedience  averted  any 
injurious  collision  of  authorities.  Occasionally  a 
change  of  venue  was  taken  from  one  government  to 
the  other,  when  the  litigants  suffered  by  having  heavy 
costs  to  pay.  And  occasionally  crimes  were  com 
mitted,  which  demanded  a  strong  and  recognized  gov 
ernment  for  their  punishment.  In  the  absence  of  that, 
the  people  defended  themselves  as  those  of  California 
and  each  of  the  new  mining  territories  had  done,  by 
committees  which  dispensed  a  rude  and  vigorous 
justice  without  appeal.8  They  acted  spontaneously 
and  openly,  and  were  known  as  the  people's  courts, 
electing  their  judges  and  marshal  as  required,  and 
taking  no  notice  of  any  but  felonious  offences.  In 
some  parts  of  the  country  they  became,  from  the  neces 
sities  of  the  case,  vigilance  committees,  and  dealt 
with  horse  and  cattle  thieves.  The  penalties  inflicted 
were  in  accordance  with  the  crime,  and  might  be 
either  hanging,  whipping,  or  banishment.  Of  the 
first  three  homicides,  one  escaped,  one  was  tried  before 
Judge  H.  P.  A.  Smith  and  hanged,  and  the  third  was 
tried  before  Judge  Hyatt  and  acquitted. 

Denver  being  the  principal  town  had  most  need  of 
the  people's  courts.  In  the  latter  part  of  January 
the  unruly  element  became  alarmingly  conspicuous. 
Among  the  disturbances  occasioned  by  this  portion 
of  the  population  was  what  was  known  as  the  Turkey 
war.  It  originated  in  the  plundering  by  them  of  a 
party  of  hunters  from  the  southern  part  of  the  terri 
tory  with  a  great  number  of  wild  turkeys  for  sale. 
A  committee  was  organized  to  punish  the  thieves ; 
but  it  was  found  that  they  had  many  defenders,  and  it 
was  with  difficulty  that  a  bloody  conflict  was  avoided. 

*  Previous  to  April  1860  there  were  two  duels  in  Denver.  In  one  of  them 
J.  S.  Stone,  a  member  of  the  provisional  legislature,  was  killed  by  L.  W. 
Bliss,  secretary  and  acting  governor  of  Jefferson  territory,  who  at  a  public 
dinner  made  an  offensive  remark  in  allusion  to  Stone,  which  called  out  the 
challenge. 


CLAIM  CLUB. 


409 


The  next  excitement  was  over  the  jumping  of  town 
lots  by  squatters  who  had  settled  on  the  outskirts  of 
Denver,  and  claimed  the  land  under  the  agricultural 
preemption  law.  Several  times  deadly  weapons  were 
discharged  in  altercations  over  town  property,  though 
no  lives  were  sacrificed.  This  led  to  the  organiza 
tion  of  a  claim  club  at  Denver,  the  members  being 
bound  to  defend  the  town  company  against  squatters, 
several  of  whom  were  banished.  In  July  a  still  more 
threatening  affair  warned  the  people  to  be  on  their 


COLORADO  IN  1863. 

guard.  The  office  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  News  was 
attacked  by  a  desperate  man  named  Carl  Wood,  be 
cause  the  paper  had  condemned  the  killing  of  a  negro 
named  Starts  by  a  confederate,  Charles  Harrison, 
and  Byers  narrowly  escaped  being  killed.  Wood  was 
taken,  tried,  and  banished  by  the  decree  of  Judge 
H.  P.  Bennett. 

So  determined  were  the  people  that  justice  should 
be  done  that  Sheriff  Middaugh  pursued  and  brought 


410  ORGANIZATION  OF  GOVERNMENT. 

back  from  Leavenworth  for  trial  James  Gordon,  who 
had,  without  provocation,  killed  Jacob  Gantz  in  July. 
He  was  prosecuted  by  Bennett,  before  a  judge  ap 
pointed  for  the  occasion,  defended  by  able  lawyers, 
pronounced  guilty  by  a  jury  of  twelve  responsible 
citizens,  and  hanged.  Four  other  homicide*  were 
tried  and  acquitted,  and  three  tried  and  hanged  be 
tween  March  and  September.  Several  horse  thieves 
were  also  punished  and  banished.  It  could  not  be 
said  that  there  was  no  law  and  no  government,  but 
rather  that  government  was  triple-headed  in  these 


mining  regions. 


At  the  second  annual  election  of  the  provisional 
government,  October  22d,  its  officers  were  elected  by 
a  vote  so  insignificant  as  hardly  to  deserve  the  name 
of  an  election.  The  legislature,  however,  met  in  No- 

O 

vember,  and  held  its  second  session,  unnoticed  by  the 
people,  its  doings  never  being  published.  It  would 
hardly  have  survived  to  a  third  session  had  it  not  been 
supplanted  as  it  was  by  a  government  erected  by 


congress.9 


That  the  effort  to  firmly  establish  a  provisional  gov 
ernment  was  well  meant  and  patriotic  I  do  not  doubt. 
Its  failure  depended  partly  upon  one  of  the  causes  of 
its  creation,  the  conflicting  claims  of  five  several  ter 
ritories,  whose  boundaries  were  included  in  the  Pike's 
peak  region ;  namly  the  eastern  part  of  Utah,  the 
northern  part  of  New  Mexico,  and  the  western  parts 

9  Robert  W.  Steele,  governor  of  the  provisional  territory  of  Jefferson, 
was  an  energetic,  sanguine  man,  tall,  angular,  rather  rough,  but  possessing 

food  common  sense  and  honesty.  He  was  born  in  Ohio  in  1820;  removed  in 
846  to  Iowa,  where  he  studied  law;  and  to  Omaha  in  1855,  where  he  was  a 
member  of  the  legislature  of  1858-9.  Then  he  went  to  Denver  and  to  Cen 
tral  City,  where  he  was  president  of  the  Consolidated  Ditch  Co.  He  was 
governor  until  June  1861,  when  the  duly  appointed  officers  of  Colorado  ter 
ritory  arrived.  He  settled  his  family  at  Golden,  but  removed  to  Empire  in 
1862,  and  afterward  to  Georgetown.  In  1864  he  was  one  of  the  party  which 
discovered  the  Argentine  district  and  Belmont  lode — the  first  paying  silver 
deposit  in  Colorado.  This  mine  was  named  after  August  Belmont  of  New 
York,  and  brought  $100,000.  It  was  later  called  the  Johnson. 

Theodore  P.  Boyd,  justice  sup.  ct  prov.  govt,  was  from  Pa;  in  1849  came 
toCal.,  and  finally  to  Golden,  where  he  erected  the  third  house.  In  the 
winter  of  1859-60  he  located  farms  for  himself  and  sons  on  Clear  creek,  7 
miles  east  of  Golden. 


JEFFERSON  AND  COLORADO.  411 

of  Kansas,  Nebraska,  and  Dakota.1'  Had  every  man 
in  the  mines  been  willing  to  yield  allegiance  to  the 
independent  government,  these  other  governments 
were  likely  to  interfere,  arid  probably  would  have 
done  so,  had  time  been  given  or  complaint  been  made. 
There  were  other  reasons,  in  the  instability  of  the 
population  and  the  avoidance  of  the  cost  of  a  govern 
ment.  There  was  nothing  in  the  public  acts  of  the 
officers  or  legislators  of  "Jefferson  territory"  which 
was  not  intended  for  the  public  good.  They  were  a 
portion  of  the  same  people  who,  in  their  people's 
courts,  settled  all  matters  of  law  and  justice  as  effi 
ciently  as  it  could  have  been  done  anywhere.11 

10  That  part  of  Kansas  which  lay  west  of  the  east  boundary  of  New  Mex 
ico  was  confined  to  the  territory  between  the  38th   and  40th  parallels.     St 
Vrain  and  Boulder  creek  mines,  and  many  farms,   were  therefore  out  of  this 
jurisdiction.       Breckenridge  was   in  Utah,    and   California     gulch  was  on 
debatable  ground. 

11  The  first  people's  court  at  Canon  City  was  organized  by  Wilbur  F. 
Stone,  who  drafted  a  code  for  the  government  of  that  community.     Stone 
was  born  at  Litchfield,  Conn.,  in  1833,  but  removed  to  western  New  York  at 
the  age  of  6  years,  and  later  to  Mich.,  Ind.,  and  Iowa.     He  was  educated  at 
Asbury  university,  and  the  state  university  of  Indiana,  where  he  graduated 
from  the  law  department.     Settling  at  Evansville,  he  practised  his  profession 
and  edited  the  Daily  Inquirer.     For  a  short  time  he  resided  at  Omaha,  edit 
ing  the  Nebraskian,  but  came  to  Colorado  in  the  spring  of  1860.     He  was  a 
member  of  the  Colorado  legislature  from  Park  county  in  1862,  and  again  in 
1864-5.     In  1866  he  returned  to  Ind.,   and  married    Minnie    Sadler,   after 
which  he  settled  at  Pueblo  until  1877,  when  he  was  elected  to  the  bench  of 
the  supreme  court.     From  1862  to  1866  he  was  assistant  U.   S.  atty  for  Col 
orado.     In  1868  he  was  appointed  by  the  gov.  1st  dist  atty  of  the  3d  judicial 
dist  of  Colo.     In  1868  he  gave  a  portion  of  his   time  to  editing  the  Puello 
Chieftain,  the  only  newspaper  south  of  the  divide   at  that  time;    and   after 
ward  wrote  for  the  Peoples  Newspaper,  and  other  journals  until   1874.     He 
aided  largely  in  building  up  Pueblo  during  a  12  years'  residence,    and  was 
one  of  those  who  secured  the  completion  of  the  Atchison,  Topeka,  and  Santa 
Fe  railroad  to  that  place.     He  was  a  member  of  the  state  constitutional  con 
vention,  and  judge  of  the  supreme  court.     He  had  ever  at  command  a  vast 
fund  of  information,  which  during  my  researches  in  Colorado  in  1884  were 
generously  placed  at  my  disposal,  and  which  kindness  resulted  in  valuable 
manuscript  contributions  to  history,  entitled  General    View  of  Colorado  and 
Land  Grants. 

Another  high  authority  on  early  government  matters  is  Halletfs  Courts, 
Law,  and  Litigation,  MS.  Moses  Hallett  was  born  in  Daviess  county,  111., 
in  1834,  and  resided  there,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  years  spent  away 
from  home  in  acquiring  an  education,  and  in  the  study  of  the  law  in  Chicago, 
until  the  spring  of  1860,  when  he  came  to  Colorado.  He  settled  at  Denver, 
and  after  a  trial  of  mining  entered  upon  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He 
served  two  terms  in  the  territorial  council.  In  1866  he  was  appointed  chief 
justice  of  the  territory,  which  position  he  held  for  10  years,  after  which  he 
was  appointed  judge  for  the  U.  S.  dist.  of  Colorado.  Tall  and  dark  com- 
plexioned,  with  an  intellectual  face  and  affable  manners,  he  enjoyed  the 


412  ORGANIZATION  OF  GOVERNMENT. 

So  many  petitions  had  gone  forth  for  a  territorial 
organizatian  by  congress  that  a  bill  to  provide  for  the 

friendship  and  admiration  of  the  best  men.  Hallett  explains  even  more  fully 
than  Stone  the  peculiarities,  merits,  and  eccentricities  of  the  people's  and 
miner's  courts.  He  tells  us  there  were  arbitrary  executions  every  year,  down, 
to  1877.  In  that  year  a  man  name  Musgrove,  the  leader  of  a  gang  of 
horse  thieves,  was  hanged  off  the  end  of  Larimer  street  bridge,  in  open  day, 
without  concealment  of  any  sort.  The  people  seldom  interfered  with  the 
administration  of  the  laws.  One  instance  is,  however,  given  of  a  territorial 
judge,  who  was  on  his  way  to  Golden  to  make  some  order  affecting  a  railroad 
company,  being  taken  from  a  train,  carried  off,  and  kept  24  hours  in  durance 
to  prevent  the  order  being  made.  Courts,  Law,  and  Litigation,  MS.,  6-7. 

Wolfe  Londoner,  in  a  manuscript  on  Vigilance  Committees  in  Colorado, 
giving  an  account  of  'all  the  judgments  of  capital  punishment,  and  all  the 
executions  of  the  people's  courts  in  Denver,'  is  a  valuable  authority.  He  ex 
plains  that  there  were  other  trials  by  the  same  kind  of  courts,  but  no  other 
sentences  or  punishments.  The  first  murder  was  committed  by  John  Stof  el, 
son-in-law  of  a  German  named  Beincroff.  Stofel  killed  one  of  his  young 
brothers-in-law,  on  Vasquez  fork  or  Clear  creek,  April  7,  1859.  He  was  sus 
pected,  arrested,  examined  before  H.  P.  A.  Smith,  admitted  his  guilt,  and, 
as  there  was  no  prison  in  the  country,  it  was  determined  to  hang  him.  The 
examination  was  held  in  the  second  building  below  what  is  now  Holladay 
street,  east  side  of  Ferry,  now  llth  street.  The  execution  took  place  at  the 
corner  of  Holladay  and  10th  streets,  where  Stofel  was  hanged  on  a  tree;  by 
Noisy  Tom,  executioner  for  the  occasion.  On  the  12th  of  March,  I860,  Wil 
liam  West  was  shot  by  Moses  Young,  on  the  west  side  of  Cherry  creek,  near 
Larimer  street  bridge.  Young  was  tried  next  day,  found  guilty,  a  scaffold 
erected  on  the  spot  where  the  murder  was  committed,  and  the  day  after  the 
trial  and  conviction  he  was  hanged.  On  the  12th  of  June,  1860,  Jacob  Roe- 
der  and  family  passed  through  Denver  en  route  for  South  park,  in  company 
with  Marcus  Gredler  and  others.  Roeder  and  Grecller  quarrelled,  and  Roeder 
was  killed  and  buried  by  Gredler  in  revenge.  The  murderer  was  arrested, 
and  on  compulsion  showed  the  grave  of  his  victim.  He  was  tried,  sentenced, 
and  hanged  the  next  day,  on  a  scaffold  at  the  foot  of  the  bluff  where  Curtis 
street  enters  Cherry  creek  bottom  on  the  east  side.  On  the  20th  of  June  two 
freighters  quarrelled,  and,  on  the  road  near  Denver,  Hadley  stabbed  Card  so 
that  he  died.  Hadley  was  brought  back  on  the  22d,  a  court  organized  under 
a  clump  of  cotton  wood  trees  which  stood  on  16th  street,  opposite  the  Plant 
er's  house,  this  being  the  only  court  held  in  the  open  air.  He  was  sentenced 
io  be  hanged  on  the  25th,  but  escaped  fromhis  jailers.  On  the  20th  of  July, 
1860,  occurred  the  murder  of  Jacob  Gantz,  by  J.  A.  Gordon,  of  which  I  have 
given  an  account.  Gordon  was  executed  at  the  same  place  as  Gredler.  On 
the  30th  of  Nov.,  1860,  Thomas  R.  Freeman  was  killed  by  Patrick  Waters. 
Freeman  lived  alone,  2  miles  below  Denver,  and  was  one  of  the  few  who  at 
tempted  farming  that  year,  raising  vegetables  for  market.  Waters  was  a 
hanger-on  of  better  men,  and  accompanied  Freeman  down  the  Platte  to  buy 
hay,  murdering  him  for  his  money,  near  Fort  Lnpton.  The  body  being  dis 
covered,  Welters  was  arrested  in  Neb.,  tried  at  Denver,  and  executed  on  a 
gallows  at  the  farther  end  of  15th  street  bridge.  The  prosecution  in  this 
case  made  the  first  presentment  in  writing,  as  follows:  'The  people  of  the 
Pike's  peak  gold  region  versus  Patrick  Waters.  The  people  of  the  Pike's 
peak  gold  region,  assembled  at  the  city  of  Denver  the  1 9th  day  of  Dec. ,  1 860, 
do  find  and  present  that  on  the  30th  of  Nov.,  A.  D.  1860,  at  the  said  Pike's 
peak  gold  region,  one  Patrick  Waters  did  make  a  felonious  assault  on  one 
Thomaa  R.  Freeman,  then  and  there  being,  and  him,  the  said  Thomas  R. 
Freeman,  with  premeditated  malice,  did  murder  and  slay,  contrary  to  all  the 
laws  of  God  and  man. 


BOUNDARIES.  413 

erection  of  a  new  territory  was  at  length  introduced,1' 
which  passed  both  houses  and  became  a  law  February 
28,  18G1.  The  name  of  Colorado  was  given  to  it  at 
the  suggestion  of  the  man  selected  for  its  first  gov 
ernor."  The  boundaries  of  Colorado,  as  described  in 
the  organic  act,  included  all  the  territory  between  the 
thirty-seventh  and  forty-first  parallels  of  north  lati 
tude,  and  the  twenty-fifth  and  thirty-second  meridians 
of  west  longitude,  forming  an  oblong  square  contain 
ing  104,500  square  miles,  or  66,880,000  acres  of  land,/ 
with  the  usual  proviso,  that  nothing  contained  in  the 
act  should  be  construed  to  impair  the  rights  of  the 
Indians  while  they  remained  unextinguishedby  treaty, 
or  prevent  the  government  from  again  dividing  the 
territory  at  pleasure,  the  act  in  all  respects  resembling 
other  organic  acts  establishing  temporary  govern 
ments.  The  territorial  officers  commissioned  by  the 
president  were  William  Gilpin  governor,  Lewis  Led- 
pard  Weld  secretary,  Benjamin  F.  Hall  chief  justice, 
S.  Newton  Pettis  and  Charles  Lee  Armor  associate 
justices,  Copeland  Townsend  marshal,  James  D.  Dal- 
liba  attorney-general,  and  F.  M.  Case  surveyor-gen 
eral.  They  arrived  May  29th,  and  were  cordially 
welcomed,  even  by  the  unpaid  officers  of  the  pro 
visional  government,  whose  functions  ceased  with  the 
appearance  of  the  presidential  appointees. 

Governor  Gilpin  was  a  man  capable  of  inspiring 
enthusiasm  upon  occasions.  He  visited  all  the  prin 
cipal  settlements  "  as  rapidly  as  possible,  making  him- 

12  U.  S.  Sen,  Doc.,  15,  36th  cong.  Istsesa.;  U.  S.  San.  Jour.,  839,  231,  36th 
cong.  1st  sess.;  Cong.  Globe,  1859-00, 1502;  Id.,  1860-1,  639-45,  728-9,  763-4, 
1C05-6;  Id.,  v.;  Id.,  xvii.;  Id.,  xxi. 

13 Gilpin s  Pioneer  of  1842,  MS.,  8.  '  Some,'  says  Gilpin,  '  wanted  it  called 
Jefferson,  some  Arcadia.  ...  I  said  the  people  have  to  a  great  extent  named 
the  states  after  the  great  rivers  of  the  country  .  .  .  and  the  great  feature  of 
that  country  is  the  great  Colorado  river.  .  .  "  Ah, "  said  he  (Wilson  of  Mass. ), 
"that  is  it;"  and  he  named  it  Colorado.' 

11 1  learn  from  U.  S.  H.  Ex.  Doc.,  v.,  no.  56,  37th  cong.  2d  sess.,  and  the 
History  of  Gunnison  Cmmty,  MS.,  by  Sylvester  Richardson,  that  Gilpin,  with 
the  assistance  of  old  mountaineers,  made  a  map  of  the  territory  in  1861, 
which  was  found  to  correspond  remarkably  with  the  subsequent  surveys. 
Richardson  was  a  native  of  Catskill,  N.  Y.,  aud  a  man  of  cultivated  mind,  as 
well  as  an  able  mechanic.  He  came  to  Colorado  in  I860,  and  resided  12  years 


414  ORGANIZATION  OF  GOVERNMENT. 

self  acquainted  with  the  condition  and  wants  of  the 
territory,  and  everywhere  was  received  with  festivity 
and  favor.13  On  the  8th  of  July  he  took  the  oath  of 
office,  and,  the  census  being  completed,16  proceeded  on 
the  10th  to  assign  the  judges  to  their  districts,  that 
the  supreme  court  might  be  immediately  organized.17 
On  the  llth  he  issued  a  proclamation  declaring  the 
territory  to  be  one  congressional  district,  which  was 
divided  into  nine  council  and  thirteen  representative 
districts,  in  which  was  ordered  the  election  of  dele 
gate  to  congress  and  members  of  the  legislative  as 
sembly  to  take  place  on  the  19th  of  August. 

In  the  matter  of  dates  Colorado's  history  has  been 

in  Denver.  In  1873  he  helped  to  explore  the  Gunnison  country,  and  the  fol 
lowing  year  organized  a  colony  to  settle  it,  of  which  the  history  will  be  given 
hereafter. 


wine, 
comj_ 

fought  in  the  Seminole  war  under  Gen.  Jessup,  and  accompanied  Fremont's 
expedition  of  1843  to  Fort  Vancouver.  Gilpin  was  designed  by  his  maker 
for  a  man  of  mark.  Full  six  feet  in  height,  of  a  slight  frame  and  nervous 
temperament,  with  a  line  head  and  expressive  eyes,  rather  military  bearing 
and  French  gestures,  he  was  enthusiastic,  while  his  shrewdness  and  courtesy 
were  sometimes  overshadowed  by  his  generalizations.  Said  one  of  his  friends 
to  me,  'There  never  was  a  man  like  him,  and  there  never  will  be  another;  for 
20  minutes  or  so  he  can  talk  as  closely  to  the  point  as  any  man,  but  after  that 
he  begins  to  generalize.'  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  Mexican  war,  Gilpin,  be 
ing  again  in  Mo.,  was  chosen  major  of  the  first  regiment  of  Missouri  cavalry, 
and  moved  south  along  the  great  central  plateau  with  his  force  until  he  made 
a  junction  with  the  main  army  in  Mexico.  In  1847,  the  Indians  of  the  plains 
having  confederated  to  cut  off  immigration  westward  and  to  make  war  on  the 
frontier  settlements,  Gilpin,  by  direction  of  the  president,  led  a  force  of  1,200 
cavalry,  infantry,  and  artillery  against  them  to  open  up  communication. 
This  expedition  did  not  leave  Leavenworth  until  Oct.,  the  troops  wintering 
at  Pike  peak  and  fighting  the  Indians  the  following  summer.  Gilpins  Pioneer 
0/1842,  MS.;  Pitlcins  Political  Vicivs,  MS.;  Bradford's  Hist.  Colorado,  MS.; 
EUwrt's  Public  Men  and  Measures,  MS. 

16  The  census  showed  a  population  of  25,329,  four-fifths  of  which  were 
men.  Corbett's  Leais.  Manual,  57.  The  count  did  not  really  show  the  whole 
number  of  inhabitants,  many  being  prospecting  in  the  mountains.  Rocly 
Mountain  News,  July  17,  1861. 

17Byers  says  in  his  Centennial^  State,  MS.,  10,  that  a  proclamation  was 
issued  on  the  23d  of  July  appointing  a  term  of  the  sup.  ct  on  the  first  Mon 
day  in  Sept.  following,  to  be  held  at  Denver.  He  also  says  that  the  first 
grand  jury  impanelled  in  Colo  was  upon  the  4th  of  Sept.,  1861,  at  Denver, 
and  consisted  of  Nelson  Sargent,  foreman,  Charles  A.  Wright,  John  W. 
Smith,  Alexander  M.  Smith,  John  L.  Bogg,  John  G.  Vauter,  William  D. 
Davis,  John  B.  Ashland,  Jonathan  U.  Price,  Milton  E.  Clark,  Warren  Hus- 
sey,  J.  F.  Gordine,  James  M.  Iddings,  Milton  M.  Delano,  Edward  H.  Hart, 
P.  H.  Smith,  Andrew  Sargendorf,  and  John  M.  Clark.  See  also  Rocky 
Mountain  News,  Sept.  4,  1861. 


GILPIN,  GOVERNOR.  415 

marked  by  periods  of  national  importance.  It  was 
the  business  depression  of  1857-8  and  the  Kansas 
troubles  which  inspired  so  many  with  a  willingness 
to  seek  new  homes  and  fortunes  farther  west.  The 
territory  was  organized  just  previous  to  and  while  the 
civil  war  was  impending ;  and  lastly  the  state  was  ad 
mitted  on  the  100th  anniversary  of  our  independence. 
It  is  with  the  coincidence  of  the  territorial  organiza 
tion  and  the  sudden  and  great  strain  put  upon  the 
government  that  I  am  chiefly  impressed ;  in  connec 
tion  with  which  must  be  considered  the  manner  in 
which  the  affairs  of  the  new  commonwealth  were 
managed.  Gilpin,  although  appointed  governor  by 
President  Lincoln,  was  without  instructions  and  with 
out  money.  Washington  was  threatened;  there  were 
a  dozen  cabinet  meetings  a  day ;  and  when  the  ap 
pointee  begged  for  writtten  orders  he  was  told  there 
was  no  time  to  attend  to  such  matters,  but  to  go  and 
do  as  well  as  he  knew  how  and  the  bills  would  be 
paid.  His  verbal  instructions,  taken  in  the  vestibule 
of  the  white  house,  or  in  the  portico,  conferred  broad 
powers.  He  was  to  see  that  the  new  territory  was 
kept  in  the  union.  If  soldiers  were  needed,  he  was 
to  call  them  out  and  command  them.18  He  was  loyal, 
he  was  a  soldier,  he  would  be  quick  to  see  the  need 
of  an  appeal  to  arms ;  but  was  he  a  statesman,  and 
might  he  not  be  too  quick  to  discern  a  danger? 
These  were  questions  the  cabinet  had  no  time  to  ask. 
The  period  elapsing  between  the  arrival  of  the  ex 
ecutive  and  the  August  election  was  made  use  of  to 
ascertain  the  political  bias  of  the  majority,  the  pop 
ulation  being  almost  evenly  divided  between  those 
who  would  support  the  government  and  those  whose 
sympathies  were  on  the  side  of  the  confederates.  This 
equality  warned  the  republicans  to  make  haste  slowly, 
and  to  adopt  a  liberal  and  conservative  platform,  lest 
the  loyal  part  of  the  democracy  should  be  driven  to 
encourage  disloyalty.  A  convention  was  held  at 

18  Gilpin s  Phneer  of  1842,  MS.,  5-6, 


416  ORGANIZATION  OF  GOVERNMENT. 

% 

Golden  City  on  the  1st  of  July  for  the  purpose  of 
nominating  a  delegate  to  congress,  Hiram  P.  Bennett 

beincr  chosen  from  amono-  eleven  candidates.19    On  the 

.  r^ 

24th  a  'union  convention'  was  held  by  the  demo 
crats  for  the  same  purpose,  which  nominated  B.  D. 
Williams.  The  newspaper  press  was  divided,  and 
issued  campaign  sheets,  as  might  be  expected,  but 
were  guarded  in  their  utterances.20 

Williams  was  beaten  by  the  republican  candidate, 
on  election,  by  3,801  votes,  the  total  number  of  votes 
cast  being  9,597.21 

The  legislature,  which  was  also  chiefly  republican, 
met  at  Denver,  and  held  its  first  session  of  sixty 
days,  beginning  on  the  9th  of  September,  adopting 
and  enacting  a  full  code  of  laws,  civil  and  criminal. 

O 

The  original  acts  of  the  legislature  recognized  the  le 
gality  of  the  miners'  courts,  confirmed  their  decisions, 
and  provided  for  the  transfer  of  their  cases  to  the 
regular  courts,  thus  avoiding  all  conflict  over  previous 
judgments.22  The  adoption  of  the  Illinois  practice 

19  Amos  Steck  was  president  of  this  convention,  and  L.  N.  Tappan  secre 
tary.  Byers1  Centennial  State,  MS.,  8. 

2*lhe  Rocky  Mountain  News,  though  loyal,  opposed  drawing  party  lines 
too  strictly.  The  publishers  issued  a  second  journal,  the  Miners  Record,  at 
Tarryall,  during  the  campaign,  which  did  good  work  in  preserving  the  loyalty 
of  the  people  and  determining  the  result  of  the  election.  The  Denver 
Mountaineer,  owned  by  Moore  and  Coleman,  was  a  disunion  journal,  and  was 
bought  by  Byers  and  Daily,  and  silenced  in  the  spring  of  1861.  Byers  Neios- 
paper  Press  of  Colorado,  MS.,  13. 

21  Hiram  P.  Bennett  was  born  in  Mo.  in  1826,  and  removed  to  Nebraska, 
where  he  was  elected  to  the  first  territorial  legislature  in  1854.     In  1859  he 
removed  to  Denver,  where  he  practised  his  profession,  being  associated  with 
Moses  Hallett,   and  distinguishing  himself  by  his  successful  prosecution  of 
criminals.     He  served  two  terms  in  congress,  obtaining  the  branch  mint  for 
Denver,  with  other  benefits  to  the  territory.     He  resumed  his  law  practice 
in  1869,  but  was  appointed  postmaster  soon  after,  which  office  he  held  until 
1874.     He  was  a  member  of  the  first  state  legislature  from  Arapahoe  co. 

22  The  members  of  the  council  representing  their  districts  in  the  following 
order  were  Hiram  J.  Graham,  Amos  Steck,  C.  W.  Mather,  H.  F.  Parker,  A. 
U.  Colby,  Samuel  M.  Robbins,  E.  A.   Arnold,  R.  B.   Willis,  and  John  M. 
Francisco.   Colo.  Jour.  Council,  1861,  3.     Members  of  the  lower  house,  in  the 
order  of  their  districts,  were  Charles  F.  Holly,  E.  S.  Wilhite,  Edwin  Scud- 
der,  William  A.   Ranktn.    J.  B.  Chaffee,   J.    H.  Noteware,  Daniel  Witter, 
George  F.   Crocker,  Daniel  Steel,  Corydon  P.   Hall,   Victor  Garcia,   Jesus 
Barela,   and  George  M.  Chilcott.  Colo.   Jour.    House,   1861,   3,    19.     E.   A. 
Arnold  of  Lake  co.  was  chosen  president  of  the  council,  S.  L.  Baker,  sec., 
David  A.   Cheever  asst  sec.,  E.  W.  Kingsbnry  sergeant-at-arms.     Charles 
F.  Holly  of  Boulder  co.  was  elected  speaker  of  the  house  of  reps,F.  H.  Page 
chief  clerk,  E.  P,  Elmer   sergeant-at-arms.    Corbetfs  Legis  Manual,  212, 


CREATION  OF  COUNTIES.  41? 

code  was  another  wise  act,  giving  the  territorial  courts 
a  system  of  practice  which  had  been  ably  expounded 
by  the  supreme  court  of  that  state.  No  subsequent 
legislation  was  had  upon  this  subject  while  the  terri 
torial  form  of  government  was  in  existence. 

The  territory  was  divided  into  counties23  and  judi 
cial  districts,"4  the  election  of  county  officers  provided 
for,  and  a  complete  organization  effected.  The  capital 
of  the  territory  was  located  at  Colorado  City,  and 
commissioners  appointed  to  select  the  actual  site  within 
the  surveyed  limits  of  that  town,  the  commission  to 
perform  its  duty  within  a  month  after  the  adjourn 
ment  of  the  legislature.25  The  location  was  chosen 
with  the  view  of  making  the  capital  central  to  the 
future  state.  That  it  was  subsequently  abandoned 
was  because  it  was  found  to  be  inconvenient.  It  was 
fixed  at  Golden  City 26  in  1862,  where  it  remained 

23  The  following  counties  were  organized,  with  County  seats  temporarily 
located,  as  follows:  Costilla,  county  seat  at  San  Miguel;  Guadalupe,  county 
seat  at  the  town  of  Guadalupe   (the  name  of  this  connty  was   changed  to 
Conejos  the  same  session);  Huerfano,  county  seat  at  Autubee;  Pueblo,  county 
seat  at  the  town  of  Pueblo;  Fremont,  county  seat  at  Canon  City;  El  Paso, 
county  seat  at  Colorado  City;  Douglas,  county  seat  at  Frankstown;  Arapahoe, 
county  seat  at  Denver;  Weld,  named  after  the  secretary  of  territory,  county 
seat  at  St  Vrain;  Larimer,  named  after  George  William  Larimer,  county  seat 
at  La  Porte;  Boulder,  county  seat  at  the  town  of  Boulder;  Jefferson,  county 
seat  at  Golden  City;  Clear  Creek,  county  seat  at  Idaho;   Gilpin,  named  after 
the  governor,  county  seat  at  Central  City;  Park,  county  seat  at  Tarryall; 
Lake,  county  seat  at  Oro  City;  Summit,  county  seat  at  Parkville.    Colo  Gen. 
Laws,  1861,  52-7. 

24  The  territory  was  divided  into  three  judicial  districts,  the  counties  of 
Larimer,  Weld,   Arapahoe,  Boulder,  Douglas,  and  El  Paso  constituting  the 
1st,  to  which  Chief  Justice  Hall  was  assigned;  Jefferson,  Clear  Creek,  Gilpin, 
Park,    and  Summit  the  2d  district,  to  which  Judge   Armor    was  assigned; 
Lake,  Fremont,  Pueblo,  Huerfano,  Conejos,  and  Costilla,  the  3d  district,  to 
which  was  assigned  Judge  Pettis.   Gen.  Laivs  Colo,  1861,  395-6. 

25  The  committee  consisted  of  S.  L.  Baker,  E.  B.  Cozzens,  and  M.  Holt. 

26  There  were  certain  rivalries  to  be  considered,  as  is  always  the  case;  but 
the  chief  aim  seemed  to  be  to  prevent  Denver  having  the  capital,  that  town 
being  accused  of  a  desire  to  secure  everything;  therefore,  at  the  next  session, 
the  legislature,  being  dissatisfied  with  Colorado  City  as  a  place  of  meeting, 
having  to  camp  out  and  do  their  own  cooking,    adiourned  to  Denver,  and 
removed  the  capital  once  more,  this  time  to  Golden  City.      Says  Stone,  *  The 
southern  men  were  opposed  to  adjourning  to  Denver,  and  they  went  away 
and  hid  in  the  woods,  and  the  sergeant-at-arms  couldn't  find  them.     Finally 
we  sent  men  out  with  flags  of  truce  to  bring  them  in,  and   getting   them 
together  in  Mother  Maggart's  hotel,  under  pretense  of  compromising  the 
matter,  locked  the  doors  on  them,  finished  the  vote,  and  got  the  adjourn 
ment  to  Denver.'  Land  Grants  in  Colo,  MS.,  11. 

HIST.  NEV.    27 


418  ORGANIZATION  OF  GOVERNMENT. 

until  1868,  when  it  was  taken  back  to  Denver;  but 
the  feeling  in  the  southern  counties  being  strong 
against  this  point,  and  Pueblo  being  prevented  from 
getting  it  in  1872  only  by  bribery,  the  constitutional 
convention  provided  that  the  vote  of  the  whole  people 
should  be  taken  five  years  after  the  adoption  of  the 
constitution,  the  place  receiving  the  greater  number 
of  votes  to  be  declared  the  permanent  capital.  The 
vote  was  taken  in  1881,  and  Denver,  which  had  been 
growing  in  influence,  received  the  majority  of  votes, 


SEAL. 


thus  ending,  to  the  chagrin  of  the  southern  counties, 
the  long  struggle  for  that  division  of  power  which  will 
only  come  with  the  development  of  the  resources  of 
tjie  south. 

The  seal  adopted  for  the  territory  was  an  heraldic 
shield,  bearing  in  chief,  or  on  the  upper  portion  of  the 
same,  upon  a  red  ground,  three  snow  capped  moun 
tains,  above  surrounding  clouds  ;  upon  the  lower  part 
of  the  shield,  upon  a  golden  ground,  a  miner's  badge, 
being  the  same  badge  prescribed  by  the  regular  her- 


LEGISLATIVE  PROCEEDINGS.  419 

aldic  rules  ;  as  a  crest  above  the  shield  the  eye  of  God, 
being  golden  rays  proceeding  from  the  lines  of  a  tri 
angle;  below  the  crest,  and  above  the  shield,  as  a 
scroll,  the  Roman  fasces,  bearing  on  a  band  of  red, 
white,  and  blue,  the  words  Union  and  Constitution  ; 
below  the  whole,  the  motto  Nil  Sine  Numine;  the 
whole  to  be  surrounded  by  the  words  Sigillum  Terri- 
torii  Coloradensis,  and  the  figures  1861.  This  design 
was  adopted  by  the  state  in  1876. 

The  message  of  Governor  Gilpin  to  the  legisla 
ture  contained  much  good  advice,  with  many  original 
ideas.  He  recommended  a  thorough  organization 
by  counties,  townships,  districts,  and  precincts,  and 
advised  a  system  of  "social  police"  laws  for  the 
protection  of  property,  enforcement  of  contract,  tax 
ation,  roads,  education,  and  charities;  but  particu 
larly  he  desired  them  to  recognize  the  importance  of 
the  judiciary  and  military  departments  of  the  govern 
ment,  which  constituted  "  the  bulwark  of  their  liber 
ties."  Acting  somewhat  upon  the  suggestions  made, 
and  also  on  their  own  good  sense,  the  first  legislature 
of  Colorado,  as  I  have  said,  did  some  excellent  work 
in  establishing  good  government,  both  civil  and  mili 
tary.  Among  their  acts  was  a  joint  resolution  ex 
pressing  sympathy  with  the  government,  and  pledging 
support.  Another  resolution  indorsed  the  acts  of  the 
governor  which  had  reference  to  preserving  the  loyal 
attitude  of  the  territory.  Joint  memorials  asked  for 
the  establishment  of  a  branch  mint  at  Denver,27  for  a 
mail  route  along  the  upper  portion  of  the  Platte 
river,  from  which  the  mail  had  been  withdrawn  by 
the  opening  of  a  cut-off,  for  a  daily  mail  between 
Denver  and  Mountain  City  (Central  City),  which,  it 
was  alleged,  distributed  more  mail  than  any  office  in 
the  territory.  An  act  was  passed  increasing  the  rep- 

27  The  amount  of  gold  coined  at  the  U.  S.  mint  from  Colorado  mines  in 
1859  was  $622,000;  in  1860  it  was  $2,091,000.  Large  amounts  were  in  cir 
culation  without  coinage,  and  a  certain  amount  was  used  in  manufactures. 
On  this  showing  the  Coloradans  thought  themselves  entitled  to  a  mint.  Colo 
Gen.  Laws,  1861,  513. 


420  ORGANIZATION  OF  GOVERNMENT. 

resentation  in  the  legislative  body  to  thirteen  council- 
men  and  twenty-six  representatives,  the  whole  num 
ber  allowed  by  the  organic  act,  and  congress  was  asked 
to  increase  the  per  diem  from  three  to  six  dollars, 
which  it  did  not  do  until  1867.  By  the  act  increas 
ing  the  membership,  it  was  provided  that  these  addi 
tional  legislators  should  be  chosen  at  the  general  elec 
tion  in  December  1861,  and  another  session  of  the 
legislature  held,  commencing  on  the  first  Monday  in 
June  1862,  but  that  thereafter  the  territorial  legisla 
ture  should  meet  on  the  first  Monday  in  February  of 
each  year.  The  adjournment  took  place  on  the  8th 
of  November.'8 

Meanwhile  Governor  Gilpin,  relying  upon  the  in 
formal  permission  given  him  to  do  whatever  he 
thought  right  and  proper  for  the  good  of  Colorado 
and  the  preservation  of  the  government,  had  ex 
ceeded  the  powers  ordinarily  invested  in  a  territorial 
executive.  Believing  that  the  exigencies  of  the 
times  required  the  raising  of  a  regiment,  he  proceeded 
to  raise  and  send  it  into  the  field.29 

28  The  additional  councilmen  elected  for  the  2d  session  were  H.  R.  Hunt, 
William  A.  H.  Loveland,  N.  J.  Bond.   J.  B.  Woodson,  and  Henry  Altman. 
The  additional  representatives  were  Joseph  Kenyon,  D.  C.  Oakes,  C.  G.  Hans- 
come,  William  M.  Slaughter,  H.  B.  Hayes,  J.  W.  Hamilton,  Wilbur  F.  Stone, 
John  Fosher,  M.  S.  Beach,  Jose  Raphael  Martine,  Jose  Francisco  Gallejos, 
and  D.  Powell.     Of  the  council  E.  A.  Arnold  was   president,  S.   L.  Baker 
chief  clerk,   D.  A.  Cheever  asst  clerk,  E.  W.  Kingsbury  sergeant-at-arms. 
Of  the  house,  Charles  F.  Holly  was  speaker,  P.  H.  Page  chief  clerk,  E.  P. 
Elmer  sergeant-at-arms.   Corbett,  Legis.  Manual,  212-14. 

29  Owing  to  the  presence  in  the  territory  of  a  large  number  of  southern 
men,  he  felt  the  importance  of  avoiding  a  conflict,  and  the  necessity  of  pro 
ceeding  secretly  to  the  accomplishment  of  his  purpose  in  order  not  to  pro 
voke  opposition  from  those  who,  while  not  openly  disloyal,  had  confederate 
proclivities.     Two  infantry  companies  were  first  raised,  of  picked  men,  armed 
with  weapons  quietly  purchased  wherever  they  could  be  found.     Lead  was 
obtained  from  a  Colorado  mine,  and  three  loads  of  gunpowder  from  Topeka, 
through  the  friendship  of  John  Burke.     Having  now  the  nucleus  of  a  regi 
ment,  a  call  was  made  for  eight  more  companies,  which  were  rapidly  formed, 
and  promptly  furnished  by  thf    governor,  who  paid  the  Denver  merchants 
for  supplies  by  drafts  on  the  treasury,  which  he  had  authority  for  drawing 
in  the  fully  given  word  of  the  president  and  secretary  of  war.     But  that  ib 
was  a  fortunate  forecast  in  the  executive  became  apparent  when  it  was  dis 
covered,  after  the  call  had  been  made,  that  the  disloyal  part  of  the  popula 
tion  was  proceeding  with  equal  caution  to  gather  a  force  to  plunder  the  banks 
and  business  houses  of  Denver  and  escape  into  Texas,  there  to  join  the  con 
federate  army.     At  the  head  of  this  conspiracy  was  McKee,  a  Texan  ranger. 
He  was  arrested  with  about  forty  of  his  followers,  and  confined  in  jail.     The 


CIVIL  WAR.  421 

southerners  had  their  rendezvous  about  forty  miles  from  Cherry  creek,  near 
Russellville,  where  the  tirst  Colorado  infantry  was  sent  to  capture  the 
remainder.  Some  prisoners  were  taken,  but  about  one  hundred  escaped  and 
went  into  camp  near  Fort  Wise,  on  the  Arkansas  river,  where  they  captured 
a  government  train,  but  were  overtaken  and  forty-one  brought  back  to  Den 
ver,  where  they  were  a  source  of  infinite  vexation,  nobody  knowing  what 
to  do  with  them,  while  they  had  to  be  guarded  and  fed  at  considerable 
expense. 

The  1st  Colorado  regiment  was  composed  of  good  material  in  the  main. 
The  regiment  was  organized  as  follows:  J.  P.  Slough  colonel,  S.  F.  Tappan 
lieut-col,  J.  M.  Chivington  major;  captains,  E.  W.  Wynkoop,  S.  M.  Logan, 
Richard  Sopris,  Jacob  Downing,  S.  J.  Anthony,  S.  H.  Cook,  J.  W.  Hamble- 
ton,  George  L.  Sanborn,  Charles  Malie,  C.  P.  Marion.  It  was  presented 
with  a  handsome  silk  flag  by  the  women  of  Denver.  Rocky  Mountain  News,  Aug. 
21,  1861.  But  it  contained  a  certain  proportion  of  undisciplined,  strong,  and 
restless  men,  who  had  volunteered  in  the  hope  of  being  called  upon  to  go  to 
the  front.  Their  presence  in  Colorado  at  this  time  was  a  standing  menace  to 
confederate  sympathizers;  but  it  was  not  the  kind  of  service  which  they 
desired;  enforced  idleness  soon  bred  a  mutinous  spirit,  and  discipline  became 
difficult  to  maintain,  the  presence  of  the  regiment  in  Denver  requiring  an 
extra  police  force  to  preserve  the  property  of  citizens  from  the  nightly  prowl 
ing  of  squads  of  mischievous  or  drunken  soldiers.  In  November  they  were 
removed  to  Camp  Weld,  two  miles  from  Denver,  where  they  continued  to  fret 
at  their  bondage  and  threaten  desertion.  Two  companies  were  sent  to  Fort 
Wise,  afterward  Fort  Lyon,  where  they  were  no  better  pleased.  This  post, 
which  was  in  part  Bent's  new  fort,  was  built  by  Sedgwick's  command  of  350 
U.  S.  troops  in  the  winter  of  1860-1,  after  a  summer  campaign  among  the 
Indians.  The  quarters  were  of  stone  laid  up  in  mud,  with  dirt  roofs  and 
floors.  Bent's  portion  was  used  as  a  commissary.  The  post  was  commanded 
by  Lieut  Warner,  of  the  regular  army,  who  regarded  the  manners  of  the 
volunteers  with  great  disfavor,  a  view  which  was  entirely  reciprocated. 

In  Feb.  Major-general  Hunter,  in  command  of  the  department  at  Fort 
Leavenworth,  yielded  to  the  representations  of  the  officers  of  the  Colorado 
1st,  that  unless  the  men  were  put  into  the  field  they  would  desert  in  the 
spring.  Chivington  says  that  it  was  his  influence  that  procured  the  change. 
First  Colorado  Regiment,  MS.,  3-4.  An  occasion  was  opportunely  furnished 
of  making  them  useful  by  the  advance  on  New  Mexico  of  4,000  Texan  troops, 
under  Gen.  H.  H.  Sibley,  and  permission  was  granted  Slough  to  take  his  reg 
iment  south  to  the  relief  of  the  threatened  territory.  On  arriving  at  Fort 
Wise  orders  were  received  to  hasten  to  the  assistance  of  Gen.  Canby,  who 
was  being  overpowered,  the  Texans  having  taken  forts  Bliss  and  Fillmore, 
fought  Canby  at  Valverde,  and  driven  him  back  to  Fort  Craig.  They  were 
preparing  to  march  on  Fort  Union,  the  principal  depot  of  supplies  in  New- 
Mexico.  The  Colo  troops  hastened  forward  through  the  Raton  pass,  and 
after  a  brief  rest  made  a  forced  march  of  64  miles  in  24  hours  the  baggage 
being  left  at  Red  river,  and  the  wagons  used  to  relieve  the  men  in  squads  to 
prevent  their  giving  out.  By  great  exertion  the  regiment  reached  Fort  Union 
on  the  13th,  where  were  400  men,  under  Col  Paul  of  New  Mexico.  There 
were  at  this  time  two  independent  Colorado  companies  in  New  Mexico, 
which  had  been  formed  by  the  governor's  permission  in  the  southern  coun 
ties,  and  sent  to  Fort  Garland.  The  captains  were  James  H.  Ford  and  Theo 
dore  H.  Dodd,  a  nephew  of  Gov.  Todd  of  Ohio.  These  two  companies 
became  the  nucleus  of  the  2d  Colorado  regiment. 

The  day  following  the  arrival  of  Slough  at  Fort  Union  news  was  received 
from  Canby  of  the  capture  of  a  large  train  of  supplies,  and  that  Sibley  was 
at  Santa  Fe  with  recruits  pouring  in.  Upon  this  information  the  Coloradans 
determined  to  march  on  Santa  Fe.  On  the  22d  the  army  set  out,  consisting 
of  the  1st  Colorado,  two  light  batteries,  one  of  the  independent  companies 
under  Capt.  Ford,  and  two  companies  of  the  5th  infantry,  in  all  about  1,300 
men,  commanded  by  Col  Slough.  One  company  was  mounted  for  scouring 


422  ORGANIZATION  OF  GOVERNMENT. 

purposes,  and  divided  into  detachments,  under  captains  Howland  of  the 
regular  army  and  Ford.  On  the  night  of  the  24th  the  scouts  captured  a 
picket  guard,  and  learned  that  a  force  of  800  Texans  were  advancing  on 
Santa  Fe.  Preparations  were  at  once  made  to  intercept  them.  Maj.  Chiv- 
ington  was  ordered  to  make  a  night  march  from  Bernal  springs,  to  encamp 
by  day,  and  to  march  again  by  night  to  Santa  Fe,  spike  the  enemy's  guns, 
and  do  as  much  as  possible  to  cripple  him.  All  the  mounted  men  in  the 
command,  and  two  companies  of  foot  troops,  were  detailed,  amounting  to 
400  men.  On  the  first  night  out,  at  the  Pecos  river,  Lieut-col  Tappan  sur 
prised  and  captured  a  party  of  confederate  scouts,  who  were  sent  to  Slough's 
camp.  Chivington  continued  his  march  by  daylight  (there  was  not  a  man  in 
the  regiment,  from  the  col  down,  who  knew  how  to  obey  oders),  and  met 
the  advanced  guard  of  the  enemy  a  little  after  noon,  which  surrendered. 

He  was  now  in  the  Apache  canon,  a  pass  of  the  mountains  ten  miles  long, 
between  hills  from  1,000  to  2,000  feet  high,  and  proceeding  at  a  leisurely 
pace,  when  the  picket  came  running  back,  informing  Chivington  that  he  was 
confronted  with  a  column  of  double  his  strength  and  furnished  with  artillery, 
while  his  batteries  were  with  Slough  in  the  rear.  Cannonading  was  begun, 
and  Chivington  deployed  his  foot  as  skirmishers  on  the  sides  of  the  moun 
tains  out  of  range  of  the  battery,  and  held  the  horse,  under  Captain  How- 
land  of  the  regular  army,  as  a  reserve,  under  cover,  with  orders  to  charge 
when  they  saw  the  enemy  in  retreat.  But  when  he  did  retreat  Howland 
failed  to  charge.  His  troops  parted  either  way  and  filed  to  the  rear  in  con 
fusion.  Fortunately  for  the  fame  of  the  1st  Colorado  he  was  not  of  it. 
Another  troop  under  Cook  awaited  orders  with  the  shells  whistling  and 
screaming  over  them.  The  skirmishers  soon  made  the  position  of  the  Texans 
in  the  road  untenable,  and  they  retired  to  a  better  one  a  mile  below,  conceal 
ing  their  infantry  in  the  rocks,  and  posting  their  howitzers  to  command  the 
road.  Chivington  followed  cautiously  until  within  an  eighth  of  a  mile  of  the 
battery,  when  he  halted  to  get  the  infantry  and  horse  together,  except  Cook's, 
deploying  them  right  and  left  to  outflank  the  new  confederate  position.  In 
these  movements  Chivington,  who  had  hitherto  been  a  man  of  peace,  a 
methodist  preacher  in  fact,  behaved  well.  He  was  a  native  of  Ohio,  born  in 
1821,  migrated  to  111.  in  1848,  where  he  entered  the  conference  of  the  M.  E. 
church,  being  transferred  to  the  Mo.  conference,  and  in  1855  to  Omaha,  Neb. 
While  in  Mo.  he  was  a  missionary  to  the  Wyandottes.  In  1860  he  came  to 
Denver  as  presiding  elder  of  the  Rocky  mountain  district.  Of  a  com 
manding  presence,  and  in  full  regimental  dress,  he  was  a  conspicuous  figure 
as  he  galloped  through  the  rain  of  bullets.  Further  retreat  of  the  Texans 
was  the  signal  to  Cook,  who  came  forward  with  his  99  horsemen.  The  road 
was  unfavorable  for  cavalry,  but  the  charge  was  successful,  resulting  in  a 
large  number  of  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Texans  fought  bravely  and  inflicted  severe  injury.  A  storm  of  lead  poured 
down  on  the  enemy  from  their  infantry,  but  the  Colorado  regiment  was  posted 
above  them,  and  soon  drove  them  down  the  hillside  into  the  road  and  to  flight. 
The  loss  in  the  battle  of  Apache  canon  was  five  killed,  thirteen  wounded, 
and  three  missing  on  the  union  side.  The  Texans  had  sixteen  killed,  forty 
wounded,  and  seventy-five  taken  prisoners.  At  sunset  Chivington  fell  back 
to  Pigeon  rancho — Pigeon  being  the  name  given  to  a  Frenchman  named  Valle 
who  owned  it — where  the  wounded  were  attended  to  and  the  dead  buried. 
The  prisoners,  including  seven  commissioned  officers,  were  sent  to  Fort 
Union  under  guard  of  Ford's  company  of  dragoons,  and  the  command  fell 
back  to  a  former  camp  at  Coslasky's  for  water. 

On  the  28th,  two  days  after  the  battle,  Col  Slough  came  up  with  the 
reserve  from  Bernal  springs,  and  Chivington  was  again  sent  forward  across  the 
mountain,  with  six  companies  of  infantry,  to  harass  the  enemy's  rear,  and  a 
company  of  dragoons  was  ordered  to  scout  toward  Galisteo.  The  remainder 
of  the  1st  regiment,  two  batteries,  and  two  small  companies  of  regular  cav 
alry,  numbering  altogether  600,  also  moved  forward  on  the  road  to  Santa  Fe, 
not  doubting  that  their  passage  would  be  disputed.  While  halting  at 


CIVIL  WAR.  423 

Pigeon's  rancho  the  pickets  came  in  with  the  information  that  the  Texana 
were  advancing  in  force,  less  than  naif  a  mile  away.  Quickly  the  bugles 
sounded,  the  men  fell  in  line,  and  had  gone  but  a  few  hundred  yards  when 
the  firing  began. 

Had  the  Texans  been  aware  how  greatly  they  outnumbered  the  union 
troops,  instead  of  defeat,  they  would  have  prevailed.  As  it  was,  after  a 
day's  fighting,  they  called  for  time  to  bury  their  dead.  The  following  day 
they  asked  to  have  the  armistice  extended  to  36  hours.  At  this  moment  an 
order  arrived  from  Canby  to  stop  fighting,  and  return  to  Fort  Union.  Ihe 
Coloradans  were  astounded.  Canby  had  so  far  been  driven  by  the  enemy. 
The  loss  on  the  Texan  side,  in  the  two  battles,  was  281  killed,  200  wounded, 
and  100  prisoners,  a  total  of  581.  .On  the  union  side  49  were  killed,  64 
wounded,  and  21  captured,  a  total  of  134.  Col  Slough,  on  returning  to  Fort 
Union,  tendered  his  resignation,  being  offended,  it  was  said,  by  Canby's  order. 
The  troops  were  allowed  three  day's  of  rest,  when  information  c:>me  that 
Canby  had  left  Fort  Craig  on  the  1st  of  April,  and  was  having  a  running  fight 
on  the  Rio  Grande  with  Sibley's  army  in  retreat  to  Texas.  Orders  to  march 
south  to  divert  the  enemy's  attention,  or  assist  in  driving  him  out  of  the 
country  were  received.  On  the  6th,  the  regiment,  now  commanded  by  Tap- 
pan,  set  out  again  on  the  same  road  it  had  lately  marched  over.  Canby  and 
Col  Paul  were  found  at  a  small  village  at  the  head  of  Carnuel  pass,  endeav 
oring  to  make  a  junction  with  Slough,  while  the  Texans  were  at  Albuquerque, 
whither  they  had  fallen  back  on  a  feint  from  Canby  looking  like  an  attack. 
Slough's  resignation  being  accepted,  Caiiby  promoted  Chivington  to  the  col 
onelcy  over  Tappan,  who  waived  his  rank  in  Chivington's  favor,  and  Gilpin 
approved.  On  the  14th  of  April  the  united  commands  moved  down  the  pass, 
and  the  Rio  Grande  valley  to  a  point  eighteen  miles  below  Albuquerque,  and 
one  mile  from  Peralta,  where  Sibley  was  encamped,  the  Texan  army  in  igno 
rance  of  the  approach  of  Canby.  Chivington  desired  the  privilege  of  attackr 
ing  with  the  Colorado  regiment  alone,  but  was  restrained  by  his  superior. 
The  Colorado  troops  reposed  on  their  arms,  in  the  hope  of  being  called  to 
surprise  the  confederates,  but  no  such  order  came.  The  bugles  sounded  on 
the  morning  of  the  15th,  within  hearing  of  Sibley's  brass  band,  and  the  now 
superior  union  forces  proceeded  openly  to  the  conflict.  The  battle  began  in 
the  morning  by  the  capture  of  a  train  coming  from  Albuquerque.  After 
breakfast  Peralta  was  attacked;  but  Canby  having  to  fight  in  the  open  field, 
while  Sibley  was  sheltered  by  the  walls  of  the  town,  the  fighting  was  of  the 
mildest  ever  seen.  At  two  o'clock  a  high  wind  having  arisen,  and  the  air 
being  filled  with  sand,  Canby  withdrew  to  camp.  That  afternoon  and  night 
Sibley  crossed  the  river,  and  proceeded  down  on  the  west  side. 

Much  dissatisfaction  was  felt  by  the  Colorado  troops  concerning  the  gen 
eral's  failure  to  attack  Peralta.  On  the  16th,  Canby  entered  Peralta,  and 
marched  leisurely  down  the  river  on  a  line  parallel  with  Sibley,  but  unable 
to  cross  until  the  20th,  at  Limitar,  when  it  was  learned  that  the  Texans  had 
buried  their  artillery  except  two  pieces,  burned  their  wagons,  and  were  going 
through  the  mountains  by  Cook  springs  to  Mesilla.  Canby  then  proceeded 
to  Fort  Craig,  Chivington  going  into  camp  at  Valverde,  a  battle-field  where 
a  company  of  the  2d  Colorado,  before  mentioned  as  being  in  New  Mexico 
with  Canby,  had  distinguished  itself  for  bravery,  losing  forty  per  cent  of  its 
number  in  a  vain  effort  to  save  the  lost  battle  of  the  21st  of  February. 
Here  the  1st  regiment  remained  inactive  until  August,  waiting  for  orders 
and  pay,  after  which  it  was  sent  to  Fort  Union.  In  July  Chivington 
obtained  leave  to  proceed  to  Washington,  to  endeavor  to  have  his  regiment 
transferred  to  a  field  of  active  service,  and  Col  Howe  of  the  3d  U.  S.  cavalry 
was  placed  temporarily  in  command.  He  succeeded  in  securing  an  order 
converting  the  regiment  into  the  1st  Colorado  cavalry,  with  headquarters  at 
Denver.  In  midwinter  it  was  concentrated  at  Colorado  City,  mounted,  when 
it  proceeded  to  Denver,  and  was  received  with  enthusiasm  by  the  citizens. 

The  history  of  the  2d  Colorado  regiment  has  less  connection  with  the 
political  history  of  the  state,  The  first  two  companies  were  recruited  under 


424  ORGANIZATION  OF  GOVERNMENT. 

the  order  of  Gilpin.  They  were  marched  to  Fort  Garland,  and  mustered 
into  the  service  of  the  U.  S.  in  Dec.  1862.  They  experienced  great  hardships 
in  crossing  mountains  to  New  Mexico,  not  to  mention  the  fighting  at  the 
battle  of  Valverde.  In  Feb.  1862  Col  J.  H.  Leavenworth  was  authorized  by 
the  secretary  of  war  to  raise  six  companies  of  volunteer  infantry  in  Colorado, 
which  with  these  two,  and  two  others  of  a  later  organization,  were  to  consti 
tute  the  2d  Colorado  regiment.  T.  H.  Dodd  was  appointed  lieut-col.  The 
captains  of  the  new  companies  were  J.  Nelson  Smith,  L.  D.  Rowell,  Reuben 
Howard,  George  West,  E.  D.  Boyd,  and  S.  W.  Wagoner.  In  Aug.  the  regi 
ment  was  ordered  to  Fort  Lyon,  where  it  remained  until  April  1863,  when  six 
companies  were  marched  to  Fort  Leavenworth.  In  June  Leavenworth  was 
placed  in  command  of  all  the  troops  011  the  Santa  Fe  road,  with  headquart 
ers  at  Fort  Larned.  The  Indians  and  the  confederates  together  gave  him 
plenty  of  employment.  On  the  2d  of  July  occurred  the  battle  of  Cabin 
creek,  with  a  loss  to  the  enemy  of  about  forty  killed  and  wounded.  On  the 
16th  they  were  joined  at  Fort  Gibson  by  Gen.  Blunt  commanding  the  district 
of  Colorado  and  western  Kansas,  and  their  united  force  numbering  1,400  met 
the  confederate  force  of  6,000,  under  Gen.  Cooper,  at  Honey  springs, 
attacked  it  and  in  a  battle  of  two  hours  routed  it,  with  a  loss  of  400  killed, 
wounded,  and  missing.  To  prevent  his  stores  falling  into  Blunt's  hands, 
Cooper  burned  them.  The  loss  on  the  union  side  in  this  engagement  was  14 
killed  and  30  wounded.  From  July  to  October,  Leavenworth  was  in  com 
mand  at  Fort  Larned.  In  the  latter  month  he  was  dismissed  the  service 
on  account  of  having  enlisted  a  company,  without  authority,  to  act  as  artil 
lerymen,  but  the  order  was  subsequently  revoked  and  his  record  cleared. 
Dodd  succeeded  him  in  command  of  the  reg.  During  the  same  month  the  2d 
and  3d  Colorado  inf.  reg.  were  consolidated  into  the  2d  Colorado  volunteer 
cav.  All  detachments  were  ordered  to  Missouri,  and  thence  sent  east.  Ford, 
who  had  been  major  of  the  2d  inf.  was  promoted  to  the  command  of  the  2d 
cav.,  Dodd  being  lieut-col.  Curtis,  Smith,  and  Pritchard  were  made  majors 
of  three  battalions.  Ford  was  appointed  to  command  subdistrict  No.  4  of 
central  Mo.,  with  the  Colorado  vol.  cav.,  the  Mo.  militia,  and  a  reg.  of  inf. 
The  reg.  consisted  of  twelve  companies,  and  numbered  1,240  men.  It 
remained  in  service  until  1865,  fighting  guerrillas  chiefly,  but  taking  an 
energetic  part  in  the  destruction  of  Price  s  army.  In  Dec.  the  regiment  was 
concentrated  at  Fort  Riley,  refitted,  and  put  on  a  footing  as  winter  scouts  to 
protect  the  road  as  tar  west  as  Fort  Lyon.  The  following  spring  Ford  was 
promoted  to  be  a  brig.  gen.  by  brevet,  and  took  command  of  the  district. 
In  April,  May  and  June  1865,  a  force  of  5,500  men,  and  two  batteries  was 
distributed  in  this  district,  prepared  for  a  summer  campaign  against  the 
Indians  south  of  the  Arkansas  river.  When  everything  was  ready  the 
interior  department  interfered,  and  arrested  the  movement.  Irritated  at  this 
policy,  Ford  resigned,  and  General  Sanborn  took  the  command.  Again,  as  he 
made  ready  to  chastise  the  hostile  Indians,  the  campaign  was  broken  up  by 
the  same  interference.  In  Sept.  the  reg.  was  mustered  out  at  Fort  Leaven 
worth.  It  had  done  faithful  service,  and  lost  about  70  men  killed  and  many 
more  wounded. 

The  3d  Colorado  volunteer  infantry  was  raised  in  1862  by  Gov.  Evans. 
By  the  1st  of  Feb.  1863,  the  first  battalion  was  mustered  in,  Curtis  com 
manding.  James  H.  Ford  was  made  colonel,  and  James  L.  Pritchard  major. 
The  captains  were  R.  R.  Harbour,  E.  W.  Kingsbury,  E.  P.  Elmer,  G.  W. 
Morton,  Thomas  Moses,  Jr.  In  March  they  set  out  for  the  States  via  the 
Platte  route,  reaching  Fort  Leavenworth  on  the  23d  of  April.  They  shared 
the  hardships  of  border  warfare  with  the  2d  regiment,  to  which  they  were 
finally  joined. 

Besides  the  presence  of  confederate  sympathizers,  the  territory  was  visited 
in  the  summer  of  1863  by  a  small  band  of  Mexican  guerrilas,  who  spread 
terror  through  the  South  park  by  emulating  the  sanguinary  deeds  of  the 
traditional  Mexican  banditti.  The  bloody  Espinosas  they  were  called. 
Much  mystery  surrounded  their  actions  and  their  motives,  since  it  was  not  for 


CIVIL   WAR.  425 

gain  that  they  committed  their  crimes.  They  are  supposed  to  have  been  out 
laws  from  Chihuahua,  and  that  they  were  brothers  or  cousins.  One  was  a 
large,  iron-framed  man,  with  a  villainous  countenance,  the  second  a  smaller 
man,  with  nothing  marked  in  his  appearance.  There  was  also  a  third,  a  mere 
boy.  On  their  journey  to  Colorado  they  killed  a  merchant  of  Santa  Fe,  and 
a  soldier  at  Conejos.  During  three  weeks  in  the  vicinity  of  Canon  City  they 
killed  9  men,  William  Bruce  of  Hardscrabble  creek  being  the  first  victim; 
thenHarkins  on  Fontaine  creek;  and  Alderman  at  his  farm,  on  the  road  from 
Colorado  City  to  South  park.  Then  fell  Shoup,  a  brother  of  George  L.  Shoup, 
Binckley,  Carter,  Lehman,  and  others.  A  company  was  raised  in  Califor 
nia  gulch,  by  John  McCannon,  which  followed  and  traced  them  to  a  camp  on 
the  head  waters  of  Oil  creek,- in  El  Paso  co.,  where  the  larger  man  was  killed 
by  Joseph  Lamb.  The  other  Espinosa  escaped  to  New  Mexico.  He  wrote 
a  letter  in  Spanish  to  Gov.  Evans,  stating  that  he  had  killed  22  men,  and  for 
that  reason  demanded  the  restitution  of  his  property  captured  by  the  volun 
teers.  He  was  finally  killed,  together  with  a  nephew,  by  Tom  Tobins  of 
Costilla  co.  Hollister's  Miners  of  Colorado,  302-3;  Bricklcy  and  Hartwell  South 
ern  Colo,  29-30;  Baskins  Arkansas  Vol.  Hi*t.,  575-6;  Fowkrs  Woman  s 
Experience!  MS.,  1-2;  Hilts  Tales  of  Colorado  Pioneers,  290-2;  Overland 
Monthly,  v.  526;  Folsom  Telegraph,  Oct.  28,  1871;  El  Paso  County,  etc.,  MS., 
30-40.  In  the  spring  of  1864  James  Reynolds,  a  pioneer  of  Colorado,  turned 
guerilla,  and  picking  up  a  company  of  22  confederate  deserters  in  Texas 
invaded  Colorado.  On  the  way  they  captured  a  train,  which  furnished  them 
ample  subsistence,  arms,  and  ammunition,  $5,000  in  drafts,  and  a  larger  sum 
in  money.  They  quarreled  over  the  spoils,  and  separated,  13  turning  back. 
The  other  half  secreted  their  plunder,  and  proceeded  to  the  South  park,  the 
former  home  of  Reynolds,  capturing  a  stage  coach  going  from  Buckskin  Joe 
to  Denver,  and  robbing  the  mail.  They  continued  to  infest  the  road  for  a 
few  days  longer,  seeming  to  invite  observation,  as  if  they  gloried  in  their 
valiant  deeds  of  theft  and  outrage.  But  they  were  soon  pursued  by  parties 
of  citizens,  and  finally  overtaken  by  a  squad  of  volunteers  from  the  mines  in 
Summit  co.,  under  Jack  Sparks  on  the  north  fork  of  the  Platte.  Reynolds 
was  wounded  and  one  man  killed,  named  Singleterry.  In  the  flight  of  the 
band,  one  Holliman  was  captured,  who  turned  state's  evidence.  Five  others 
were  caught  by  parties  lying  in  waiting  on  the  Canon  City  road.  They  were 
brought  before  a  military  commission,  and  ordered  to  Fort  Lyon,  but 
attempting  to  escape,  were  fired  on  and  all  killed. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

POLITICAL  AFFAIRS. 

1861-1886 

GILPIN'S  HEROIC  SUCCESSES — SUPERSEDED  BY  JOHN  EVANS — WELD  ANI> 
ELBERT— LEGISLATIVE  ACTION — COINAGE— BENNETT— FAILURE  TO  ES 
TABLISH  STATE  GOVERNMENT— FURTHER  EFFORTS  AND  FINAL  SUCCESS 
—CURRENT  TERRITORIAL  AFFAIRS — ORGANIC  LAW— GOVERNOR  CUM- 
MINGS — BRADFORD — CHILCOTT — HUNT,  McCooK,  AND  ELBERT — GOV 
ERNOR  B.OUTT — CHAFFEE — POSTAL  ROUTES — PATTERSON,  BOONE,  AND 
BROMWELL — THE  JUDICIARY — POLITICS  UNDER  STATE  ORGANIZATION 
— TELLER — POPULATION  AND  LANDS— GOVERNORS  PITKIN,  GRANT,  AND 
EATON — SENATORS  HILL  AND  BOWEN. 

GOVERNOR  GILPIN'S  confident  measures  for  the  pres 
ervation  of  peace  and  loyalty  in  the  territory,  with 
the  boldness  of  his  demands  on  the  treasury,  brought 
him  into  trouble.  An  audacious  temperament  is  often 
the  best  possession  of  a  man  in  emergencies.  If  any 
one  refused  to  accept  his  drafts1  they  were  told,  "  It 
is  simply  a  question  of  whether  you  will  take  this 
evidence  of  indebtedness,  or  give  up  your  goods  with 
out  any  such  evidence ;  for  the  articles  we  need  we 
must  and  will  have."  Several  hundred  thousand  dol 
lars  of  the  governor's  orders 2  were  on  the  market,  and, 
as  at  first  they  were  not  recognized  by  the  government, 

1 A  copy  of  one  of  these  orders  is  preserved  in  Extracts  from  Early 
Records,  MS.,  which  is  copied  from  the  archives  of  the  Historical  Society  of 
Colorado,  and  runs  thus:  '  Executive  Department,  Colorado  Territory,  Den 
ver,  Sept.  18,  1861.  At  sight  pay  to  the  order  of  Mrs  Julia  A.  Ford  thirty 
dollars,  value  received,  and  charge  the  same  to  the  account  of  William  Gil- 
pin,  Governor  of  Colorado  Territory.  To  the  Secretary  of  the  United  States 
Treasury,  Washington,  D.  C.,  Number  220.' 

2  The  whole  appropriation  for  the  expenses  of  Colorado  for  the  fiscal  year 
ending  June  30,  1862,  was  $32,000.  U.  S.  H.  Ex.  Doc.,  no.  i.  44,  37th  cong. 
2d  sess.;  Conff.  Globe,  1860-1,  ap.  340.  The  direct  tax  levied  on  the  territory 
by  congress  for  the  same  period  was  $22,905.  Laws  Rel.  Direct  Tax,  37th 
cong.  1st  and  2d  sess,,  8, 
(426) 


GUBERNATORIAL  CHANGES.  427 

financial  distress  followed/  and  a  strong  faction  clam 
ored  for  Gilpm's  removal.  The  record  made  by  the 
1st  regiment  justified  his  acts  so  far  as  to  secure  the 
payment  of  his  drafts,  but  in  the  meantime  much  dis 
satisfaction  existed.  Those  who  could  not  afford  to 
hold,  sold  th3m  at  a  loss  to  speculators  ;  and,  though 
ultimately  redeemed,  the  losers  were  naturally  disaf 
fected,  and  labored  for  the  removal  of  the  author  of 
their  misfortunes.3  He  was  succeeded  in  office  April 
19,  1862,  by  John  Evans  of  Evanston,  Illinois,  who 
served  the  people  acceptably  for  more  than  three 
years.*  Secretary  Weld,  an  able  young  man,  but  of 
irregular  habits,  was  removed  to  make  way  for 
Samuel  H.  Elbert,  son-in-law  of  Evans.  Weld  died 
early;  but  Gilpin  lived  to  see  his  acts  justified.5 
United  States  Marshal  Townsend  was  removed  in 
June  1862,  and  A.  S.  Hunt  appointed  in  his  place. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  first  legislature  ad 
journed,  to  meet  again  with  the  full  complement  of 
council  men  and  representatives  allowed  by  the  organic 
act  in  June.  But  it  was  discovered  that  a  blunder 
had  been  committed,  as  the  two  sessions  would  fall 
within  the  same  fiscal  year,  while  two  appropriations 
would  not;  and,  by  permission  of  congress,6  another 
adjournment  was  made  to  the  7th  of  July,  when  the 
assembly  met  at  Colorado  City,  where,  as  I  have 

*B>/eri  Hi*t.  Colo,  MS.,  17,  23,  26;  Elberfs  Public  Men  and  Measures,  MS., 
4-5;  GMpins  Pimeer  of  1843,  MS. 

4John  Evans  wag  of  Quaker  parents,  born  in  Ohio  in  1814.  He  studied 
medicine,  and  practised  in  111.  and  Ind.  He  was  elected  to  the  chair  of  the 
Rush  medical  college,  then  organizing  in  Chicago,  and  became  one  of  the 
editors  of  the  Northwestern  Medical  and  Surgical  Journd,  besides  being 
chairman  of  the  com .nittee  on  public  schools  of  Chicago.  He  donated  $25, 000 
for  the  endowment  of  a  chair  of  mental  and  moral  philosophy  in  the  North 
western  university,  the  trustees  naming  the  university  town  in  his  honor, 
and  electing  him  president  of  the  board.  As  a  railroad  projector  and  keen 
politician  he  was  long  conspicuous.  His  daughter  Josephine  married  his  sec 
retary,  S.  H.  Elbert,  in  1865.  Dying  soon  after,  her  father  erected  a  chapel 
in  Evans'  Addition  to  Denver  to  her  memory.  Routt,  T'rr.  and  State,  MS., 
5;  PUktn's  Political  Views,  MS.,  9-10;  Elbert,  Public  Men  and  Measures, 
MS.,  7. 

5  Weld  was  a  Connecticut  man.     He  went  east,  and  was  appointed  lieut- 
col  in  a  colored  regiment,  and  died  of  fever  in  the  south  during  the  war. 
Effort,  Public  Men  and  Measures,  MS.,  1. 

6  Acts  and  Res,,  351,  37,  2, 


428  POLITICAL  AFFAIRS. 

already  stated,  it  remained  in  session  but  four  days  be 
fore  returning  to  more  comfortable  quarters  in  Denver. 
Besides  revising  and  perfecting  the  work  of  the  first 
session,  the  legislature  asked  congress  to  increase  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  probate  courts,  and  that  the  laws 
be  printed  in  Spanish,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Mexican 
population.  The  postmaster-general  was  requested  to 
provide  for  a  tri -weekly  mail  from  the  east,  and  from 
Denver  to  Boulder  City  ;  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad 
and  Telegraph  company  was  asked  to  locate  its  road 
through  Colorado,  and  to  select  one  of  its  board  of 
directors  from  among  its  citizens,  Evans  being  recom 
mended.  The  secretary  of  the  treasury  was  urged  to 
put  a  United  States  mint  in  operation  at  an  early 
day,  by  purchasing  the  private  mint  in  Denver/ 
which  prayer  was  granted ;  and  the  secretary  of  the 
interior  was  solicited  to  treat  with  the  Indians  for 
lands,  chiefly  mineral,  to  which  their  title  had  not 
been  extinguished.  A  joint  resolution  was  passed 
relating  to  the  Colorado  volunteers,  commending 
them  to  the  favorable  notice  of  the  president.  The 
election  law  provided  that  the  general  election  for 
delegate  for  congress,  members  of  the  council  and 
assembly,  and  county  officers,  should  be  held  on  the 
first  Tuesday  in  September ;  but  as  the  appropriation 
for  1862-3  would  be  exhausted  by  the  July  session  of 
1862,  the  election  of  a  legislature  before  1863  was  by 
joint  resolution  postponed  to  that  year. 

7  According  to  the  memorial,  a  private  mint  had  been  in  successful  opera 
tion  for  more  than  two  years  when  the  petition  was  made.  Byers  relates 
that  the  private  banking-house  of  Clark,  Gruber,  and  Co.,  Denver,  began 
coining  $5,  $10,  and  $20  gold  pieces  July  20,  1860;  and  Parsons  and  Co.  also 
coined  some  at  Hamilton  at  a  later  period.  The  $10's  coined  at  Denver  by 
Clark,  Gruber,  and  Co.  were  17  grains  heavier  than  the  coin  of  the  U.  S. 
mint  Centennial  State,  MS.,  1.  The  bill  establishing  a  branch  mint  in  Den 
ver  appropriated  $75,000,  and  was  approved  April  21,  1862.  Cony.  Globe, 
1861-2,  ap.  349.  In  March  1863  a  resolution  was  passed  to  purchase  the  lots 
and  assaying  house  or  houses  of  Clark,  Gruber,  and  Co.  The  chamber  of 
commerce  of  Denver,  on  May  8,  1861,  adopted  the  following  rates  for  gold 
dust  as  a  circulating  medium:  Blue  river  gold,  $20  per  ounce;  French  gulch, 
Humbug  gulch,  Fairplay  gulch,  Nigger  gulch,  and  McNulty  gulch,  $17  per 
ounce;  Galifornia  gulch,  $16  per  ounce.  Central  City  adopted  the  rate  of 
$17  per  ounce  for  Clear  creek  gold  dust,  and  $15  per  ounce  for  Russell  gulch 
dust,  Best  retorted  gold,  $15  per  ounce;  common  retorted  and  dirty  gold, 


REPRESENTATION  ANU  JUDICIARY.  429 

In  July  the  democratic  party  attempted  to  organize, 
holding  a  convention  on  the  10th,  but  did  not  become 
possessed  of  any  power  or  coherency  until  after  the 
close  of  the  civil  war.  At  the  September  election  of 

1862,  Hiram  P.  Bennett  was  again  chosen  delegate 
to  congress,  the  Neivs  summing  up  his  services  during 
one  session  as  follows:  A  mail  service  and  new  post 
routes ;  post-offices  throughout  the  settled  portion  of 
the  territory;  a  land  district  and  removal  of  the  sur 
veyor-general  from  Utah  to  Denver;8  appropriations 
for  surveys ;  military  posts ;  a  branch  mint  at  Denver ; 
payment  of  the   Gilpin  war  debts;9  besides  laboring 
for  the  passage  of  the  Union  Pacific  railroad  bill,  and 
bills   for  various  wagon-roads.     With  such  a  record 
his  reelection  was  assured,10  and  he  resumed  his  seat, 
to    retain    it    in    the    thirty-eighth    congress.      The 
amendments  made  to  the  organic  act  by  congress  in 

1863,  referring  to  the  judiciary  system,  gave  the  jus 
tices'  courts  jurisdiction  in  matters  of  controversy  in 
volving  not  more  than  three  hundred  dollars,  and  the 
probate  courts  jurisdiction   in  cases  where  the  sum 
claimed  did  not  exceed  two  thousand  dollars ;  besides 
which  the  probate  courts  were  given  chancery  as  well 
as  common  law  jurisdiction,  with  authority  to  redress 
all  wrongs  against  the  laws  of  the  territory  affecting 
persons   or   property.     The    same  act    modified    the 
power  of  the  governor,  made  absolute  as  to  the  ap 
proval   of  laws   by  the   organic    act,  the  amendment 

812  per  ounce.  Before  the  establishment  of  these  rates  the  price  of  all  gold 
dust  had  been  uniform  at  $18.  Fraudulent  gold  dust  and  gold  bricks  were 
manufactured  by  counterfeiters  in  1861.  Ihe  bricks  had  one  corner  mado  of 
genuine  metal,  from  which  the  sellers  cut  a  chip  which  they  offered  for  assay. 
One  banker  bought  $20.000  worth  of  these  counterfeit  bricks. 

8  Cong.  Clobe,  1861-2,  ap.  345.     Colorado  was  consolidated  with  Idaho  and 
Nevada  in  1863-4.  » 

9  The  actual  amount  of  the  Gilpin  drafts  was  §306,000,  added  to  which 
was  about  $100,000  of  debts  where  the  drafts  had  been  refused.     Congress 
assumed  the  whole  amount  early  in  1862.  Rocky  Mountain  News,  March  20, 
1862. 

10  There  were  three  candidates  in  the  field:    Bennett  representing  the 
Douglas  democracy,  indifferent  to  the  fate  of  the  negro,  but  true  to  the 
union;  Gilpin,  supported  by  the  abolitionists,  and  J.  M.  Francisco,  Brecken- 
ridge  democrat. 


430  POLITICAL  AFFAIRS. 

permitting   the  legislature  to  pass  an  act  by  a  two 
thirds  vote  over  the  governor's  veto.11 

On  the  2d  of  November,  1861,  a  convention  was 
held  in  Denver  to  memorialize  congress  for  a  home 
stead  law  for  the  protection  of  squatters  on  the  public 
domain,  and  the  same  rights  allowed  to  the  settlers  of 
Oregon,  including  holding  their  claims  as  bounded  by 
lines  drawn  by  themselves  instead  of  the  government 
survey.  To  this  proposition  no  answer  was  returned. 
But  in  June  1862  the  right  of  preemption  was  ex 
tended  to  the  territory,  with  the  appointment  of  a  regis 
ter  and  receiver,  and  the  repeal  of  the  graduation  act.13 

There  had  been  from  the  first  a  party  in  Colorado, 
though  not  constituting  a  majority,  which  desired  a 
state  government.  The  promoters  of  state  organiza 
tion  in  early  territorial  times  are  usually  ambitious 
men,  desirous  of  place  and  power,  and  Colorado  offers 
no  exception  to  the  rule.  In  compliance  with  the  de 
mands  of  this  portion  of  the  electors  of  the  territory, 
an  effort  was  made  at  the  third  session  of  the  thirty- 
seventh  congress,  1862-3,  to  have  an  enabling  act 
passed  allowing  Colorado  to  form  a  constitution,  which 
was  defeated.  But  in  March  1864,  by  representing 
the  population  to  be  between  fifty  and  sixty  thousand, 

11  Cong.   Globe,   1862-3,   ap.   200;  Corbett's  Legis.  Manual,  51-4;  Acts  and 
Res.,  88/37,  3;  8.  Jour.,  471,  487,  37,  3. 

12  'An  act  to  graduate  and  reduce  the  price  of  the  public  lands  to  actual 
settlers  and  cultivators.'     An  act  approved  in  May  constituted  Colorado  and 
Utah  one  surveying  district,  with  the  office  of  the  sur-gen.  at  Denver.     The 
appropriations  for  surveys  was  $10,000.     No  special  land  laws  were  enacted 
in  favor  of  Colorado.     The  status  of  land  titles  was  exceedingly  simple,  after 
the  extinguishment  of  Indian  rights,  except  in  a  few  cases  of  Mexican  grants; 
a  Mexican,  grant,  like  Indian  territory,  being  of  such  indefinite  dimensions 
as  to  invite  a  contest  of  wits,  if  not  of  weapons,  in  the  settlement,  nonet's 
Courts,  Laws,  and  Litigation,  MS.,   7-8.     In  1873-4  a  disturbance  arose  in 
Lake  co.  over  the  possession  of  some  government  land  near  the  present  site 
of   Buena   Vista.     Elijah   Gibbs   was  attacked  by  a  mob  calling  themselves 
vigilants,  and  killed  in  self-defence  one  of  their  number,  George  Barrington. 
At  another  time  he  killed  a  man  named  Coon  who  belonged  to  an  attacking 
party  and  had  to  escape,  the  friends  of  the  men  who  were  killed  taking  up 
the  quarrel,  which  was  carried  on  for  several  years,  and  in  which  7  or  8  per 
sons  were  killed,  including  Judge  Dyer  of  Granite  City,  who  was  assassi 
nated  while  trying  one  of  the  cases  which  grew  out  of  it.  flyers'  Centennial 
State,  MS.,  32-3. 


LOOKING  TOWARD  STATEHOOD.  431 

or  double  what  it  really  was,  and  by  other  devices, 
congress  was  induced  to  pass  an  enabling  act,  permit 
ting  the  delegates  elected  by  the  people  to  meet  on 
the  first  Monday  in  July  to  form  a  constitution,  to  be 
submitted  to  the  people  at  an  election  to  be  held  on 
the  second  Tuesday  in  October.  The  campaign  was  a 
stirring  one,  several  newspapers  being  devoted  to  man 
ufacturing  a  favorable  public  opinion ;  but  the  people, 
knowing  there  was  an  empty  treasury,  and  not  being 
desirous  of  replenishing  it  to  the  requirements  of  a 
state  government,  decided  that  it  was  inexpedient,  and 
voted  against  it.13 

There  was  yet  another  reason  why  many  rejected 
the  constitution.  The  organic  act  of  the  territory, 
formed  ere  yet  the  civil  war  had  burned  its  bill  of 
rights  so  terribly  into  the  conscience  of  the  nation, 
provided  that  the  right  to  vote  at  the  first  election 
should  be  extended  to  "  every  free  white  male  citizen 
of  the  United  States,  including  those  recognized  as 
citizens  by  the  treaties  of  1848  and  1853  with  Mexico." 
The  first  legislature,  in  an  act  regulating  elections, 
decreed  that  only  citizens  of  the  United  States,  per 
sons  of  foreign  birth  who  had  declared  their  intention 
to  become  citizens,  and  persons  of  Indian  blood  who 
had  been  declared  by  treaty  to  be  citizens,  should  be 
deemed  qualified  voters.  On  the  llth  of  March,  1864, 
this  act  was  amended  so  as  more  plainly  to  exclude  "a 
negro  or  mulatto,"  and  the  constitution  perpetuated 
all  the  territorial  laws. 

13  The  framers  of  this  rejected  constitution  were  W.  A.  H  Loveland,  pres 
ident  of  the  convention,  Samuel  E.  Browne,  John  Q.  Charles,  J.  Bright  Smith, 
James  M.  Cavanaugh,  Richard  Sopris,  Joseph  M.  Brown,  George  T.  Clark, 
John  A.  Koontz,  D.  H.  Goodwin,  A.  C.  Hunt,  Charles  A.  Cook,  G.  W.  Miller, 
David  H.  Nichols,  P.  M.  Hinman,  D.  Pound,  A.  Lumry,  W.  E.  Sisty,  J.  T. 
Herrick,  Robert  White,  C.  B.  Patterson,  John  Locke,  D.  P.  Wilson,  Ed  S. 
Perrin,  Wm  E.  Darby,  B.  C.  Waterman,  Rodney  French,  A.  J.  Van  Deren, 
H.  F.  Powell,  F.  H.  Judd,  C.  W.  Mather,  B.  F.  Lake,  George  E.  Randolph, 
\V.  S.  Rockwell,  O.  J.  Hollister,  W.  R.  Gorsline,  T.  Whitcomb,  G.  B.  Backus, 
T.  C.  Bergen,  T.  P.  Boyd,  H.  H.  DeMary,  N.  F.  Cheeseman,  C.  Nachtrieb, 
H.eAnderson,  John  McCannon,  Thos  Keys,  W.  J.  Curtice,  Alex.  Hatch,  A. 
DuBois,  H.  Henson,  J.  D.  Parmelee,  G.  VV.  Lechner,  H.  B.  Haskell,  John 
T.  Lynch,  G.  W.  Coffin,  J.  E.  Washburn,  F.  Merrill,  J.  L.  Pritchard,  G.  W. 
Hawkins,  C.  C.  Hawley,  B.  F.  Pine,  W.  G.  Reid.  C&rbett,  Legis.  Manual, 
225-6. 


432  POLITICAL  AFFAIRS. 

Though  beaten,  the  state  government  party  was 
not  disheartened.  A  convention  was  called  in  1865, 
in  which  eleven  counties  were  represented  out  of  sev 
enteen  ;  a  constitution  was  submitted  to  the  people, 
which,  without  any  law  to  sanction  it,  was  adopted — 
another  illustration  of  the  vox  populi  vox  dei  saw. 
Gilpin  was  elected  governor.  The  legislature  assem 
bled  and  made  choice  of  two  senators,  John  Evans 
and  Jerome  B.  Chaffee,  who  proceeded  to  Washing 
ton  to  urge  the  admission  of  Colorado  under  the  con 
stitution  to  which  a  majority  of  those  who  voted  on 
the  question  had  assented,  if  not  a  majority  of  all  the 
voters  in  the  territory.  Nor  did  they  urge  their 
wishes  in  vain.  Congress  again  consented  to  admit 
the  state  of  Colorado  to  the  union,  as  Governor  Cum- 
mings  affirmed,  in  the  face  of  the  principles  for  which 
the  nation  had  been  contending  during  four  years  of 
war,  and  in  the  face  of  their  own  legislation  at  the 
same  session  ; "  for  the  constitution  still  excluded  per 
sons  of  negro  blood  from  participating  in  the  elections, 
an  example  of  the  power  which  flaunts  itself  in  the 
lobby  of  the  national  capital,  though  acting  in  this 
instance  in  the  right  direction  as  against  that  most 
monstrous  of  American  absurdities,  African  voting. 
But  President  Johnson  vetoed  the  bill.15  A  similar 
bill  was  vetoed  again  in  1867-8,  which  failed  by  only 
one  vote  in  the  senate  from  being  passed  over  his 
head.  The  matter  was  revived  periodically  for  ten 
years.  On  the  3d  of  March,  1875,  an  enabling  act 
was  passed,  authorizing  the  electors  to  vote,  in  July 
1876,  upon  a  constitution,  to  be  formed  in  convention 
to  be  held  at  Denver  before  that  time  The  period 

u  H.  Jour.,  1865-6,  622,  657,  668,  672.  On  the  1st  of  Feb.  1865,  Delegate 
Bennett  had  headed  a  written  resolution  of  the  territorial  delegates,  approv 
ing  the  proposition  to  amend  the  federal  constitution  forever  prohibiting 
slavery  in  the  U.  S.  Cong.  Globe,  1864-5,  596. 

^Byera'  Centennial  State,  MS.,  31.  Elbert  says  that  the  ostensible  reason 
for  vetoing  the  bill  was  that  the  population  was  insufficient,  but  the  real  reason 
was  that  the  two  senators,  Evans  and  Chaffee,  would  not  pledge  themselves 
to  vote  against  Johnson's  impeachment.  Pub.  Men  and  Measures,  MS.,  10-11. 
The  reason  which  Johnson  gave  was  that  the  proceedings  were  irregular. 
Cong.  Globe,  1865-6,  210. 


CONGRESSIONAL  MEASURES.  433 

was  ripe  for  its  acceptance ;  the  political  sea  was  calm ; 
there  was  nothing  in  the  new  instrument  at  variance 

O 

with  the  amendments  to  the  federal  constitution,  and 
both  congress  and  the  people  of  the  commonwealth 
were  satisfied  that  Colorado  was  entitled  to  become  a 
sovereign  state,16  with  boundaries  as  ample  as  in  its 
territorial  days.17 

The  constitution-makers  of  Colorado  were,  by  this 
time,  skilled  artificers.18  It  was  a  noble  document, 
with  those  errors  only  which  the  course  of  events 
develops. 19  An  attempt  was  made  for  universal  suffrage 
by  introducing  a  clause  making  it  obligatory  upon  the 
first  legislature  to  pass  a  law  conferring  the  elective 
franchise  upon  women,  which  was,  however,  to  be 
submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  male  citizens  at  the  first 
election  thereafter. 

To  return  to  the  regular  march  of  events  under  the 
territorial  regime.  Bennett's  delegateship  terminated 
with  the  thirty-eighth  session  of  congress.  With  the 
exception  of  having  secured  the  payment  of  the  Gilpin 
drafts,  and  an  appropriation  for  a  branch  mint,  which 
was  really  no  more  than  a  United  States  assay-office, 

16  The  vote  stood  15,443  for,  to  4.039  against  acceptance.  Corbett,  Legis. 
Manual,  119. 

17  A  joint  resolution  of  the  legislature  of  1864  protests  against  the  reduc 
tion  of  territorial  limits  in  accordance  with  the  endeavors  of  the  delegate 
from  New  Mexico  in  congress,  and  instructs  the  Colorado  delegate  to  be 
especially  watchful  and  oppose  all  such  attempts.   Gen.  Laws  Colo,  1864,  256. 

18  Their  names  were  J.  C.  Wilson  president,  H.  P.  H.  Bromwell,  Casamiro 
Barela,  George  Boyles,  W.  E.  Beck,  Byron  L.   Carr,  William  H.  Cushman, 
W.  M.  Clark,  A.  D.  Cooper,  H.  R.  Crosby,  Robert  Douglas,  L.  C.  Ellsworth, 
C.  P.  Elder,  F.  J.  ELbert,  W.  B.  Felton,  J.  M.  Garcia,  Daniel  Kurd,  John  S. 
Hough,  Lafayette  Head,  William  H.  James,  William  R.  Kennedy,  William 
L.  Lee,  Alvin  Marsh,  William  H.    Meyer,    S.   J.    Plumb,  George  E.   Pease, 
Robert  A.   Quillan,  A.  K.    Yount,    Wilbur  F.    Stone,  W.  C.    Stover,   H.   C. 
Thatcher,  Agapeta  Vigil,  W.  W.  Webster,  G.  G.  White,  E,  T.  Wells,  P.  P. 
Wilcox,  J.  S.  Wheeler,  J.  W.  Widderfield,  Lewis  C.  Rockwell.     Secretaries, 
W.  W.  Coulson,   Herbert  Stanley,   and  H.    A.   Terpenning.   Corbett,  Legis. 
Manual,  116-17. 

19  See  Pitkin,  in  Political  Views,  MS.,  13.     Only  one  article  of  the  com- 
stitution  could  be  amended  at  any  one  session,  the  sessions  being  biennial. 
One  foolish  provision  in  the  constitution  was  the  publication  of  the  laws  in 
Spanish  and  German.     It  would  seem  that  the  foreigners  we  import  to  gov 
ern  us  might  at  least  learn  our  language.     Sessions  were  limited  to  forty 
days,  and  every  bill  was  to  be  read  three  times  before  each  house  for  the 
benefit  of  stupid  members. 

HIST.  KEY.    28 


434  POLITICAL  AFFAIRS. 

nothing  had  been  done  for  Colorado  beyond  what  the 
actual  wants  of  the  people  demanded.2*  Bennett  was 
succeeded  by  Allen  A.  Bradford,  who  in  1862  was 
appointed  associate  justice  in  place  of  Pettis,  serving 
in  the  second  judicial  district  until  elected  to  represent 
the  territory  in  the  thirty-ninth  congress.21  He  labored 
for  the  passage  of  a  homestead  law,  for  a  mineral-land 
law,  for  increased  pay  for  the  supreme  judges,  and 
members  of  the  legislature,  and  for  payment  of  the 
mounted  militia  employed  in  opening  communication 
through  the  Indian  country  in  1864,  of  which  I  shall 
epeak  hereafter.  At  the  close  of  this  congress  the 
salaries  of  the  judges  were  raised  to  $2,500."  Previ 
ously,  and  by  the  efforts  of  the  Montana  delegate 
chiefly,  an  act  was  passed  appropriating  the  net  pro 
ceeds  of  the  internal  revenue  of  1866-8  to  the  erection 
of  penitentiaries  in  seven  several  territories,  including 
Colorado.  At  the  beginning  of  the  fortieth  congress 
an  act  amending  the  organic  law  of  Colorado  made 
the  sessions  of  the  legislative  assembly  biennial,  the 
election  for  four  years  for  councilmen,  and  two  years 
for  assemblymen,  and  the  pay  six  instead  of  three 
dollars  per  diem.23 

20  The  appropriation  for  1863,  including  $5,000  for  a  territorial  prison,  and 
$2,500  for  a  territorial  library,  aggregated  $69,960.     The  appropriations  for 
1864-5  amounted  to  $54,700.     This  was  exclusive  of  post-routes,  which  were 
of  general  use.     The  routes  established  in  1863-4  were  from  Denver  to  East 
Bannack,  in  Idaho;  from  Denver  via  Poncha  pass  and  Conejos  to  Santa  Fe; 
from  Denver  to  Bijou  basin;  and  from  Golden  City  via  Ralston  creek,  and 
Boulder  city  to  Burlington.     A  wagon  road  was  in  process  of  construction 
in  1863-4  from  the  headwaters  of  Clear  creek,  through  Middle  park,  and  the 
valleys  of  Bear,  Uintah,  and  Timpanogas  river  to  Provo  in  Utah. 

21  A.  A.  Bradford  was  born  in  Maine  in  1815,  went  to  Mo.  in  1841,  studied 
law  and  was  made  judge.     In  1855  he  removed  to  Nebraska,  where  he  was 
a  member  of  the  legislative  council  in  1856-8,  and  came  in  1859  to  Central, 
settling  finally  at  Pueblo.     He  was  a  man  of  many  experiences,  some  of 
which  I  was  fortunate  enough  to  secure  in  a  manuscript. 

22  The  organic  act  gave  the  governor  $1,500  with  $1,000  more  as  supt  of 
Ind.  aff.,  and  gave  the  judges  $1,800. 

23  The  appropriation  for  1866  was  $43,000  including  $15,000  for  survey 
ing.     The  post-routes  secured  were  from  Georgetown  to  Argentine;  from 
Gold  Dirt  to  South  Boulder;  and  from  Denver  via  Mt  Vernon  and  Idaho  to 
Empire  City.     The  appropriation   for  1867  was  $47,090.     The  post-routes 
opened  were  from  Badito  to  Spanish  peaks;  Pueblo  to  Hermosillo;  Pueblo  to 
Carson  City,  via  Rock  Canon  Ridge  and   Frazier  settlement  to  Jamestown; 
and  from  Eureka  to  Breckenridge  via  Argentine  and  Pera. 


ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS.  435 

In  October  1865  President  Johnson  appointed 
Alexander  Cummings  governor  of  Colorado  in  place 
of  Evans.  Cummings  was  famous  about  1862  as 
founder  of  the  N.  Y.  Daily  World,  and  notorious 
afterward  for  his  peculations  in  a  contract  with  the 
war  department.  The  Coloradans  disliked  him,  and 
made  his  administration  unpopular  by  all  the  ways 
known  to  journalists  and  politicians,  even  to  request 
ing  the  president  to  remove  him.  It  was  not  shrewd 
ness  or  intelligence  that  he  Jacked,  but  the  knowledge 
of  how  to  inspire  confidence  by  putting  them  to  a 
beneficent  use.  He  remained  in  office  about  a  year  and 
a  half.  In  November,  George  M.  Chilcott24  was 
elected  representative  to  congress  under  the  state 
constitution,  which,  as  I  have  already  stated,  the 
president  refused  to  recognize,  lest  congress  should 
use  the  two  senatorial  and  one  representative  vote  of 
the  new  state  against  him  in  his  impeachment  trial. 
In  the  following  August  Chilcott  was  reflected,  and 
took  his  seat  as  delegate,  after  some  loss  of  time 
through  having  his  election  contested  by  A.  C.  Hunt. 
He  secured  the  passage  of  a  bill  repealing  the  act 
which  discriminated  against  the  whole  region  west  of 
Kansas  and  east  of  California  by  charging  letter  post 
age  on  printed  matter  within  those  boundaries.  He 
was  also  fortunate  in  securing  important  action  con 
cerning  certain  land-grants,  and  appropriations  for  the 
public  surveys.25  He  was  succeeded  in  1868  by  A.  A. 

24  Chilcott  was  born  in  Pa,  in  1828,  moved  in  1844  to  Iowa,  and  was  elected 
sheriff  in  1853,  and  in  1856  to  Neb.  when  he  was  sent  to  the  legislature.  The 
wave  of  migration  caught  him  in  1859,  and  carried  him  to  Colorado,  where 
he  arrived  in  May.  He  was  a  member  of  the  constitutional  convention  of 
that  year  at  Denver,  returning  to  Omaha  to  spend  the  winter.  In  the  autumn 
of  1860  he  settled  in  what  is  now  Pueblo  co.,  engaging  in  farm  work  for  a 
livelihood  for  two  years,  after  which  he  took  a  claim  for  himself  12  miles  east 
of  Pueblo  and  brought  out  his  family.  He  was  elected  to  represent  this 
region  at  the  first  tM'o  sessions  of  the  territorial  legislature,  and  was  appointed 
by  Pres.  Lincoln  register  of  the  U.  $.  land  office  for  the  district  of  Colorado 
in  1863,  which  position  he  held  until  he  was  elected  to  congress.  Republi 
can  in  politics,  Chilcott  was  an  energetic,  cheerful  worker,  with  a  fine  phy 
sique,  and  universally  successful  in  his  undertakings. 

25 The  appropriations  for  1860  were  greatly  in  excess  of  any  before  made, 

amounting  for  every  purpose,  excepting  mails  and  Indian  department,  to 

1183,446.51,  Rocky  Mountain  News,  Aug.  5,  1858, 


436  POLITICAL  AFFAIRS. 

Bradford,  elected  a  second  time,  wlio  introduced  bills 
for  grants  of  land  to  two  railroad  companies,  for  ap 
propriations  for  public  buildings  in  Colorado,  for  the 
settlement  of  the  southern  boundary  of  Colorado,  and 
for  increasing  the  pay  of  officers  of  the  supreme  courts 
of  Colorado  and  New  Mexico. 

Meantime,  the  territory  had  twice  received  a  new 
executive,  A.  C.  Hunt  being  appointed  by  President 
Johnson  in  May  1867,  and  Edward  M.  McCook  by 
President  Grant  in  June  1869.  Hunt  had  been 
United  States  marshal,  was  familiar  with  the  physical 
and  social  aspect  of  the  territory,  and  gave  an  adminis 
tration  satisfactory  to  the  people  ;  but  he  was  removed 
to  make  place  for  a  protege  of  another  president,  accord 
ing  to  usage.26  His  successor,  McCook,  lacked  noth 
ing  in  ability.  He  was  charged  with  peculation  in 
office  as  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs,  and  the 
charges  were  investigated,  leaving  the  impression  on 
the  public  mind  that  a  powerful  interest  had  screened 
him  from  just  punishment."  He  held  the  office  from 
June  1869  to  March  1873,  when  Samuel  H.  Elbert 
was  appointed.28  A  scheme  of  this  governor's  was 
the  reclamation  of  all  the  lands  west  of  the  Missouri 
river  by  irrigation.  He  called  a  meeting  of  delegates 
from  the  western  states  and  territories,  and  had  fairly 
set  the  matter  in  motion,  looking  to  secure  congres 
sional  legislation,  when  he  was  removed  and  McCook 
reappointed.  For  several  months  the  senate  refused 
to  confirm  this  action,  and  Elbert  continued  to  admin 
ister  the  government.29  On  the  final  issue  between 

26  Hunt  became  interested  in  railroads,  was  one  of  the  projectors  and  con 
structors  of  the  Denver  and  New  Orleans  road.  He  would  ride  100  miles  a 
day  on  horseback,  superintending  railroad  work.  He  became  largely  inter 
ested  in  mines  in  Texas,  and  railroads  in  Mexico,  but  continued  his  residence 
in  Denver.  Elbert,  Public  Men  and  Measures,  MS.,  12;  Pitlcins  Polit.  Vieivs, 
MS.,  11;  Bradford,  Hist.  Colo,  MS.,  5. 

21  See  Salt  Lake  Herald,  Aug.  24,  1874;  and  in  Deer  Lodge  New  Northivest, 
Sept.  5,  1874. 

28  Elbert,  a  native  of  Ohio,  came  to  Colorado  in  1862  as  ter.  sec.  under 
Evans,  after  practising  law  and  politics  in  Iowa  and  Neb.     After  his  4  years 
of  secretaryship  had  expired,  he  entered  into  a  law  partnership  with  J.  Q. 
Charles,  and  was  elected  to  the  territorial  legislature  in  1 869. 

29  Elbert  went  east,  and  John  W.  Jenkins,  territorial  secretary,  became 


PARTY  ISSUES.  437 

federal  republicans  and  territorial  republicans  the 
party  was  divided  into  factions,  and  lost  the  election 
to  the  democrats  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of 
the  territory.  During  the  excitement  of  these  polit 
ical  squabbles  the  plans  for  public  improvements  on  a 
large  scale  were  abandoned. 

McCook's  second  term  extended  over  little  more 
than  one  year,  the  administration  deciding  that  it 
could  not  bear  a  rebuke  which  came  in  the  form  of  a 
democratic  majority,  even  in  a  territory,  and  in  March 
1875  appointed  John  L.  Routt  governor  of  Colorado. 
Although  a  stranger  in  the  territory,  he  soon  became 
known  as  its  friend,  and  received  the  highest  indorse 
ment  his  official  conduct  could  have  when  he  went 
out  of  office  with  the  territory,  to  resume  it  under 
the  state  organization  in  1876.30  While  these  events 
were  in  progress  the  office  of  delegate  had  been  filled 
by  Jerome  B.  Chaffee,  after  Bradford's  second  term, 
until  the  election  of  a  democrat,  Thomas  M.  Patter 
son,  in  1874.  Chaffee  had  been  a  delegate  in  every 
presidential  nominating  convention  since  that  of  the 
free  soil  party  in  1856,  and  was  the  leader  of  the 

acting-governor  in  his  absence.  On  the  return  of  Elbert,  after  the  confirma 
tion  of  McCook,  Jenkins  addressed  a  letter  to  him  which  he  signed  as  '  act 
ing  -governor.'  Elbert  resented  this  and  returned  the  document  indorsed 
'not  recognized,'  signing  himself  'governor  of  Colorado.'  A  spicy  corre 
spondence  followed,  Jenkins  asserting  that  he  had  been  notified  of  Elbert's 
removal,  and  Elbert  that  he  had  never  been  officially  notified,  and  that  he  was 
.governor  until  the  arrival  of  his  successor  with  a  commission.  Elbert  kept 
his  office  at  his  block  on  Larimer  street,  and  Jenkins  his  in  McCook's  block 
on  Blake  street.  In  the  same  building  was  the  national  bank,  delegate 
Chaffee  president,  who  opposed  McCook's  comfirmation.  D.  H.  Moffat,  Jr, 
cashier  and  territorial  treasurer,  was  accused  of  fraud  in  connection  with  his 
office.  Such  is  politics.  N.  Y.  Times,  July  28,  1874. 

30  John  Long  Routt  was  born  in  Ky  in  1826,  but  removed  to  111.,  where  in 
due  time  he  was  elected  sheriff  of  McLean  co.  In  1862  he  was  captain  of 
Company  E  of  the  94th  111.  volunteers,  and  remained  in  the  service  until  the 
autumn  of  1865.  Being  offered  the  position  of  chief  clerk  of  the  bureau  of 
the  2d  asst  postmaster-general,  he  accepted  the  office  in  1 869.  The  following 
year  President  Grant  appointed  him  U.  S.  marshal  for  the  southern  district 
of  111.,  and  in  1871  to  the  post  of  2d  asst  postmaster-general,  which  position 
he  filled  until  appointed  governor  of  Colorado.  A  thorough  business  man, 
his  own  and  the  public  affairs  intrusted  to  him  have  always  prospered.  In 
mining  operations  he  acquired  a  fortune,  becoming  largely  the  owner  of  the 
Morning  Star  and  Waterloo  mines  in  Leadville.  He  was  short  and  strongly 
built,  with  great  power  of  endurance.  Bradford,  Hist.  Colo,  MS.,  5;  Routt's 
Territory  and  State,  MS.,  1-9. 


438  POLITICAL  AFFAIRS. 

republican  party  in  Colorado,  a  capitalist,  and  liberal 
in  dispensing  money  for  the  uses  of  his  party.  Only 
the  split  that  occurred  through  the  McCook-Elbert 
imbroglio  could  have  unseated  him.31  On  taking  his 
place  in  congress  he  began  the  demand  for  the  admis 
sion  of  Colorado  as  a  state,  and  persisted  in  it  through 
both  terms.  He  secured  the  authorization  of  a  treaty 
with  the  Utes  for  the  cession  of  that  portion  of 
their  lands  in  the  San  Juan  country  whose  mineral 
wealth  had  made  it  coveted  by  miners.  One  of  his 
most  important  measures  was  advocating  a  change  in 
the  rules  of  the  house  of  representatives  so  as  to 
give  the  territories  a  representation  in  the  committee 
on  territories,  establishing  a  precedent  which  greatly 
increased  the  influence  of  delegates.  Under  this  rule 
he  was  the  first  delegate  to  report  a  bill  directly  from 
a  committe  to  the  house.  He  was  the  author,  and 
secured  the  passage,  of  a  bill  enlarging  the  power  of 
territorial  legislatures  ;  and  was  instrumental  in  estab 
lishing  a  mining  code,  besides  greatly  extending  the 
mail  service,32  and  laboring  for  the  interest  of  pro- 

31  Jerome  B.  Chaffee  was  born  in  Niagara  co.,  N.  Y..  in  1825,  removing 
while  young  to  Michigan,  and  later  to  Mo.,  where  he  engaged  in  banking. 
In  I860  he  came  to  Colorado,  and  in  company  with  Eben  Smith  erected  the 
Smith  and  Chaffee  stamp-mill,  to  develope  gold  lodes  near  Central  City,  his 
success  encouraging  other  miners  in  that  district.  He  subsequently  became 
principal  owner  in  the  Bob-tail  Lode  and  Tunnel  company,  from  which  there 
was  from  $300,000  to  $500,000  annual  income.  The  name  is  said  to  have  been 
derived  from  a  bob-tailed  ox  being  used  to  haul  a  drag  made  by  stretching  a 
rawhide  across  a  forked  stick,  for  conveying  pay-dirt  to  the  gulch  for  sluic 
ing.  Besides  this  property,  Chaffee  became  interested  in  nearly  a  hundred 
gold  and  silver  lodes  in  different  stages  of  development.  In  1865  he  pur 
chased  the  banking  business  of  Clark  &  Co.,  Denver,  and  established  the 
First  National  bank,  of  which  he  was  president  until  1880.  His  political 
career  began  with  his  election  to  the  territorial  legislature  in  18(51,  and  again 
in  1863,  when  he  was  chosen  speaker  of  the  house  of  representatives.  His 
election  as  senator  under  the  constitution  of  1866,  which  was  vetoed  by  Presi 
dent  Johnson,  and  the  long  controversy  over  it,  brought  him  conspicuously 
before  the  people  as  a  man  fit  to  be  a  leader,  and  caused  his  election  in  1870 
and  1872.  Byers'  Htst.  Colo,  MS  ,  21.  A  daughter  of  Senator  Chaffee  mar 
ried  a  son  of  President  Grant. 

32 1  will  make  one  more  mention  of  the  post-routes,  to  show  the  gradual 
extension  southward  of  settlement.  Routes  were  opened  from  Badito,  via 
Crestone,  San  Isabel,  and  Bismarck,  to  Villa  Grove;  from  Canon  City,  via 
Greenwood,  Mace's  Hole,  and  Dotson's  to  Greenhorn;  from  Greenwood  to 
Coif  ax;  from  Badito,  via  Gardner,  to  Colfax;  from  Trinidad,  via  San  Fran 
cisco,  to  La  Trinchera;  from  Fort  Garland  to  Zapato;  from  La  Loma  to 
Capote;  fro.n  Colorado  Springs  to  Fairplay;  from  Colorado  Springs  viaEaston, 


THE  JUDICIARY.  439 

jected  railroads.  Finally,  in  the  last  weeks  of  his 
term,  he  effected  the  passage  of  an  enabling-  act  for 
Colorado — March  3,  1875 — which  was  am  ended,  how 
ever,  so  as  to  postpone  the  date  of  admission  to  July 
1876.33  The  career  of  Patterson,  begun  under  the 
embarrassment  of  being  in  a  certain  sense  an  acci 
dental  rather  than  a  legitimate  and  voluntary  choice 
of  the  people,  was  creditable.  The  republican  party 
was  divided  into  two  factions,  one  designing  to  rebuke 
and  the  other  to  sustain  the  administration.  Nor 
were  the  democrats  altogether  harmonious,  many 
being  dissatisfied  with  the  nomination  of  a  late-comer 
in  their  midst  ;34  to  show  their  displeasure  they  induced 
a  pioneer  of  note,  A.  G.  Boone,  to  announce  himself 
an  independent  candidate,30  but  he  withdrew  before 
the  election,  leaving  the  field  to  H.  P.  H.  Bromwell,*6 
the  administration  republican  candidate,  and  Patter 
son,  on  whom  the  anti-administrationists  united  with 
the  democrats,  with  the  result  already  indicated. 

Before  proceeding  to  the  history  of  the  state  organ 
ization  it  is  due  to  the  territorial  judges  and  other 
officers  to  make  mention  of  them  individually  as  far 
as  space  will  permit.  Chief  Justice  Hall  was  suc 
ceeded  in  1863  by  Stephen  S.  Harding.  In  1866 
President  Johnson  appointed  in  his  place  Moses  Hal- 
lett,  who  was  twice  reappointed  to  the  same  position, 

to  Gomer's  Mill;  from  Pueblo  via  Huerfano  junctions,  Baggsville,  and  Las 
Animas,  to  Fort  Lyon;  from  Creswell,  via  Bergen  park,  to  Junction;  from 
Fort  Collins  to  Livermore. 

33//.  Jour.,  43  cong.  2d  sess.,  577,  632,  644,  679,  43,  2;  Colo  Gen.  Laivs, 
23-7;  Statutes  U.  S.,  44  cong.  1st  sess.,  pp.  vii.-viii. 

34  Patterson  was  an  arrival  of  1872,  a  native  of  Ireland,  born  in  1840.   He 
was  elected  city  attorney  by  the  common  council  of  Denver  in  the  spring,  1874. 

35  Boone  was  the  eldest  son  of  Jesse  Boone  of  Ky,  who  was  the  eldest  son 
of  the  renowned  Daniel.     While  he  possessed  those  half  military  and  wholly, 
brave  and  generous  traits  which  distinguish  the  class  to  which  he  belonged, 
he  was  not  trained  to  the  sinuous  ways  of  legislation,  and  was  moreover 
about  70  years  of  age. 

36 Bromwell  was  born  in  Md,  moved  early  to  Ohio,  and  then  to  111.,  where 
he  began  the  practice  of  the  law  in  1853,  at  the  same  time  publishing  a  news 
paper,  the  Aye  of  Steam  and  Fire.  After  a  political  career  in  111.  he  came  to 
Colorado  in  1870,  was  a  member  of  the  territorial  council  in  1874,  of  the 
constitutional  convention  of  1875,  and  of  the  state  legislature  in  1879.  He- 
was  a  fine  scholar  and  fond  of  literary  pursuits. 


440  POLITICAL  AFFAIRS. 

and  after  the  admission  of  the  state  again 

by  President    Grant  to  the   higher  post  of  United 

States  district  judge,  being  commended  generally  by 

his    fellow-citizens  for  honor,   ability,   and    personal 

qualifications.31 

The  associate  justices  appointed  in  territorial  times 
were,  after  Bradford,  Charles  F.  Holly  arid  William 
H.  Gale  in  1865;  William  R.  Gorsline  and  Christian 
S.  Eyster  in  1866;  James  B.  Belford  in  1870,  reap- 
pointed  in  1874;  Ebenezer  T.  Wells  in  1871;  Amherst 
W.  Stone  and  Andrew  W.  Brazee  in  1885.33  The 
United  States  district  attorneys  appointed  after  Dal- 
liba  were  Samuel  E.  Brown,  1862;  George  W.  Cham 
berlain,  1865;  Henry  C.  Thatcher,  1868;  Lewis  C. 
Rockwell,  1869;  H.  C.  Alleman,  1873,  and  C.  D. 
Bradley,  1875.  The  territorial  secretaries  after 
Elbert  were  Frank  Hall,  appointed  in  1866,  and  reap- 
pointed  in  1869  and  1873,39  who  was  often  virtually 
governor,  and  conducted  the  affairs  of  the  executive 
office  in  a  worthy  manner,  presiding  over  the  legisla 
ture  and  defending  the  territory  from  Indian  hostili 
ties;  John  W.  Jenkins,  appointed  in  1874  ;  and  John 
Taffe,  appointed  in  1875.*'  The  history  of  Colorado 

37  Says  Pitkin:  '  His  record  is  the  most  remarkable  of  any  judge  in  the 
state.     As  a  lawyer  his  character  is  irreproachable;  he  is  an  honest,  upright 
judge,  a  man  of  great  learning,  and  has  shaped  the  law  of  Colorado.'  Political 

Views,  MS.,  8;  Colo  Pub.  Doc.,  Set  E. 

38  Brazee  was  born  in  N.  Y.  in  1826.     During  the  civil  war  he  was  in  the 
army,  holding  successively  commissions  as  lieu  t,  capt.,  and  maj.  of  the  49th 
N.  Y.  regt.     He  also  filled  the  office  of  judge  advocate  of  the  2d  division  of 
the  6th  army  corps.     In  1867  he  was  appointed  brig. -gen.  of  the  N.  Y.  Nat. 
Guards,  32d  brigade.     In   1871   he  was  appointed  asst  U.  S.  atty  for  the 
northern  district  of  N.  Y.,  which  office  he  resigned  to  accept  the  appoint 
ment  to  Colorado. 

39 Frank  Hall  was  born  in  N.  Y.,  in  1836.  In  1860  he  came  to  Colorado, 
mining  for  2  or  3  years  at  Spanish  bar  and  Central  City.  In  1863  he  was 
associated  with  O.  J.  Hollister  in  the  Black  Hawk  Mining  Journal.  He  was 
elected  to  the  legislature  in  1884.  In  1865  he  purchased  an  interest  in  the 
Miner's  Register,  at  Central  City,  of  which  he  was  editor  for  ten  years,  when 
he  removed  to  Denver  and  entered  the  office  of  the  U.  S.  marshal  as  chief 
deputy.  In  1878  he  became  managing  editor  of  the  Daily  Times,  from  which 
position  he  retired  to  open  the  Great  Western  Mining  Agency  with  Prof.  J. 
Alden  Smith,  state  geologist.  During  his  editorial  and  official  career  he  has 
done  much  to  advance  the  material  interests  of  Colorado. 

40  The  territorial  treasurers  appointed  by  the  executive  were  George  T. 
Clark,  1861;  Alexander  W.  Atkins,  1864;  A.  C.  Hunt,  1866;  John  Wanless, 
1866;  Columbus  Nuckolls,  1867,  reappointed  1868;  George  T,  Clark,  1870, 


LEGISLATIVE.  441 

does  not  afford  those  scenes  of  discord  among  legisla 
tors  and  disrespect  of  officials  which  darken  the  record 
of  some  of  the  cotemporary  territories.41  Neither 

reappointed  1872;  David  H.  Moffat,  1874;  and  Frederick  Z.  Salomon,  1876. 
Auditors,  Milton  M.  Delano,  1861;  Richard  E.  Whitsitt,  1804,  reappointed 
in  1866;  Hiram  J.  Graham,  1866;  Nathaniel  F.  Cheesernan,  1868;  James  B. 
Thompson,  1870,  reappointed  1874;  and  Levin  C.  Charles,  1874,  reappointed 
1876.  Sup'ts  public  instruction,  William  J.  Curtice,  1861;  William  S. 
Walker,  1863;  A.  WT.  Atkins,  1865;  John  Wanless,  1866;  Columbus  Nuckolls, 
1867  (the  last  three  ex-offieio  as  ter.  treasurers);  Wilbur  C.  Lathrop,  1870; 
and  Horace  M.  Hale,  1872,  reappointed  in  1874  and  187^. 

41  The  members  of  the  1st  and  2d  legislatures  have  been  named  heretofore. 
The  3d  legislature,  which  met  at  Golden,  Feb.  1,  1864,  and  adjourned  to 
Denver  on  the  4th,  consisted  of  councilmen  Charles  W.  Mather,  president; 
Amos  Widner,  Moses  Halle  tt,  Richard  E.  Whitsitt,  Robert  Berry,  A.  J.  Van 
Deren,  E.  A.  Johnson,  William  A.  H.  Lovelaiid,  Lewis  Jones,  R.  O.  Bailey, 
J.  B.  Doyle,  C.  Dominguez,  and  H.  E.  Esterday;  representatives  Jerome  B. 
Chaffee,  speaker;  A.  O.  Patterson,  David  A.  Chever,  J.  A.  Koontz,  John  A 
Nye,  John  H.  Eames,  David  Ripley,  James  Kelley,  Leon  D.  Judd,  John  Kipp, 
Alvin  Marsh,  Samuel  Mallory,  E.  F.  Holland,  J.  E.  Leeper,  M.  C.  White, 
John  T.  Lynch,  Henry  Henson,  J.  B.  Stansell,  Joel  Wood,  J.  McCannon, 
Pablo  Ortega,  Jose  Victor  Garcia,  N.  W.  Welton,  B.  J.  McComas,  L.  D. 
Webster,  and  A.  Z.  Sheldon.  Sec.  of  council,  C.  B.  Haynes;  asst  sec.  W. 
T.  Reynolds;  eng.  clerk,  E.  C.  Parmelee;  enr.  clerk,  0.  B.  Brown;  sergt- 
at-arms,' C.  A.  Bartholomew. 

The  4th  legislature,  which  held  its  session  at  Golden,  Jan.  2,  1865,  was: 
council,  J.  Wentz  Wilson,  president;  Amos  W^idner,  Moses  Halleti,  Richard 
E.  Whitsitt,  George  R.  Mitchell,  E.  K.  Baxter,  Lewis  Jones,  William  A.  H. 
Loveland,  H.  L.  Pearson,  Robert  Berry,  Robert  B.  WTillis,  C.  Dominguez,  H. 
E.  Esterday;  representatives,  L.  H.  Hash,  speaker;  Hiram  J.  Bredlinger, 
Rufus  Clark,  Baxter  B.  Stiles,  F.  M.  Case,  D.  H.  Nichols,  A.  0.  Patterson, 
Thomas  D.  Worrall,  Benjamin  Lake,  A.  Mansur,  C.  M.  Tyler,  E.  F.  Holland, 

B.  F.  Pine,  John  T.  Lynch,  A.  Hopkins,  Wilbur  F.  Stone,  James  Thompson, 

C.  North,  J.  G.  Ehrhart,  Miles  M.  Craig,  O.  H.  P.  Baxter.     Sec.  of  council, 
Ozias  Millett;  asst  sec.,  James  O.  Allen;  enr.  clerk,  W.  B.  Felton;  eng.  clerk, 
W.  Adams;  sergt-at-arms,  Marshall  Silverthorne.     Chief  clerk  of  the  house, 
C.  H.  Grover;  eng.  clerk,  N.  S.   Hurd;  enr.    clerk,  A.    D.    Cooper;  sergt-at- 
arms,  Henry  Gibson. 

The  5th  legislature,  convening  at  Golden,  Jan.  1,  1866,  and  adjourning  to 
Denver  on  the  4th,  was  composed  as  follows:  council,  Henry  C.  Leach,  presi 
dent.  Joseph  M.  Marshall,  John  Q.  Charles,  George  R.  Mitchell,  Ebenezer 
Smith,  Benjamin  Wqodbury,  William  A.  H.  Loveland,  Robert  Douglas,  George 
W.  Mann,  H.  H.  DeMary,  O.  H.  P.  Baxter,  Jesus  Maria  Valasquez,  George 
A.  Hinsdale;  house  of  representatives,  E.  Norris  Stearns,  speaker;  B.  F. 
Johnson,  David  Gregory,  Louis  F.  Bartels,  James  F.  Gardner,  H.  J.  Graham, 
S.  M.  Breath,  T.  C.  Bergen,  Perley  Dodge,  Frank  Hall,  Columbus  Nuckolls, 

C.  M.  Grimes,  J.  W.  Watson,  David  J.  Ball,  B.  R.  Colvin,  John  Fosher,  A. 

D.  Bevan,  George  W.  Norris,  Thomas  Keys,  J.  G.  Ehrhart,  Jose  Gabriel  Mar- 
tine,  M.  Mandrigan,  Jesus  Maria  Barela,  Matt.  Riddlebarger,  William  Lock, 
John  W.  Henry.     Sec.  of  council,  Charles  G.  Cox;  asst  sec.,  George  H.  Still- 
well;    eng.    clerk,   Benjamin  P.  Thompson;   enr.   clerk,    N.   F.    Cheeseman; 
sergt-at-arms,  Marshall  Silverthorne.     Chief  clerk  of  house,  C.  J.  McDivitt; 
enr.  clerk,   A.  D.   Cooper;  eng.   clerk,    A.  Hopkins;  sergt-at-arms,    Charles 
Bartholomew. 

The  6th  legislature,  which  convened  at  Golden  Dec.  3,  1866.  adjourned  to 
Jan.  11,  1867.  The  council  was  the  same  as  at  the  previous  session,  Robert 
Douglas  president.  The  house  consisted  of  E.  L.  Berthoud,  speaker;  Peter 
Winne,  C.  H.  McLaughlm,  Edwin  Scudder  J.  E.  Force,  C.  J.  Goss,  James 


442  POLITICAL  AFFAIRS. 

did  it  become  notorious  by  defalcations  in  office  in  the 
formative  period  of  its  territorial  existence,  a  charac 
ter  which  the  state  has  sustained. 

The  admission  of  Colorado  as  a  state  was  the  signal 
for  a  struggle  for  political  control.  Both  parties 
organized,  the  republicans  at  Pueblo  on  the  23d  of 

S  Doggett,  J.  E.  Parkman,  Columbus  Nuckolls,  E.  T.  Wells,  J.  Y.  Glendinen, 
C.  M.  Grimes,  Charles  B.  Patterson,  R.  W.  Davis,  Ziba  Surles,  W.  W.  Web 
ster,  Charles  L.  Hall,  F.  C.  Morse,  Julius  C.  Hughes,  Jacob  E.  Ehrhart,  Juan. 
B.  Lobato,  S.  Valdez,  Juan  Miguel  Vijil,  Matt.  Riddlebarger,  M.  Mills  Craig, 
W  H.  Young.  Sec.  of  council,  Robert  Berry;  asst  sec.  J.  A.  Miller:  enr. 
clerk,  N.  F  Cheeseman;  eng.  clerk,  William  B.  Rines;  sergt-at-arms,  B.  R. 
Wall.  Chief  clerk  of  house,  C.  J.  McDivitt;  asst  clerk,  W.  J.  Kram;  eng. 
clerk,  Root;  enr.  clerk,  Grey;  sergt-at-arms,  E.  H,  Brown. 

The  7th  legislature  convened  at  Golden  Dec.  2,  1867,  and  adjourned  to 
Denver  on  the  9th.  The  council  consisted  of  William  W.  Webster  president. 
James  H  Pinkerton,  Amos  Steck,  Charles  A.  Cook,  Hugh  Butler,  David  D. 
Belden,  J.  Wellington  Nesmith,  William  A.  H.  Loveland,  E.  Norris  Stearns, 
Wi  liam  W.  Webster,  Julius  C.  Hughes,  B.  B.  Field,  Jesus  Maria  Velas 
quez,  Francisco  Sanchez;  the  house,  of  C.  H.  McLaughlin,  speaker,  H.  Strat- 
ton,  Baxter  B.  Stiles,  J.  E.  Wurtzebach,  G.  W.  Miller,  H.  L.  Pearson,  F.  O. 
Sawin,  T  Has  well,  D.  M.  Richards,  S.  F.  Huddleston,  C.  R,  Bissell,  W.  M. 
Slaughter,  J.  C.  McCoy.  J.  E.  W  barton,  Stephen  Decatur,  J.  A.  Pierce, 
Ansel  Bates,  W.  J.  McDougal,  J.  Gillilaiid,  B.  Fowler,  J.  Lawrence,  Pablo 
Ortega,  Silverio  Suaso,  Thomas  Suaso,  Thomas  Macon,  E.  T.  Stone.  Sec.  of 
council,  Ed  C.  Parmelee;  asst  sec. .  W.  J.  Kram;  eng.  clerk,  E.  R.  Harris; 
enr.  clerk,  A.  Hopkins;  sergt-at-arms,  Ziba  Surles.  Chief  clerk  of  house,  C. 
J.  McDivitt;  asst  clerk,  M.  L.  Horr;  eng  clerk,  Joseph  Sharratt;  enr.  clerk, 
A.  Cree;  asst  enr.  clerk,  Charles  F  Leimer;  sergt-at-arms,  Wells. 

The  8th  legislature  held  its  entire  session  at  Denver,  from  Jan.  3,  to  Feb. 
11,  1870.  The  council  was  the  same  as  at  the  previous  session,  with  the 
exception  that  George  A.  Hinsdale  was  president,  and  that  Pinkerton 's  place 
was  filled  by  Jesse  M.  Sherwood,  and  Beldeii's  by  Silas  B.  Halm.  The  house 
consisted  of  George  W.  Miller  speaker,  Matthew  S.  Taylor,  Samuel  H.  Elbert, 
H.  B.  Bearce,  C  C.  Gird,  John  H.  Wells,  Allison  H  De  France,  Thomas  J. 
Graham,  Thomas  J.  Campbell,  H.  E.  Lyon,  A.  E.  Lea,  John  F.  Topping, 
John  T.  Lynch,  D.  B  Myers,  George  W.  Mann,  A.  D  Bevan,  C.  M  Mullen, 
J.  G.  Randall,  D.  L.  Vandiver,  J.  C.  Hall,  Manuel  Lucero,  Clement  Trujillo, 
William  H.  Meyer,  Felipe  Baca,  William  Sheppard,  J.  B.  Rice  Sec.  council, 
A.  O.  Patterson;  asst  sec.,  George  T.  Clark;  eng.  clerk,  J.  E.  Cobb;  enr. 
olerk,  Henry  Bell;  sergt-at-arms,  E.  T.  Stone.  Chief  clerk  of  house,  W.  M. 
Slaughter;  asst  clerk,  A.  M.  Barnard;  eng  clerk,  A.  M.  McCrystal;  enr. 
clerk,  John  D.  M  duty  re;  sergt-at-arms,  W.  W.  Re  mine 

The  9th  legislature  held  its  session  at  Denver  from  Jan.  1  to  Feb  9, 1872. 
The  councilmen  were  George  M.  Chilcott  president,  Joseph  E.  Bates,  Francis 
Gallup,  William  C  Stover,  Allison  H.  De  France,  Nathaniel  P  Hill,  Benja 
min  W.  Wisebart,  Edward  C.'  Parmelee,  Madison  W.  Stewart,  J.  Marshall 
Paul,  Jesus  Maria  Garcia,  Silverio  Suaso,  Jose  Victor  Garcia.  The  repre 
sentatives  were  Alvin  Marsh  speaker,  Frederick  Steinhauer,  Isaac  Bachellor, 
Clarence  P.  Elder,  John  G.  Tilley,  J.  W.  Bacon,  B.  H.  Eaton,  John  D.  Pat 
rick,  James  P.  Maxwell,  Charles  C.  Welch,  George  E.  Randolph,  John  F. 
Topping,  W.  W.  Webster,  James  F.  Gardner,  Thomas  0  Boggs,  J.  M. 
Givens,  B.  F.  Crowell,  A.  D.  Cooper,  John  G.  Randall,  Casimiro  Barela, 
Lorenzo  A.  Abeyta,  Mariano  Larrogoite,  John  A.  Manzanares,  Pedro  Raphael 
Trujillo,  Jose  A.  Valasquez,  Francisco  Sanchez.  Sec.  of  council,  Edward  L. 
Salisbury;  asat  sec.,  Chase  Withrowj  eng  clerk,  E,  H,  Starrette;  enr,  clerk, 


STATEHOOD  AND  PARTY  SPIRIT.  443 

August,  and  the  democrats  at  Manitou  on  the  29th, 
with  full  tickets  for  state  officers.  The  election  was 
held  on  the  3d  of  October,  30,000  votes  being  polled, 
the  entire  republican  ticket  for  the  executive  and 
judicial  departments  being  elected,  with  a  republican 
majority  in  both  houses  of  the  legislature,  and  a  rep- 

S.  N.  Sanders;  sergt-at-arms,  Robert  N.  Daniels.  Chief  clerk  of  house,  James 
G.  Cooper;  asst  clerk,  Joseph  L.  Boyd;  eng  clerk,  Rollin  Morrow;  enr.  clerk, 
C.  W.  Baldwin;  sergt-at-arms,  Uriah  M.  Curtis.  A.  W.  Archibald  success 
fully  contested  the  seat  of  Abeyta. 

The  10th  legislature  met  at  Denver  Jan.  5,  1874.  In  the  council  were 
Madison  W.  Stewart  president,  H.  P.  H.  Bromwell,  R.  G.  Buckingham, 
Thomas  Sprague,  John  B.  Fitzpatrick,  Hugh  Butter,  H.  C.  McCammon, 
William  M.  Clark,  George  M.  Chilcott,  Jarius  W.  Hall,  Daniel  L.  Taylor, 
Juan  B.  Jaquez,  Lafayette  Head.  In  the  house,  David  H.  Nichols  speaker, 
Frederick  Steinhauer,  Alfred  Butters,  R,  S.  Little,  J.  H.  K.  Uhlhorn,  Joseph 

C.  Shattuck,  John  McCutcheon,  Levi  Harsh,  James  P.  Maxwell,  David  H. 
Nichols,   Henry  Paul,  Bela  S.   Buell,  William  J.  Buffington,  Benjamin  F. 
Napheys,  Charles  W.  Perry,  John  W.  Prowers,  Joseph  C.  Wilson,  William 
Moore,  Joseph  Hutchinson,  William  A.  Amsbury,  Mariano  Larragoite,  Casi- 
miro  Barela,   Alexander  H.  Taylor,   J.    A.  J.  Valdez,  William   H.   Meyer, 
Manuel  S.  Salazar,  Juan  Esquibel.     Sec.  of  council,  Foster  Nichols;  asst  sec., 

D.  C.  Limberger;  enr.  clerk,  George  H.  F.  Work;  sergt-at-arms,  George  R. 
Ward.     Chief  clerk  of  house,  Joseph  T.  Boyd;  asst  clerk,  E.  P.  Drake;  eng 
clerk,  J.  A.  Koontz;  sergt-at-arms,  0.  H.  Henry. 

The  llth  legislature  convened  Jan.  3,  1876,  at  Denver.  The  council  con 
sisted  of  Adair  Wilson  president,  Bela  M.  Hughes,  Baxter  B.  Stiles,  B.  H. 
Eaton,  John  C.  Hummel,  Silas  B.  Hahn,  E.  L.  Salisbury,  Robert  S.  Mor 
rison,  Andrew  D.  Wilson,  James  Rice,  James  Clelland,  P.  A.  McBride, 
Silverio  Suaso;  the  house,  of  Alfred  Butters  speaker,  Edmund  L.  Smith, 
Edward  Pisko,  W.  B.  Mills,  Norman  H.  Meldrum,  J.  C.  McCowan,  M.  N. 
Everett,  David  C.  Patterson,  George  Rand,  John  C.  McShane,  Frederick 
Kruse,  William  Larned,  John  H.  Yonley,  J.  M.  Nimeriok,  Frank  Bingham, 
Albinus  J.  Sheldon;  H.  O.  Rettberg,  James  Y.  Marshall,  I.  N.  Peyton, 
Donaeiano  Gurule,  Nicauora  D.  Jarramilla,  Mauricio  Apadaca,  Herman 
Duhme,  Jr,  Francisco  Sanchez,  T.  M.  Trippe,  Reuben  J.  McNutt.  Sec.  of 
council  James  T.  Smith;  asst  sec.,  Frank  Fassett;  eng  clerk,  James  D.  Henry; 
enr.  clerk,  William  Barchert;  sergt-at-arms,  J.  A.  J.  Bigler.  Chief  clerk  of 
the  house,  Joseph  T.  Boyd;  asst  clerk,  C.  L.  Peyton;  eng  clerk,  James  W. 
Gallo\vay;  enr.  clerk,  W.  B.  Dickinson;  sergt-at-arms,  James  D.  W'ood. 

The  legislature  of  1865,  which  convened  at  Golden  Dec.  12th,  under  the 
state  constitution  framed  that  year,  but  vetoed  by  the  president,  adjourned 
to  Denver  on  the  16th,  and  sine  die  on  the  19th.  The  senate  was  composed 
of  George  A.  Hinsdale  president,  Leander  M.  Black,  Charles  A.  Cook,  L.  B. 
McLain,  Truman  Whitcomb,  L.  L.  Bedell.  A.  G.  Langford,  W.  A.  H.  Love- 
land,  James  Castello,  Adam  B.  Cooper,  H.  H.  De  Mary,  John  W.  Henry, 
Jesus  M.  Velazquez,  J.  L.  Casper.  The  house  of  representatives  was  com 
posed  of  D.  P.  Wilson  speaker,  A.  Lumry,  Robert  L  Hatten,  G.  H.  Greenslit, 
William  Garrison,  D.  G.  Peabody,  A.  Wright,  T  C.  Bergen,  David  H. 
Nichols,  Isaac  Whicker,  Jason  E.  Scobey,  Stephen  Goodall,  Lyman  W  Chase, 
Charles  B.  Patterson,  B.  R.  Colvin.  James  A.  Pierce,  Aaron  Hopkins,  George 
W.  Lechmer,  Charles  L.  Hall,  Thomas  Keys,  F.  C.  Hughes,  Pedro  Arragon, 
Jose  Gabriel  Martine,  Pedro  Lobato,  Matt.  Riddlebarger,  George  A.  Bates. 
Sec.  of  the  senate,  John  WTalker;  asst  sec.,  Edwin  H.  Brown,  sergt-at-arms, 
H.  B.  Haskell.  Chief  clerk  of  the  house,  L.  H.  Shepherd;  asst  clerk,  C.  J. 
McDivitt;  sergt-at-arms,  Charles  Bartholomew,  Corbett,  Leyi*.  Manual,  22G-7. 


444  POLITICAL  AFFAIRS. 

resentative  to  the  forty-fourth  congress,  while  the 
democrats  elected  a  representative  to  the  forty -fifth 
congress.42  John  L.  Koutt  was  chosen  governor, 
Lafayette  Head43  lieutenant-governor.  William  G. 
Clark  "  secretary  of  state,  D.  C.  Crawford  45  auditor, 
George  C.  Corning 4G  treasurer,  A.  J.  Sampson  *7 

42  It  is  not  a  little  singular  that,  for  the  second  time,  Patterson  was  elected 
to  represent  Colorado  in  congress  through  a  blunder  of  the  dominant  party. 
The  territorial  secretary  had  ordered  an  election  for  representatives  for  the 
44th  congress,  to  be  held  on  the  3d  of  Oct.,  and  another  election  for  the  45th 
congress  on  the  7th  ot  Nov.     But  the  people  voted  tor  James  B.  Belford  for 
both  congresses  on  the  3d  of  Oct     thinking  to  save  themselves  trouble.     On 
the  7th  of  Nov.,  however,  the  democrats  voted,  and  elected  Patterson  by 
almost  the  entire  vote      The  canvassing  board  retused  to  count  it,  but  after  a 
long  contest  in  congress^  Patterson  gamed  his  seat,  and  was,  as  he  had  been 
before,  a  useful  representative 

43  Lafayette  Head  was  born  in  Mo.  in  1825>  enlisted  in  the  2d  regt,  Mo. 
vol.,    and   fought   in  the  battles  of  La  Canado,  Embudo,    Taos,  and  Santa 
Clara  springs.     After  the  peace  he  settled  in  New  Mexico  as  a  merchant  at 
Abiquiu,  and  was  appointed  U   S.  marshal  of  the  northern  district  ot  that 
territory  for  three  years.      In  18G1  he  was  sheriff  of  Rio  Arriba  co.  for  two 
years,  and  was  elected  to  the  legislature  from  that  co.  in  1863.     In  1855  he 
was  commissioned  a  lieut  in  Col  St  Vrain's  regt  of  volunteers,  which  served 
6  months  against  the  Utes  and  Apaches.     The  following  year  he  was  elected 
from  Taos  to  the  legislature,  and  was  subsequently  chosen  to  fill  a  vacancy 
in  the  council,  of  which  he  was  president  in  1857.     He  received  the  appoint 
ment  of  special  agent  for  the  Utes  and  Apaches  in  1859,  holding  the  office  9 
years.     He  was  elected  councilman  in  the  Colorado  legislature  from  Conejos 
co.  in  1874,  and  delegate  to  the  constitutional  convention  in  1875.     He  re 
ceived  14,191  votes,  against  13,093  given  to  the  opposing  candidate,  Michael 
Beshoar,  for  lieut-gov. 

"William  G.  Clark  was  born  in  Pa,  enlisted  in  1861  as  a  private  in  com 
pany  F,  28th  regt,  afterward  Eof  the  47th  regt,  Pa  volunteers.  He  was  cap 
tain  of  his  company  when  he  was  mustered  out  in  1865.  He  came  to  Colo 
rado  in  1866,  settling  in  Clear  Creek  co.,  and  engaging  in  mining,  soon 
becoming  known,  and  being  elected  to  be  supt  of  schools,  appointed  clerk  of 
the  district  court,  elected  member  of  the  legislature,  appointed  brig. -gen.  of 
militia,  and  elected  a  member  of  the  constitutional  convention.  He  received 
at  the  first  state  election  14,582  votes,  against  12,843  for  James  T.  Smith, 
democrat. 

45  David  C.  Crawford  was  a  native  of  Canada,  removed  to  Mich,  and  Wis., 
and  in  1860  came  to  Colorado.     He  first  engaged  in  mining  in  Gilpin  and 
Boulder  counties,  in  1862  in  merchandising  in  Park  co.,  and  in  1865  in  farm 
ing  in  Jefferson  co.     He  was  elected  clerk  and  recorder  for  the  latter  county 
in  1867,  and  afterward  opened  a  real  estate  and  insurance  office,  becoming  in 
1875  proprietor  of  the   Crawford  house  at  Colorado  Springs.     He  married 
Amanda  J    Thornton  of  Golden.     His  opponent  for  the  office  of  auditor  was 
J.  F,  Benedict,  whom  he  beat  by  922  votes. 

46  George  C.  Corning  was  born  in  Ohio  in  1837,  organized  the  bank  of  To- 
peka,  Kansas,  in  1868,  and  in  1870  settled  at  Boulder  in  Colorado,  where  he 
opened  a  bank.     The   republican  vote  for  treasurer  stood    14,038   against 
13,310  for  Thomas  M.  Field,  democrat 

47  Archibald  J   Sampson  was  born  in  Ohio,  and  entered  the  union  army  in 
186L      He  was  promoted  to  a  captaincy,  but  at  Hatcher's  Run,  Va,  was  dis 
abled   for  life   and   discharged.     He  then  studied  law  in  the  Cleveland  law 
school,   beginning  to  practise  iu   1806  at  Sedalia,  Mo,,  and  married  the 


STATE  OFFICERS.  445 

attorney -general,  Joseph  C.  Shattuck  48  superintend 
ent  of  public  instruction.  James  B.  Belford  *9  was 
elected  representative  in  the  forty-fourth  and  forty- 
fifth  congresses,  although  his  seat  in  the  latter  was 
successfully  contested  by  Thomas  M.  Patterson,  owing 
to  a  misapprehension  concerning  the  day  of  election. 

On  the  1st  of  November  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  state  of  Colorado  convened  at  noon.  On  the  3d, 
Judge  Brazee  administered  the  oath  of  office  to  the 
executive  officers.  Early  in  the  session  two  United 
States  senators  were  chosen — Jerome  B.  Chaffee  and 
Henry  M.  Teller50 — and  three  presidential  electors, 
Herman  Beckurts,  W.  L.  Hadley,  and  Otto  Mears. 
The  assembly  did  not  adjourn  until  March  20,  1877. 

Three  judges  of  the  supreme  court  were  elected  by 
the  people  ;  namely,  Henry  C.  Thatcher,  Samuel  H. 
Elbart,  and  Ebenezer  T.  Wells,  Thatcher  drawing  the 
short  term  of  three  years,  which  made  him  the  first 
chief  justice,51  Elbert  the  six  years'  term  and  the 

diughter  of  Judge  Allen  C.  Turner  of  his  native  town  the  same  year.  He 
declined  office  in  Mo.,  and  the  consulate  of  Palestine,  but  was  presidential 
elector  in  1872.  He  came  to  Colorado  in  1874,  settling  at  Canon  City  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession,  until  elected  attorney-general  of  the  new  state, 
against  G-.  Q.  Richmond,  by  963  votes. 

48  Joseph  C.  Shattuck  was  born   in  N.  H.  in  1835,  and  educated  at  the 
Westminster  seminary,  Vt,  and  Wesleyan  juniversity,  Conn.,  but  without 
completing  the  course.      He    married  Hattie   M.  Knight  of  Maryborough  in 
183S,  and   migrated  to  Mo.,  where  he  was  a  teacher.     In  1870  he  came  to 
Colorado  with  the  Greeley  colony,  of  which  he  was  vice-president  and  mana 
ger.      He  was  elected  to  the  legislature  from  Weld  co.  in  1874.      His  majority 
over  G-.  B.  G-roesbeck,  democrat,  in  1876,  was  1,831. 

49  James  B.  Belford  was  born  in  Pa,  and  came  to  Colorado  in  1870,  having 
been  appointed  associate  justice  of  the  supreme  court,  which  position  he  held 
until  the  admission  of  the  state. 

5J  U.  S.  Offi-iil  Renter,  1877,  2.  Teller  drew  the  long  term  ending  1883. 
He  was  born  in  N.  Y.  in  1830,  and  practised  law  in  111.  He  had  been  a  re 
publican  since  the  organization  of  the  party,  and  taken  part  in  the  campaign 
of  1860  for  Lincoln.  In  1861  he  came  to  Colorado,  settling  at  Central  City 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession,  in  partnership  with  H.  A.  Johnson,  and  sub 
sequently  with  his  brother,  Willard  Teller.  He  was  appointed  by  Gov. 
Evans  ma]. -gen.  of  the  territorial  militia  in  1863.  He  organized  in  1865  the 
Colorado  Central  railroad  company,  of  which  he  was  for  live  years  president, 
and  has  promoted  many  business  enterprises.  In  the  U.  S.  senate  he  distin 
guished  himself,  while  laboring  for  Colorado,  by  his  report  on  the  election 
frauds  in  southern  states,  which  he,  as  chairman  of  a  committee,  was  forced 
to  investigate.  He  was  also  chairman  of  the  senate  committee  on  civil  ser 
vice  reform. 

51  Henry  C.  Thatcher  was  born  in  Pa  in  1842,  completed  his  law  studies 
in  the  Albany  university,  from  whicli  he  graduated  in  180'6;  coining  directly 


446  POLITICAL  AFFAIRS. 

chief  justiceship  for  three  years,  and  Wells  the  term 
for  nine  years.  Wells  was  a  man  of  fine  character 
and  ability,  but  resigned  soon  after  election.  The  bar 
of  Colorado,  in  convention,  nominated  Wilbur  F. 
Stone  to  fill  the  vacancy,  a  nomination  which  met  the 
hearty  approval  of  the  public,  and  which  was  con 
firmed  at  the  next  general  election.  Four  district 
judges  were  elected  for  six  years  ;  namely,  William  E. 
Beck,  Victor  A.  Elliott,  John  W.  Henry,  and  Thomas 
M.  Bowen,  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  here  given. 
The  attorneys  for  the  four  districts  were  Edward  O. 
Wolcott,  David  B.  Graham,  James  M.  Waldron,  and 
Columbus  W.  Burris.  A  full  set  of  regents  for  the 
university,  trustees  of  the  school  of  mines,  managers 
of  the  penitentiary,  trustees  of  the  deaf  and  mute 
institute,  and  members  of  the  state  board  of  agricul 
ture,  were  also  elected,  such  was  the  care  of  those 
having  affairs  in  charge  that  the  state  should  com 
mence  its  career  in  the  possession  of  all  its  dignities. 

The  population  of  Colorado,  when  admitted,  was 
135,000,  the  disproportion  of  the  sexes  remarked 
upon  a  decade  earlier  having  in  a  great  degree  be 
come  adjusted.  Its  boundaries  remained  the  same. 
Its  assessed  valuation,  exclusive  of  untaxable  mining 
property,  amounted,  in  real  and  personal  property,  to 
$44,130,205.  Upon  this  the  legislature  fixed  the 
limit  of  taxation,  for  all  purposes,  at  twenty-three 
mills.  In  1879  the  state  tax  had  been  reduced  to  one 
and  a  half  mills  on  the  dollar,  while  the  local  taxes 
were  correspondingly  reduced.  There  was  no  funded 
debt,  and  the  floating  indebtedness  was  small,  owing 
to  a  clause  in  the  constitution  prohibiting  the  state, 

to  Colorado,  and  settling  at  Pueblo.  He  was  appointed,  in  1868,  U.  S.  atty 
for  the  district  of  Colorado,  holding  the  office  but  little  more  than  a  year, 
when  he  resigned.  He  was  an  active  member  of  the  constitutional  conven 
tion  in  1875.  being  chairman  of  several  of  the  most  important  committees. 
In  person  he  was  six  feet  in  height,  with  bright  blue  eyes,  and  possessed  of 
genial  manners.  *  Thatcher,' says  Pitkin,  'made  one  of  the  ablest  judges 
ever  on  the  bench.  He  declined  reelection.  He  died  at  San  Francisco,  while 
on  a  visit  there,  at  the  age  of  41,  of  Brighi/s  disease.'  Political  Views-  MS.,  8; 
B.alle.ti&  Courts,  Law,  and  Litigation,  MS, 


PUBLIC  LANDS.  447 

counties,  or  cities  from  loaning  their  credit.  These 
were  magnificent  measures  for  a  young  commonwealth 
to  adopt. 

The  public  lands  received  through  the  enabling  act 
were  the  500,000  acres  granted  to  all  the  new  states 
by  the  law  of  1841  ;  50  sections  for  the  erection  of 
public  buildings ;  50  sections  for  a  penitentiary ;  72 
sections  for  a  state  university ;  six  sections  adjacent 
to  twelve  salt  springs ;  the  sixteenth  and  thirty-sixth 
sections  for  common  school  purposes,  besides  the 
usual  five  per  centum  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of 
agricultural  public  lands  to  be  applied  to  internal  im 
provements.  I  have  shown  how  this  dower  of  some 
of  the  north-western  states  was  wasted.  Governor 
Routt  had  witnessed  the  same  fraudulent  use  of  the 
school  and  other  lands  in  Illinois,  Iowa,  and  Nebraska. 
The  constitution  of  Colorado  made  the  governor  and 
secretary  a  board  to  select  the  state  lands.  To  their 
everlasting  honor,  instead  of  squandering  these  lands 
upon  party  favorites,  they  labored  to  make  them  pro 
duce  the  highest  amount  for  the  purposes  for  which 
they  were  intended.  The  plan  adopted  was  not  to 
offer  the  school  lands  for  sale,  the  chief  part  being  so 
situated  as  not  to  be  irrigable,  and  therefore  not 
worth  more  than  the  minimum  price  of  $2.50  an  acre, 
but  to  lease  them  for  an  amount  equal  to  the  interest 
on  their  present  value,  and  hold  them  for  pasturage, 
or  for  any  purposes.  It  was  found  they  brought 
between  $40,000  and  $50,000  annual  rental.  Seventy- 
eight  miles  of  land  along  the  Republican  river  was 
also  entered  for  the  state.  The  legislature  then 

O 

passed  a  bill  authorizing  the  sale  of  alternate  sections 
of  state  land,  the  purchasers  contracting  to  construct 
ditches  of  sufficient  capacity  to  water  their  land  and 
the  state  land  through  which  the  ditch  was  carried. 
By  this  means  also  the  value  of  the  unsold  land  was 
raised  in  some  situations  to  $30  per  acre,  and  the 
school  lands  of  Colorado  acquired  a  value  of  many 
millions  more  than  they  were  worth  when  the  state 


448  POLITICAL  AFFAIRS. 

received  them.  Wisely  the  public  institutions  of  the 
state,  instead  of  being  supported  by  legislative  appro 
priations  offering  temptations  to  jobbing  members, 
are  sustained  by  a  direct  tax  for  the  purpose  designed. 
The  result  of  this  care  for  the  public  funds  is  the  rapid 
accomplishment  of  those  beneficent  objects  for  which 
the  gifts  of  the  general  government  were  intended  or 
for  which  the  state  is  taxed. 

The  successor  of  Routt  in  the  executive  office  was 
Frederick  W.  Pitkin,  during  whose  administration  the 
Ute  war  took  place,  of  which  I  shall  speak  in 
another  place.  A  serious  riot  in  Leadville  and  an 
other  in  Denver  were  the  chief  events  in  1879-80. 
In  the  former  instance  martial  law  was  proclaimed 
in  Leadville  to  bring  to  reason  the  miners  who  had 
organized  a  strike,  and  suspended  every  branch  of 
business.  It  was  expected  that  the  governor's  action 
would  destroy  all  chance  of  his  reelection ;  but  such 
proved  not  to  be  the  case.  During  his  first  term  he 
had  become  a  sort  of  Admirable  Crichton  to  the  people, 
and  if  he  lost  any  of  his  former  influence  in  his  second 
term,  it  was  through  being  a  candidate  for  the  United 
States  senatorship  and  having  active  rivals  in  the 
race.  The  lieutenant-governor  during  his  adminis 
tration  was  Horace  A.  W.  Tabor,52  and  the  secretary 
of  state  N.  H.  Meldrum.53  Belford  was  elected  rep- 

52  Tabor  was  elected  lieut-gcv.  in  1878,  and  became  such  for  Pitkin 's  second 
term  by  succession,  the  vice-governor  elect,  George  B.  Robinson,  having  bee  a 
assassinated,  and  the  president  of  the  senate  by  law  succeeding  him. 

53  Frederick  W.  Pitkin  was  born  in  Manchester,  Conn.,  in  1837  of  an  hon 
orable  line  of  ancestry,  the  Pitkins  andGriswolds  of  Conn.,  and  educated  at 
the  Wesleyan  university  of  Middleton,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1858.    He 
studied  law  at  the  Albany  law  school,  and  after  graduating  removed  to  Mil 
waukee,  Wis.,  in   1860,  where  he  enjoyed  a  lucrative  practice  until  failing 
health  compelled  him  to  seek  a  change  of  climate.     He  visited  Europe  in  1 873, 
and  subsequently  Florido  without  benefit,   and  in  1874  came  to  Colorado, 
where  he  has  obtained  a  degree  of  health  which  has  enabled  him  to  reengage 
in  business  pursuits.     George  B.  Robinson  was  assassinated  Nov.  27,  1880,  a 
few  weeks  after  his  election,  under  the  following  circumstances:  Some  miners 
had  taken  offence  at  certain  tyrannies  practised  by  the  manager  of  the  Rob 
inson  consolidated  mine  in  Summit  co.,  aud  Robinson  had  been  appealed  to- 
for  the  removal  of  the  obnoxious  manager  without  effect,  he  having  no  power 
to  remove  without  the  consent  of  the  other  trustees.     On  the  evening  of  the 
27th  Robinson,  with  two  other  men,  visited  the  mine,  and  Avas  challenged  by 
the  guard,  who  hearing  no  answer,  discharged  his  guii.     An  autopsy,  how- 


REPRESENTATION  AND  APPROPRIATION.  449 

resentative  to  congress  in  1878,  by  a  majority  of  more 
than  2,000  over  the  democratic  candidate,  Patterson, 
and  twice  reflected,  his  majority  at  his  last  election 
being  2,737  over  the  democratic  candidate,  Wallace. 
In  1884  George  G.  Symes  was  elected  representa 
tive  in  congress. 

The  governor  who  succeeded  Pitkin  was  James  B. 
Grant,  a  man  of  large  means,  fine  ability,54  educated, 
methodical,  even-tempered,  and  strong  enough  to  act 
upon  his  own  convictions.  He  was  the  first  demo 
crat  honored  with  an  election  to  the  executive  office.55 
The  lieutenant-governor  elected  with  him  was  Wil 
liam  H.  Meyers.  Grant  was  succeeded  by  Benjamin 
H.  Eaton,  elected  in  1884,56  a  man  of  strong  and  quiet 
character,  and  acquainted  with  the  history  and  the 
requirments  of  the  country.  The  lieutenant-gov 
ernor  elected  with  Eaton  was  P.  W.  Breene.  Na- 

ever,  revealed  a  number  of  wounds  from  bullets  and  shots  fired  from  a  posi 
tion  in  the  rear,  while  the  guard  swore  that  he  fired  upward  in  such  a  man 
ner  as  not  to  have  hit  the  murdered  man.  Other  testimony  confirmed  the 
suspicion  of  foul  play.  He  came  to  Colorado  in  1877  from  Mich.,  and 
engaged  in  wholesale  and  retail  grocery  business.  He  was  a  man  of  educa 
tion  and  culture,  and  was  worth  $2,000,000.  Denver  Tribune,  Nov.  28,  1880. 

54  James  B.  Grant  was  born  in  Ala,  in  1848.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the 
civil  war,  although  but  13  years  of  age,  he  joined  the  confederate  army, 
spending  several  months  in  the  field,  after  which  he  went  to  reside  with  his 
uncle,  Judge  Grant,  of  Davenport,  Iowa,  who  sent  him  to  the  agricultural 
college  of  that  state,  where  he  spent  6  years,  subsequently  taking  a  course 
at  the  university  of  Cornell,  and  finishing  his  education  by  travel  and  study 
in  a  German  university. 

**  RoutC  s  Territory  and  State,  MS.,  6.  Grant's  opponent,  E.  L.  Campbell, 
was  defeated  by  political  legerdemain,  though  it  was  said  it  was  on  account 
of  unfitness.  He  was  fairly  nominated  in  the  republican  convention.  Among 
the  candidates  for  nomination  was  H.  R.  Wolcott.  asst  manager  of  the  Argo 
Smelting  works,  of  which  N.  P.  Hill  was  manager.  Chaffee  was  chairman 
of  the  republican  state  committee,  and  Hill,  who  was  in  the  U.  S.  senate, 
and  who  had  been  opposed  by  Chaffee,  wished  to  defeat  his  measures  and 
lessen  his  power,  in  order  to  get  an  enemy  out  of  the  way  before  •  the  next 
senatorial  contest.  Hill  and  Wolcott,  with  their  friends,  bolted  from  the 
republican  party  with  the  object  of  weakening  Chaffee,  rather  than  with 
regard  to  the  fitness  of  the  candidate  for  governor.  It  was  fortunate  that 
their  antagonism  elected  so  good  a  man,  and  unfortunate  that  the  reason  they 
gave  for  it  was  prejudicial  to  the  defeated  candidate. 

56 Benjamin  Harrison  Eaton  was  born  in  Ohio  in  1834,  and  brought  upon 
a  farm.  Being  ambitious  he  studied  and  taught  school  until  the  Pike's  peak 
fever  carried  him  to  Colorado.  He  began  mining  in  California  gulch,  but 
soon  turned  his  attention  to  farming,  being  the  first  settler  near  the  town  of 
Greeley.  He  later  owned  and  cultivated  7,000  acres  of  land,  all  of  which  he 
irrigated.  Irrigation  in  Colorado  owes  much  to  him.  He  was  also  interested 
in  cattle  raising  and  mining. 
HIST.  NEV.  29 


450  POLITICAL  AFFAIRS. 

thaniel  P.  Hill  was  chosen  in  1879  to  succeed  Chaffee 
in  the  United  States  senate.57     His  services  to  the 
state  during  six  years  in  the  senate  were  not  unim 
portant.     He  secured  the  removal  of  the  White  river 
and  Uncompahgre  Utes  to  Utah,  and  the  opening  of 
the  reservation  to  settlement,  which  added  12,000,000 
acres  of  land  to  the  wealth  of  the  state.    He  obtained 
a  land  office  at  Gunnison  for  the  convenience  of  set 
tlers  on  these  lands  ;  an  appropriation  of  $20,000  to 
bore  artesian  wells  in  the  arid  regions  of  the  state  ; 
the  exchange  of  such  sixteenth  and  thirty-sixth  sec 
tions  of  school  land  as  fell  in  the  mineral  regions  for 
agricultural  land  ;  $300,  000  to  erect  a  United  States 
court-house  in  Denver  ;  improvements  in  the  mining 
law,  enabling  miners  to  make  adverse  claims  before 
the  clerk  of  the  district  where  they  happened  to  be, 
instead  of  in  the  district  where  the  claim  was  located, 
as  before,  and  also  enabling  them  to  take  the  oath  of 
citizenship  without  the  trouble  and  expense  of  a  jour 
ney  to  some  distant  point  ;  made  Denver  a  port  of 
delivery,  enabling  merchants  to  import  direct  from 
foreign  countries  through  the  seaports  ;  secured  the 
Hot  Spring  reservation  to  settlers  ;  procured  authority 
for  the  postmaster-general  to  extend  mail  facilities  in 
rapidly  increasing    settlements    without    waiting  for 
congressional  action  ;  and  secured  on  increased  rate  of 
fees  in  certain  cases  where  the  old  law  worked  a  hard 
ship  to  witnesses  in  the  United  States  courts.     Nor 
was  his  labor  given  altogether  to  local  affairs,  but  he 
combatted  the  great  land  stealing  corporations,  which 
upon  one  pretense  and  another  were  wheedling  con 
gress  out  of  the  public  domain  ;  he  labored  for  the 


.  Hmise,  1879,  111-12.  Hill  was  born  in  Orange  co.,  N.  Y.,  in 
1832,  and  brought  up  on  a  farm,  of  which  he  was  left  in  charge  at  the  age  of 
16  years.  He  was  the  son  of  an  old-time  democrat,  who  had  represented  his 
county  in  the  general  assembly,  and  held  the  office  of  county  judge,  and  not 
withstanding  unusual  responsibilities  for  his  years,  found  time  to  fit  himself 
for  college  which  he  entered  at  the  age  of  21,  at  Brown  university,  Provi 
dence,  R.  I.  In  1856  he  was  made  tutor  in  the  chemical  department,  and  in 
1860  professor  of  chemistry,  a  calling  which  led  directly  to  his  usefulness  in 
and  his  connection  with  Colorado,  as  ha-s  already  been  indicated  in  the 
history  of  mining. 


EXECUTIVE  AND  JUDICIARY.  451 

postal  telegraph  bill,  for  a  tariff  on  wool,  and  for  a 
better  national  financial  policy.  But  nothing  more 
commended  him  to  the  people  of  Colorado  than  his 
attitude  on  the  silver  question,  as  the  advocate  of  a 
bi-metallic  currency.  Upon  this  subject  he  became 
the  peer  of  senators  Stewart  and  Jones  of  Nevada, 
and  many  republicans  desired  his  reelection  in  188458 
on  this  ground.  But  having  in  1882  used  some  polit 
ical  weapons  against  a  rival,  these  were  turned  upon 
himself  at  last,  cutting  him  off  from  a  career  for  which 
he  was  well  qualified.  Henry  M.  Teller,  senator  from 
1877  to  1883,  was  appointed  to  the  cabinet  when 
Arthur  came  to  the  presidency.  To  fill  the  vacancy 
caused  by  the  resignation  of  Teller,  Governor  Pitkin 
appointed  George  M.  Chilcott,  who  had  been  prom 
inently  before  the  legislature  in  1879  as  candidate 
with  Hill  for  the  senatorship.  In  the  contest  for  the 
appointment  in  1883  the  principal  candidates  were 
Routt,  Tabor,  and  Bo  wen,  three  millionaires,  and  each 
fought  hard  for  the  position,  but  Pitkin  chose  Chil 
cott.  Pitkin  himself  was  an  aspirant,  and  the  politi- 
ical  gossips  said  that  a  strong  pressure  was  brought  to 
bear  upon  the  governor  by  the  others,  they  promising 
that  if  his  choice  should  fall  upon  one  of  them  for  the 
appointment  they  would  use  their  influence  with  the 
legislature  when  it  met  to  have  him  elected  to  the 
senate.  Pitkin,  however,  resisted  the  combination, 
which  punished  him  by  defeating  him  when  he  became 
openly  a  candidate.  Tabor  was  elected  for  the  thirty 
days  remaining  of  the  Teller-Chilcott  term,  and 

58  Denver  Trihune,  Oct.  26,  1884;  Senate  Miscel.,  47th  cong.  2d  sess.,  i.  no. 
8,  p.  10.  A  silver  congress  was  held  at  Denver  in  January  1885,  to  which 
Belford  and  Symes  were  delegates  from  Colorado.  The  points  laid  down  in 
the  resolutions  were  1st  the  doctrine  of  bi-metalism,  as  embodied  in  the  U.  S. 
laws  previous  to  1873;  2d  that  the  interests  of  trade  demanded  free  coinage 
at  the  existing  standard;  3d  a  demand  that  congress  should  withdraw  from 
circulation  $1  and  $2  bills;  4th  censure  of  the  secretaries  of  the  treasury  for 
unlawful  evasions  of  the  provisions  of  the  Bland  bill;  5th  a  demand  for 
amendments  to  the  National  bank  act,  compelling  them  to  keep  15  per  cent 
of  their  legal  reserve  in  silver;  6th  that  congress  should  restore  silver  to  its 
ancient  and  rightful  equality  with  gold  in  respect  to  coinage,  and  asking 
protection  for  the  silver  industry. 


452  POLITICAL  AFFAIRS. 

Thomas  M.  Bowen  of  Del  Norte  for  the  term  from 
1883  to  1889.59  The  legislature  in  1885  elected  Teller 
to  succeed  Hill,  who  had  now  a  strong  combination 
against  him.  A  large  amount  of  money  was  used  in 
the  struggle  for  place,  and  the  people  of  Colorado 
begun  to  question  whether  it  was  well  that  the  capi 
talists  of  the  state  should  decide  political  preferment. 
The  election  of  1884,  which  gave  the  first  democratic 
president  in  twenty-four  years  was  strongly  republi 
can,  the  plurality  for  Blaine  being  nearly  9,000. 
The  presidential  electors  chosen  were  F.  C.  Cloudy  of 
Gunnison,  F.  F.  Obiston  of  Idaho  Springs,  and  B.  F. 
Crowell  of  Colorado  Springs.  Goudy  was  chosen  as 
the  messenger  to  carry  the  certificate  to  Washington. 
Some  amendments  were  made  to  the  constitution  of 
the  state  at  this  election  by  a  majority  of  nearly 
11,000. 

Of  the  justices  of  the  supreme  court  elected  in 
1876,  only  Elbert  in  1886  was  on  the  bench.  Wells, 
who  drew  the  nine  years'  term,  resigned  after  serving 
one  year,  and  Wilbur  F.  Stone  was  elected  to  fill  the 
vacancy.  Elbert,  whose  term  expired  in  1882,  was 
elected  in  1885  to  succeed  Stone.  He  will  go  out  of 
office  in  1897.  Thatcher,  whose  term  expired  in 
1879,  was  succeeded  by  William  E.  Beck.  The  judge 
who  took  the  bench  at  the  expiration  of  Elbert 's  first 
term  was  Joseph  C.  Helm,  who  will  go  out  of  office 
in  1891.  The  supreme  judges  are  not  nominated  by 
political  parties,  but  by  the  bar  association,  and  the 
character  of  the  Colorado  courts  has  seldom  been  as- 

59  Thomas  M.  Bowen,  born  in  Iowa  in  1835,  elected  to  the  lower  house  of 
the  legislature  at  the  age  of  21  years.  He  served  in  the  union  army  from 
1861  to  1865,  first  as  captain  of  Neb.  volunteers,  1st  regiment,  afterward  as 
colonel  of  the  13th  Kansas  infantry,  and  lastly  as  brevet  brigadier-general  in 
the  army  of  the  frontier,  and  later  in  the  7th  army  corps.  After  the  war  he 
was  justice  of  the  supreme  court  of  Arkansas  for  four  years,  and  accepted 
the  executive  appointment  for  Idaho  in  1871,  but  resigned  and  returned  to 
Arkansas,  where  he  was  defeated  for  the  U.  S.  senate  by  S.  W.  Dorsey. 
He  came  to  Colorado  in  1875,  resumed  the  practise  of  law,  and  was 
elected  judge  of  the  4th  judicial  district  on  the  admission  of  the  state,  and 
held  the  office  for  4  years.  He  engaged  in  large  mining  enterprises  and 
became  wealthy.  In  1882  he  was  elected  to  the  state  legislature  which 
made  him  senator. 


MISUSE  OF  WEALTH.  453 

sailed.  The  most  serious  accusation  ever  made  was 
against  the  United  States  judges  in  the  case  of  a 
strike  among  the  employes  of  the  Denver  and  Rio 
Grande  railroad,  in  May  1885,  under  the  direction  of 
the  knighcs  of  labor,  some  members  of  which  order 
had  been  dismissed  from  the  company's  service. 
Arms  were  carried  by  a  part  of  the  strikers,  when 
persuading  their  associates  to  desist  from  labor,  and 
although  no  violence  was  offered,  the  fact  of  arms 
havino-  been  shown  was  considered  as  sufficient  evi- 

Q 

dence  of  the  intent.  The  men  were  arrested,  tried 
for  contempt,  and  imprisoned  from  three  to  six 
months.  The  charges  brought  by  the  knights  of 
labor  against  the  judges  were  that  the  receiver  of 
the  road  was  appointed  by  one  of  them ;  that  the  men 
arrested  were  not  allowed  to  call  witnesses,  unless 
they  paid  the  expenses,  which  would  be  over  $160 
each,  or  swore  that  they  were  paupers,  neither  of 
which  could  they  do.  That  they  had  not  been  tried 
by  a  jury  ;  but  that  in  fact  the  judge  had  made  the 
complaint,  tried,  and  sentenced  them  without  a  hear 
ing,  being  at  the  same  time  concerned  in  the  road, 
thereby  construing  the  law  in  the  interest  of  a  rich 
corporation  against  the  constitutional  rights  of  other 
men.  The  order  made  threats  of  impeachment  when 
congress  should  meet. 

Whether  or  not  there  was  found  sufficient  proof 
to  sustain  the  complaint  of  the  knights  of  labor  in 
this  case,  it  is  evident  that  the  danger  which  threatens 
society  is  the  overweening  influence  of  wealth.  The 
temptation  to  men  who  have  acquired  millions,  right 
fully  or  wrongfully,  in  a  few  years  is  to  consider 
themselves  better  than  their  neighbors,  and  less  re 
gardful  of  the  rights  of  men.  At  bribery  or  any 
moral  or  political  corruption  they  do  not  hesitate. 
They  would  constitute  themselves  a  privileged  class, 
and  return  toward  feudalism  by  surrounding  them 
selves  with  the  largest  number  of  dependents  in  the 
form  of  ill-paid  laborers,  that  being  the  only  form  of 


454  POLITICAL  AFFAIRS. 

serfdom  at  present  known  under  our  government. 
How  long  they  can  maintain  that  position  in  political 
economy  and  ethics  will  depend  upon  the  nerve  of  the 
working  classes  to  resist  the  tendency ;  and  nowhere 
is  the  struggle  more  apparent  than  in  mining  states, 
not  even  in  manufacturing  states,  where  tender  child 
hood  is  pressed  into  the  service  of  the  capitalist,  and 
made  to  earn  its  daily  bread  at  the  sacrifice  of  its 
future  manhood  and  womanhood. 

It  is  difficult  to  determine  which  class  exercises  the 
more  baneful  influence  upon  public  morals,  the  low 
ignorant  foreigner,  orthe  unprincipled  monied  monopo 
list.  But  aside  from  these,  Colorado  has  a  larger 
proportion  of  men  of  culture  among  its  men  of  business 
and  affairs  than  any  of  the  intra-montane  common 
wealths  ;  and,  in  proportion  to  its  population,  more 
college  bred  men  than  most  of  the  older  states.  In 
its  people,  its  climate,  its  impressive  scenery,  natural 
wealth,  and  liberal  institutions  it  is  altogether  a  noble 
state,  needing  no  encomiums  from  its  historian  other 
than  the  simple  narrative  of  the  achievements  of  its 
founders. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

INDIAN  WARS. 
1860-1880. 

TRIBES  AND  TREATIES — ABORIGINAL  BRIGANDAGE — UNRECORDED  OUTRAGES 
OF  THE  WHITE  MEN— APPROPRIATIONS — WHITE  FORCE  IN  THE  FIELD — 
THE  COLORADO  REGIMENTS— DEPREDATIONS  ON  THE  OVERLAND  MAIL 
COMPANY— COMMUNICATION  CUT  OFF— THE  SAND  CREEK  MASSACRE — 
CHIVINGTON  CENSURED  BY  CONGRESS,  BUT  THANKED  BY  THE  PEOPLE 
OF  COLORADO — FORTS  AND  RESERVATIONS — WEST  OF  THE  MOUNTAINS 
WIDE-SPREAD  HOSTILITIES  AND  BATTLES. 

WHEN  the  territory  of  Colorado  was  organized,  its 
governor  and  Indian  superintendent  found  there  sev 
eral  powerful  tribes,  with  which  the  government  had 
already  had  dealings.  As  early  as  September  17, 
1851,  a  treaty  was  made  at  Fort  Laramie  with  the 
Ogalalah  and  Brule  Sioux,  and  the  Arapahoes  and 
Cheyennes,  by  which  the  country  claimed  by  them 
should  be  included  within  the  following  limits  ;  com 
mencing  at  Red  Buttes,  on  the  south  side  of  the 
north  fork  of  the  Platte  river,  at  the  crossing  of  the 
immigrant  road,  following  this  stream  to  its  source  in 
the  Rocky  mountains,  thence  along  their  summits  to 
the  head  waters  of  the  Arkansas  river,  down  the 
Arkansas  to  the  crossing  of  the  Santa  Fe  trail,  thence 
northwesterly  to  the  forks  of  the  Platte,  and  up  the 
north  branch  to  the  place  of  beginning.  It  was  esti 
mated  that  the  area  contained  in  the  Upper  Platte 
agency,  as  it  was  called,  was  122,500  square  miles, 
while  the  population  did  not  exceed  5,500,  not  more 
than  2,000  of  these  being  warriors.  The  treaty  re 
quired  them  to  keep  in  their  own  country,  to  avoid 

(455) 


456  INDIAN  WARS. 

wars  with  the  neighboring  tribes,  to  refrain  from  rob 
bing  travellers,  and  for  this  righteousness  they  were 
to  receive  annuities,  to  be  distributed  at  Fort  Laramie. 
Of  the  region  here  designated,  the  Sioux  and  one 
band  of  Cheyennes  ranged  the  portion  lying  north  of 
the  present  state  of  Colorado,  while  the  Cheyennes 
and  Arapahoes  occupied  the  country  next  the 
Arkansas. 

That  part  of  the  country  south  of  the  Arkansas  was 
traversed  by  the  Kiowas,  Apaches,  and  Coinanches, 
with  whom  a  treaty,  similar  to  the  Laramie  treaty, 
had  been  made  in  1853,  but  with  whom  the  govern 
ment  had  now  and  then  occasion  to  display  armed 
force,  in  order  to  punish  or  prevent  depredations  upon 
persons  and  property  upon  the  Santa  Fe  trail,  which 
was  traversed  by  the  caravans  of  the  Santa  Fe 
traders,  the  supply  trains  en  route  to  the  military 
posts  in  New  Mexico,  the  United  States  mail  for 
California,  and  frequent  companies  of  immigrants  and 
travellers.  These  Indians  also  were  looked  after  by 
the  incumbent  of  the  Platte  agency. 

That  portion  of  Colorado  lying  west  of  the  Rocky 
mountains  was  inhabited  by  the  Utes,  branches  of 
which  great  nation  extended  to  the  Sierra  Nevada,  as 
I  have  shown.  In  Colorado  there  were  three  divis 
ions  ;  two  in  the  southern  portion  yearly  presented 
with  goods  at  the  New  Mexico  agencies,  but  the  more 
northern  tribes  were  still  wild  and  shy,  although 
numerous  and  warlike.  The  whole  number  was  esti 
mated  at  10,000. 

It  would  have  required  greater  diplomacy  than  the 
average  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs  can  command 
to  adjust  the  yoke  of  civilization  to  the  .necks  of 
15,000  free-born  American  savages  without  galling. 
The  task  was  made  more  difficult  by  the  animosity 
between  the  Utes  of  the  mountains  and  the  Arapahoes 
and  Cheyennes  of  the  plains ;  but  in  a  double  degree 
by  the  feeling  already  engendered  by  the  action  of 
the  military  in  punishing  the  plains  people  for  attacks 


TREATIES.  457 

on  travellers.1  And,  while  the  retaliations  of  the  sava 
ges  are  written  in  letters  of  blood,  the  outrages  of  the 
white  men  upon  the  Indians  must  go  forever  unrecorded. 
In  June  1860  congress  appropriated  $35,000  for  the 
purpose  of  making  a  new  treaty  with  the  Cheyennes 
and  Arapahoes,  and  also  with  the  Kiowas  and  Co- 
rnanches,  who  for  three  years  previous  had  occupied 
the  country  on  the  south  side  of  the  Arkansas,  which 
was  crossed  by  the  Santa  Fe  trail,  to  the  peril  of 
travellers.  Commissioner  A.  B.  Greenwood  arrived 

1  The  history  of  aboriginal  brigandage  on  the  plains  has  never  been  writ 
ten,  and  only  now  and  then  related,  in  part  as  a  frontier  experience,  to  enliven 
some  traveller's  tale.  From  the  authorities  in  my  possession  I  learn  that 
following  the  Mexican  war  certain  tribes  made  an  alliance  to  war  on  the 
traffic  of  the  Santa  Fe  trail.  They  succeeded  in  cutting  off  the  connec 
tions  between  the  troops  in  New  Mexico  and  their  base  of  supplies  in  the. 
United  States.  In  1847  the  southern  Utes  were  pursued  into  Fremont 
county  by  Mexican  troops,  and,  making  a  stand  in  the  defile  of  the  Arkansas 
above  Canon  City,  sustained  a  heavy  loss;  hence  the  name  of  the  gorge, 
Ute  canon.  Londoner  relates  that  8  out  of  a  party  of  9  trappers  were 
murdered  by  the  Utes  in  California  gulch  in  1854.  Colorado  Mi/tiny  Camps, 
MS.,  8.  On  Christmas  day  of  that  year  all  the  inhabitants  at  the  Pueblo, 
on  the  Arkansas  river,  were  massacred  in  a  drunken  revel  by  a  wandering 
band  of  Utes,  who  had  been  invited  to  partake  of  the  hospitalities  of  the 
season.  Thomb's  Mex.  Colo,  MS.,  1-3.  The  authorities  differ  as  to  whether 
there  were  17  or  29  of  the  victims,  all  of  whom  were  Mexicans.  In  1855  I 
find  the  troops  from  Fort  Massachusetts,  now  Fort  Garland,  pursuing  and 
punishing  the  Utes  of  southern  Colorado,  for  their  raids  into  New  Mexico. 
When  en  route  to  the  Platte  agency  point  of  distribution,  with  annuity 
go  id -5  in  1854,  the  agent  met  at  the  crossing  of  the  Arkansas  from  1,200  to 
1,500  lodges  of  Kiowas,  Comanches,  O.sages,  Arapahoes,  and  Cheyennes, 
baing  a  war  party  en  route  to  wipe  out,  as  they  expressed  it,  all  frontier 
Indians  on  the  plains.  When  near  the  Kansas  River  they  were  defeated  by 
100  Sacs  and  Foxes,  in  a  three  hours'  battle.  The  Mexicans  of  New  Mexico 
were  their  chief  source  of  supply,  and  as  long  as  these  could  be  made  to 
furnish  horses,  mules,  and  captives  to  the  United  States  Indians,  with  which 
they  carried  on  a  profitable  trade  among  themselves,  they  were  comparatively 
well-behaved  towards  travellers  on  the  great  western  highways;  but  when 
New  Mexico  became  a  part  of  the  United  States,  and  they  were  forbidden 
to  rob  and  kill  its  people,  they  quarrelled  with  those  tribes  who  made 
and  observed  treaties,  and  began  robbing  and  killing  anywhere  to  make  up 
the  loss. 

In  1855  Agent  Thomas  S.  Twiss,  on  arriving  on  the  ground,  found  that 
the  Arapahoes  had  been  charged  with  killing  cattle  and  sheep  to  the  amount 
of  $15,000,  which  would  stop  their  annuity  for  some  }Tears.  They  admitted 
the  thefts,  but  excused  them  on  the  plea  of  sickness  in  their  band,  and  fam 
ine  consequent  on  not  being  able  to  go  after  buffalo,  and  submitted  cheerfully 
to  the  loss  of  their  annuities.  A  war  was  going  on  between  the  United  States 
troops,  under  Harney,  and  the  Sioux,  which  had  put  an  end  to  Indian  trade 
in  buffalo  skins,  etc..  so  that  the  prospect  looked  dark  for  the  coming  winter. 
In  March  1856,  Harney  entered  into  a  peace  treaty  with  all  the  Sioux  of  the 
plains,  which  was  intended  to  restore  the  former  equilibrium  in  affairs;  or, 
rather,  he  proposed  to  improve  the  condition  of  the  Sioux  and  other  tribes 
by  teaching  them  agriculture.  But  before  the  plan  could  be  carried  out  a 


458  INDIAN  WARS. 

at  Fort  Wise — formerly  Bent's  fort — about  the  mid 
dle  of  September,  but  finding  only  the  Arapahoes  on 
the  ground,  appointed  A.  G.  Boone  special  agent  to 
carry  out  the  intentions  of  the  government,  and  re 
turned  to  Washington.  In  February  1861  Boone 
concluded  a  treaty  with  the  Cheyennes  and  Arapa 
hoes,  by  which  one  third  of  the  area  claimed  by  them 
between  the  South  fork  of  the  Platte  and  Arkansas 
rivers  was  ceded  to  the  United  States.  Their  reser- 

collision  occurred  at  Platte  bridge,  beyond  Laramie,  where  a  company  of 
troops  were  stationed  to  protect  immigrants  to  California  and  Oregon.  The 
commandant  accused  the  Cheyennes  of  having  stolen  some  horses  which  they 
had  in  their  possession,  and  imprisoned  them.  The  savages  attempting 
escape  were  fired  at  and  one  killed.  Later  the  Cheyennes  were  attacked  by 
a  body  of  United  States  troops,  and  six  killed.  They  then  sued  for  peace, 
which  was  granted.  Nevertheless,  some  of  them  continuing  hostile,  Colonel 
E.  V.  Sumner,  with  United  States  troops,  in  July  1857,  destroyed  their  prin 
cipal  village.  Meanwhile  the  agent  coming  to  Bent's  fort  with  annuity 
goods,  and  desiring  to  leave  them  there,  Bent  refused,  but  finally  rented  the 
place  to  the  government,  fearing  to  remain. 

On  the  18th  of  August  Sumner  arrived  at  the  fort,  when  he  ordered  the 
goods  distributed  to  the  Arapahoes.  In  1859  W.  W.  Bent  was  appointed 
agent  for  the  upper  Arkansas.  His  extensive  acquaintance  with  the  Indian 
tribes  gave  him  an  influence  over  them  which  a  stranger  could  not  have  had. 
In  Bent's  report  for  this  year  he  remarks  that  the  Kiowas  and  Comanches, 
being  driven  out  of  Texas,  had  for  2  years  appeared  in  full  numbers  and  for 
long  periods  upon  the  Arkansas,  and  were  then  permanently  occupying  the 
country  between  the  Canadian  and  Arkansas  rivers,  with  2,500  warriors;  and 
that  so  soon  as  the  troops  were  withdrawn  from  Fort  Riley,  a  post  erected  in 
the  region  of  the  Arkansas  river  in  1852,  they  had  assumed  a  threatening 
attitude,  for  which  reason  he  considered  it  essential  to  have  two  permanent 
posts  for  troops,  one  at  the  mouth  of  Pawnee  fork,  and  one  at  Big  Timbers, 
both  on  the  Arkansas,  for  the  protection  of  travellers  upon  that  route,  that 
since  the  gold  discovery  had  become  numerous.  And  this  he  urged  for  the 
sake  of  the  Indians  themselves,  who  were  being  gradually  advanced  upon  from 
all  sides,  and  who  should  be  brought  into  subjection  and  treated  with,  to  the 
end  that  they  might  be  assigned  reservations  and  assisted  in  learning  to  sup 
port  themselves  by  agriculture  and  stock-raising.  Fort  Larned  was  there 
upon  established  at  the  mouth  of  Pawnee  fork,  and  Bent's  fort  purchased 
and  converted  into  an  army  post,  under  the  name  of  Fo^t  Wise.  This  year 
the  Utes  killed  J.  L.  Shank  and  J.  L.  Kennedy  in  the  South  park,  and  a 
party  of  7  unknown  men,  with  12  horses,  in  a  gulch,  to  which  from  this  cir 
cumstance  was  given  the  name  of  Dead  Men's  gulch.  Byers,  in  Dead  Mens 
Gulch,  MS.,  1. 

In  June  1860  a  large  number  of  Arapahoes  and  Apaches,  with  a  few  Sioux, 
met  at  Denver,  and  organized  an  expedition  against  the  Utes.  They  entered 
the  Ute  country  midway  between  Platte  canon  and  the  present  town  of 
Morrison,  the  Ute  village  being  near  where  the  Platte  leaves  the  South  park. 
The  Arapahoes  were  repulsed,  and  returned  to  Denver  with  5  dead  and  32 
wounded.  Another  expedition,  organized  soon  after,  fled  bapk  in  confusion, 
alarming  the  white  population  by  representing  that  the  Utes  were  assembled 
in  great  numbers,  prepared  to  attack  them,  which,  as  they  were  encamped 
in  the  heart  of  Denver,  was  certainly  not  to  be  desired,  but  the  alarm  proved 
groundless.  Such  was  the  attitude  of  ladian  affairs  in  Colorado  at  the  period 
of  its  settlement. 


MILITARY  MOVEMENTS.  459 

vation  was  bounded  westward  by  a  line  drawn  north 
and  south  from  the  mouth  of  the  Huerfano,  in  what 
is  now  Pueblo  county ;  but  they  did  not  keep  upon  it. 
Meanwhile  some  of  the  Arapahoes  and  Cheyennes 
who  had  not  been  present  at  the  treaty  of  February, 
made  that  an  excuse  for  nullifying  it;  and  the  Kiowas 
and  Comanches,  who  had  accepted  annuities,  had 
committed  depredations  in  1862  which  called  for  the 
interference  of  troops.  Further  than  this,  civil  war 
now  came  on,  and  the  savages  were  not  willing  that 
the  civilized  men  should  have  all  the  battling  and 
butchering  to  themselves.2 

The  only  force  in  the  territory  during  the  summer 
of  this  year  was  the  2d  Colorado  regiment,  com 
manded  by  Colonel  J.  H.  Leavenworth.  The  Indians 
kept  the  recruits  in  practice.  In  August  the  head 
quarters  of  the  regiment  was  removed  from  Denver 
to  Fort  Lyon,  as  Fort  Wise  was  now  called,  where 
in  January  1863  they  were  joined  by  the  1st  Colorado 
cavalry,  under  Chivington.  In  April  the  2d  regi 
ment  was  ordered  to  Fort  Leavenworth,  and  in  June 
to  Fort  Larned,  to  protect  the  Santa  Fe  road  and 
watch  the  Texans,  with  whom  they  fought  the  battle 
of  Cabin  creek  on  the  2d  of  July,  inflicting  a  loss  of 
forty  killed  and  wounded,  with  but  one  man  killed  and 
twenty  wounded  on  the  side  of  the  Coloradans.  These 
troops,  with  a  few  hundred  others,  on  the  16th  fought 
another  battle  in  Kansas,  in  which  the  confederates 
lost  400  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  the  loss  on  their 
side  being  14  killed  and  30  wounded.  Soon  after  the 
2d  regiment  was  ordered  away  from  Colorado,  Gov 
ernor  Evans  was  directed  to  raise  a  third,  which  was 
marched  to  the  States  as  soon  as  organized.  The  2d 
and  3d  regiments  were  consolidated  in  October  1863, 
and  formed  the  2d  Colorado  cavalry,  which  was  kept 
continually  moving  until  the  spring  of  1865.3 

2  See  Folder's  Woman's  Experience  in  Colorado,  MS. ;  Gilpins  Pioneers  of 
1842,  MS. ;  Howbert's  Indian  Troubles,  MS. ;  Rocky  Mountain  News,  passim. 

*CMvington'a  First  Colorado  Regiment,  MS.,  13;  PrescotCs  Tlirouyh  Canon 
De  Shea,  MS.,  4;  Byers  Hi#t.  Colo,  MS.,  85;  Evans,  Interview,  MS.,  passim. 


460  INDIAN  WARS. 

The  first  regiment  remaining  in  Colorado  was  the 
only  armed  force  in  the  country  north  of  Fort  Gar 
land;  and,  notwithstanding  treaties  and  negotiations 
conducted  with  great  care  and  at  a  great  expense, 
there  was  a  general  insolence  among  the  treaty  Ind 
ians  which  boded  no  good.  In  1864  affairs  culminated. 
A  combination  was  effected  between  the  several  bands 
of  Sioux  and  all  the  plains  Indians  of  Colorado  and 
south  of  the  Arkansas  in  Kansas,  to  attempt  the 
expulsion  or  extermination  of  the  white  population. 
Their  first  overt  act  in  Colorado  was  to  replenish 
their  commissary  department  by  taking  175  cattle 
frm  the  herd  of  Irwin  and  Jackman,  government  con 
tractors,  who  were  encamped  with  their  stock  in  Bijou 
basin,  forty  miles  south-east  of  Denver,  in  April.  A 
detachment  of  the  1st  cavalry,  under  Lieut  Ayre, 
was  sent  after  them,  which  recovered  only  twenty 
head,  having  come  up  with  them  when  night  was 
closing  in  and  snow  falling,  the  Indians  running  off 
the  stock  while  the  officer  in  command  parleyed  with 
the  chiefs.  A  soldier  who  became  separated  from 
the  command  was  wounded,  but  no  fighting  occurred. 
Being  without  subsistence,  the  detachment  returned 
to  Denver.  Soon  afterward  a  second  expedition  of 
100  cavalrymen  and  two  howitzers,  under  Ayre,  was 
ordered  to  go  as  far  as  Fort  Larned,  by  the  head  of 
the  Republican  arid  Smoky  Hill  forks.  When  near 
the  fort  they  encountered  the  Cheyennes,  who 
charged  the  troops  400  strong.  So  desperate  was 
the  onslaught  that  they  rushed  up  to  the  mouth  of 
the  cannon,  falling  within  reach  of  the  gunners. 
Twenty-five  or  thirty  were  killed,  among  them  a  chief 
who  had  signed  the  treaty. 

In  the  same  month  another  party  of  Cheyennes 
drove  off  a  herd  of  horses  from  Kiowa  creek,  and 
Lieut  Clark  Dunn  from  camp  Sanborn,  near  Fre 
mont  orchard,  pursued  them  with  twenty  men.  He 
found  the  Indians,  about  fifty  strong,  who  attacked 
when  the  demand  for  the  return  of  the  horses  was 


ON  THE  PLAINS.  461 

made,  and  killed  and  wounded  four  of  the  soldiers. 
The  troops  returned  the  fire,  but  being  armed  only 
with  revolvers  and  sabres,  inflicted  but  little  loss,  and 
after  a  chase  of  several  miles  returned  for  fresh  horses 
and  guns,  the  Indians  in  the  meantime  escaping.  A 
third  depredation  similar  to  the  others  being  com 
mitted  near  the  junction  of  South  Platte,  a  detach 
ment  under  Major  Downing,  guided  by  an  Indian 
trader  named  Ashcraffc,  surprised  the  Indian  camp  at 
Cedar  canon,  where  they  had  fortified,  and  killed 
twenty-five,  destroying  their  village  and  capturing  one 
hundred  horses,  one  soldier  being  killed  in  the  fight. 
In  June  all  the  troops  were  ordered  to  the  Arkan 
sas,  east  of  Fort  Lyon,  except  one  squadron,  and  Gov 
ernor  Evans  applied  for  permission  to  call  the  militia 
of  Colorado  into  the  service  of  the  United  States,  as 
the  territorial  law  was  defective,  and  the  means  of 
arming  and  equipping  fiem  was  wanting,  at  the  same 
time  askiug  leave  to  raise  a  regiment  of  United  States 
volunteers  for  one  hundred  days.  This  last  request 
was  finally  granted,  but  not  before  the  occasion  for 
their  services  had  been  greatly  augmented  by  repeated 
and  horrible  outrages.  About  the  middle  of  June, 
when  the  last  company  of  the  1st  cavalry  was 
encamped  on  Cherry  creek,  fifteen  miles  from  Denver, 
under  orders  to  join  the  regiment  on  the  Arkansas, 
messengers  arrived  in  Denver  from  the  settlements  on 
Box  Elder  creek,  from  two  to  twenty  miles  distant, 
with  information  of  a  general  stampede  of  the  stock 
in  that  region,  and  the  murder  of  the  Hungate  family, 
consisting  of  the  husband,  wife,  and  two  children. 
This  event,  which  brought  the  war  to  the  doors  of 

O 

Denver,  caused  great  excitement.  The  remains  of 
the  murdered  settlers  were  brought  into  town,  and 
exhibited  to  the  angry  population.  Governor  Evans 
applied  to  the  adjutant  of  the  district  to  have  the 
troops  on  Cherry  creek  sent  in  pursuit  of  the  savages; 
orders  were  despatched  to  camp  Sanborn,  eighty 
miles  below,  to  send  after  them  a  detachment,  and 


462  INDIAN  WARS. 

General  Curtis,  commanding  the  department,  was 
telegraphed  to  allow  the  cavalry  then  en  route  for 
Fort  Lyon  to  return,  which  request  was  granted,  but 
in  the  interval  of  delay  the  Indians  made  good  their 
escape.  The  militia  were  ordered  to  organize  as  home 
guards.  The  friendly  Indians  were  placed  at  camp 
Collins  and  Fort  Lyon. 

In  July  the  agent  for  the  upper  Arkansas  made  a 
visit  to  Pawnee  fork  to  meet  a  large  concourse  of 
Cheyennes,  Arapahoes,  Comanches,  Apaches,  and 
Kiowas,  with  whom  he  held  a  council.  They  all 
expressed  the  greatest  regard  for  the  white  people, 
and  disavowed  all  knowledge  of  hostile  acts.  A  short 
time  after  this  friendly  council,  according  to  the  asser 
tion  of  the  agent,  the  Kiowas  visited  Fort  Larned, 
and,  while  the  war-chief  was  engaged  in  conversation 
with  the  officer  in  command,  his  braves  stampeded  all 
the  horses,  mules,  and  cattle  belonging  to  the  post. 
A  few  days  afterward  the  Arapahoes  made  a  raid  on 
the  settlers  along  the  river,  caused,  as  the  agent 
asserted,  by  the  commanding  officer  at  Larned  firing 
upon  them  as  they  were  coming,  under  a  flag  of  truce, 
to  offer  their  services  to  recover  the  stolen  stock. 
The  situation  was  becoming  critical.  It  was  esti 
mated  that  there  was  not  more  than  six  weeks'  sup 
ply  of  food  in  the  territory.  Mail  communication 
with  the  east  was  cut  off;  mail-bags  containing  let 
ters,  money  drafts,  land  patents,  newspapers,  and 
other  miscellaneous  matter  were  cut  open  and  their 
contents  scattered  over  the  prairie.  But  one  station 
was  left  standing  on  the  overland  mail-route  for  a  dis 
tance  of  120  miles.  The  farms  were  all  deserted 
between  Fort  Kearny  and  Julesburg,  and  for  400 
miles  the  movable  property  of  the  company  was  with 
drawn  as  much  as  possible,  leaving  a  large  amount  of 
grain  and  provisions,  which  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Indians.  Trains  of  merchandise,  all  that  were  upon 
the  way  for  hundreds  of  miles,  were  seized,  their  con 
ductors  killed,  and  the  property  appropriated. 


THREATENED  DEVASTATION.  463 

There  was  this  year  a  large  immigration  to  the 
Pacific  states,  numbering,  according  to  a  memorandum 
kept  at  Fort  Laramie,  19,000  persons  who  passed 
that  post.  From  this  account  it  would  make  proba 
bly  a  total  of  double  that  number.  Among  these, 
how  many  fell  by  the  hands  of  savages  will  never  be 
known.  The  Coloradans  thought  they  could  count 
200  victims  for  the  season,  over  fifty  of  whom  were 
their  own  people.  On  the  19th  of  August  two  Chey- 
ennes  gave  notice  to  Elbridge  Gerry,  Indian  trader, 
living  at  his  station,  67  mile  below  Denver,  in  the 
Platte  valley,  to  remove  his  stock,  as  on  the  21st 
they  would  make  a  raid  along  the  river,  and  take 
whatever  property  came  in  their  way.  They  would 
divide  into  parties  of  twenty  or  more,  and  strike  sim 
ultaneously  at  Fort  Lupton,  Latham,  Junction,  and 
the  head  of  Cherry  creek,  and  also  at  Pueblo. .  Their 
rendezvous  was  appointed  for  Point  of  Rocks,  on 
Beaver  creek,  125  miles  from  Denver.  Gerry  has 
tened  to  Denver,  arriving  at  midnight  on  the  20th, 
when  orders  were  immediately  issued,  placing  all  the 
militia  and  recruits  of  the  one-hundred-days'  men, 
under  the  control  of  the  district  commander,  Colonel 
Chivington.  Messages  were  despatched  to  the  threat 
ened  localities,  and  the  force  at  command  divided 
among  them.  At  the  appointed  time  the  Indians 
stealthily  approached  the  points  indicated,  but  finding 
them  guarded,  retired. 

For  thirty  days  there  had  been  no  mails  from  the 
east,  letters  having  to  be  sent  round  by  sea  to  San 
Francisco,  and  being  from  four  to  six  weeks  on  the 
way.  No  stages  or  trains  moved  in  Colorado  except 
under  escort.  Early  in  September,  the  hundred-days' 
regiment  was  completed,  and  dispatched  by  Colonel 
Chivington  to  points  on  the  overland  route  to  open 
communication  ;  while  a  portion  of  the  home- guards 
under  H.  M.  Teller,  major-general  of  the  militia,  pa- 
troled  the  road  between  Denver  and  Julesburg,  the 
1st  cavalry  being  employed  as  heretofore,  chiefly  on 


464  INDIAN  WARS 

the  Arkansas.  These  movements  produced  two  re 
sults,  the  opening  of  communication  with  the  Mis 
souri,  late  in  October,  and  the  surrender  of  a  small 
portion  of  the  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes,  who  had 
hitherto  refused  to  make  a  permanent  treaty  with  the 
superintendent  of  Indian  affairs.  When  the  outbreak 
first  occurred,  the  governor  issued  a  proclamation  to 
the  friendly  Indians  to  repair  to  points  which  he 
named,  to  be  taken  care  of  by  the  agents;  the  Arapa 
hoes  and  Cheyennes  of  the  Arkansas  to  Fort  Lyon ; 
the  Kiowas  and  Comanches  to  Fort  Laramie  ;  the 
Sioux  to  Fort  Laramie ;  and  the  Cheyennes  and 
Arapahoes  of  the  upper  Platte  to  Camp  Collins.  In 
response  to  this  invitation  175  Arapahoes,  under  a 
chief  called  Friday,  took  up  their  residence  at  Fort 
Collins,  and  another  band  of  the  same  tribe,  under 
chief  Left  Hand,  repaired  to  Fort  Lyons  but  did  not 
long  remain.  The  agent  distrusted  them,  and  they 
distrusted  the  agent.  It  has  been  asserted,  and  as 
strenuously  denied,  that  although  apparently  friendly, 
some  of  them  acting  as  spies  to  give  information  of 
the  movements  of  the  hostile  Indians,  that  they  were 
go-betweens  for  their  own  people  as  well. 

About  the  time  the  hundred  days'  men  took  the 
field,  the  Cheyennes,  who  had  their  principal  village 
on  the  head  waters  of  Smoky  Hill  fork,  140  miles 
north-east  from  Fort  Lyon,  sent  three  messengers  to 
that  post  to  inform  Major  E.  W.  Wynkoop  of  the  1st 
cavalry  that  Bent,  their  former  agent,  desired  them 
to  make  peace,  and  that  they  were  prepared  to  do  so, 
provided  peace  should  also  be  concluded  with  the  other 
plains  tribes.  They  also  informed  him  that  they  had 
a  number  of  white  captives.  Wynkoop,  who  had  just 
been  reenforced  by  a  detachment  of  infantry  from  the 
department  of  New  Mexico,  sent  by  General  Carleton 
in  command,  deemed  it  his  duty  to  attempt  the  release 
of  the  prisoners,  who  were  women  and  children.  He 
left  Fort  Lyon  in  charge  of  the  infantry,  and  marched 
to  the  Cheyenne  village  with  130  mounted  men  and 


WIDE-SPREAD  HOSTILITIES.  465 

one  battery,  finding  himself  confronted  there  by  from 
600  to  800  warriors  drawn  up  in  battle  array.  Mak 
ing  the  best  display  possible  of  his  resources  for 
defence  in  case  of  an  attack,  and  putting  on  a  bold 
front,  he  obtained  a  council,  at  which  he  urged  the 
Cheyennes  to  prove  their  desire  for  peace  by  relin 
quishing  the  captive  women  and  children.  Much  hes 
itation  being  shown,  he  left  the  village  and  retired 
one  day's  march  to  a  strong  position,  taking  with  him 
the  three  messengers  whom  he  held  as  hostages,  giv 
ing  the  Cheyennes  three  days  in  which  to  determine 
upon  a  course  of  action.  At  the  end  of  that  time 
the  prisoners  were  delivered  up,  and  several  of  the 
chiefs  consented  to  accompany  the  major  to  Denver 
to  learn  upon  what  terms  peace  could  be  concluded 
with  the  Indian  department. 

Here,  however,  they  met  with  an  unexpected  rebuff. 
It  appeared  from  their  own  report  that  the  majority 
of  their  people  were  still  at  war,  as  well  as  the 
Kiowas,  Comanches,  Apaches,  and  fourteen  different 
bands  of  the  powerful  Sioux  nation,  including  those 
from  Minnesota.  A  peace  made  with  them  would 
not  be  binding  on  the  others,  as  the  governor  explained 
fco  them.  He  reminded  them  also  of  their  refusal  to 
meet  him  in  council  in  the  previous  autumn,  and  of 
their  neglect  to  avail  themselves  of  the  protection 
offered  in  his  proclamation,  since  which  time  they  had 
been  concerned  in  the  most  atrocions  crimes,  besides 
destroying  a  large  amount  of  property.  The  war  was 
still  going  on  ;  and  while  they  might  surrender  to  the 
military  authorities,  which  he  advised  them  to  do,  he 
could  not  make  a  treaty  with  them  until  peace  was 
restored,  they  being  for  the  present  accountable  to  the 
war  department. 

This  opinion  was  not  indorsed  by  the  commissioner 
of  Indian  affairs,  who  could  not  help  believing  that 
very  much  of  the  difficulty  on  the  plains  might  have 
been  avoided  if  a  spirit  of  conciliation  had  been  exer 
cised  by  the  military  and  others.  What  the  feeling 

HIST.  NEV.     30 


466  INDIAN  WARS. 

of  the  military  was  at  this  time  appears  in  a  despatch 
of  Major-general  S.  R.  Curtis,  commanding  the 
department,  to  Colonel  Chivington,  in  which  he  says: 
"  I  want  no  peace  until  the  Indians  have  suffered 
more.  ...  I  fear  the  agent  of  the  interior  depart 
ment  will  be  ready  to  make  presents  too  soon.  It  is 
better  to  chastise  before  giving  anything  but  a  little 
tobacco  to  talk  over.  No  peace  must  be  made  with 
out  my  directions. "  Following  the  advice  of  Governor 
Evans,  about  400  of  the  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes 
from  the  Cheyenne  valley  surrendered  at  Fort  Lyon 
to  Major  Wynkoop,  and  were  rationed  at  that  post. 
Not  long  after  Major  Scott  J.  Anthony  succeeded  to 
the  command,  and  after  feeding  the  Indians  for  a 
short  time,  restored  to  them  a  portion  of  their  arms, 
and  ordered  them  to  remove  to  the  region  of  Sand 
creek,  forty  miles  distant,  where  they  could  hunt, 
removed  from  any  contact  with  white  people  passing 
along  the  road. 

On  the  27th  of  November  Colonel  Chivington, 
with  a  force  of  900  men,  attacked  this  camp,  treating 
it  as  hostile,  and  killing  131  persons,  men,  women,  and 
children,  with  a  loss  on  his  part  of  50  killed  and 
wounded.  That  the  attack  was  premeditated,  and 
intended  as  a  part  of  the  further  suffering  which  Gen 
eral  Curtis  had  said  must  be  inflicted  before  peace 
could  be  made  with  the  hostile  Indians,  those  con 
cerned  in  it  have  never  denied.  But  about  its  moral 
and  political  aspect  there  has  been  much  controversy. 
A  commission  was  appointed  in  Washington  to  inves 
tigate  the  conduct  of  Chivington,  and  testimony  was 
taken  on  both  sides.  It  was  called  a  massacre  by  the 
Indian  department,  and  is  so  called  by  a  large  portion 
of  the  people  of  Colorado  to  this  day.  Another  class 
would  justify  Chivington  to  the  fullest  extent,  a  reso 
lution  of  thanks  being  passed  in  his  favor  by  the  Col 
orado  legislature.* 

4  The  facts  seem  to  be  that  Curtis  was  urging  Chivington  to  punish  the 
Indians.  Winter  was  coming  on,  before  which  it  was  desirable  to  strike  a 


THE  SAND  CREEK  AFFAIR.  467 

In  the  spring  of  1865  the  plains  Indians  renewed 
hostilities  with  all  the  more  fervor  that  now  they  had 
a  real  grievance,  and  many  persons  were  killed  upon 
the  roads  leading  from  the  Missouri  westward,  arid 
on  the  Platte;  in  consequence  of  which  the  head  of 
the  military  department  instructed  General  James  H. 
Ford,  commanding  the  district  of  the  upper  Arkansas, 
to  proceed  with  all  his  forces  against  them,  and  to 
pay  no  attention  to  any  peace  propositions.  But  in 

blow.  It  was  sufficient  excuse,  whether  true  or  false,  the  report  that  some 
of  the  hostile  Indians  visited  the  camp  of  the  non-combatants,  and  shared  with 
them  the  spoils  taken  from  the  white  people.  It  made  no  difference  that  these 
Indians  were  professedly  peaceable,  and  under  the  protection  of  the  U.  S.  flag. 
Chivington  organized  an  expedition  of  650  of  Col  Shoup's  3d  Colorado,  or 
100-days'  men,  175  of  the  1st  Colorado,  and  a  detachment  of  New  Mexico 
infantry  then  at  Fort  Lyon.  He  moved  secretly  and  rapidly  to  the  fort, 
taking  care  that  word  should  not  be  carried  to  the  Indian  camp.  He  sur 
prised  iLe  camp  at  sunrise.  The  Indians,  not  knowing  who  they  were  or 
what  the  pnrpose  of  an  armed  force  at  this  hour,  sprang  to  arms,  and  fired 
the  first  shot.  The  butchery  then  began,  and  lasted  until  2  o  clock,  the  Ind 
ians  being  driven  up  the  creek  several  miles.  They  fought  valiantly,  and 
considering  the  odds  in  numbers,  killed  and  wounded  about  as  many  as  the 
troops — all  of  their  killing  being  of  fighting  men,  while  the  greater  part  of 
those  killed  by  the  troops  were  old  men,  women,  and  children. 

George  L.  Shoup  was  colonel  of  the  3d  cav.  William  L.  Allen,  farmer 
and  stock-raiser,  who  came  to  Colorado  in  1859,  was  one  of  the  100-days' 
men.  David  H.  Nichols  was  captain  of  a  company.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  legislature  of  1864-5,  and  sheriff  of  Boulder  co.  previous  to  his  election 
to  the  legislature.  He  was  again  sent  to  the  legislature  in  1873,  and  in  1878 
was  one  of  the  penitentiary  commissioners.  0.  H.  P.  Baxter  of  Pueblo  was 
at  Sand  creek  as  captain  of  a  company.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the  legis 
lature  the  following  winter,  and  a  member  of  the  council  at  the  2  following 
sessions.  He  came  to  Colorado  in  1858.  and  was  one  of  the  first  locators  of 
the  town  of  Pueblo.  Martin  Brumbly  of  Canon  City,  who  came  to  Colorado 
in  1859,  was  a  private  at  Sand  creek.  Azor  A.  Smith,  a  graduate  of  Rush 
medical  college,  removed  to  Colorado  in  1859,  and  was  appointed  surgeon  of 
the  1st  Colorado.  He  has  since  occupied  various  public  positions,  and  was 
elected  to  the  legislature  in  1876.  In  1878  he  was  appointed  postmaster  of 
Leadville.  Irving  Howbert,  born  in  Ind.  in  1846,  and  son  of  William  How- 
bert,  the  pioneer  preacher  in  southern  Colorado,  who  died  in  1871,  was  in  the 
Sand  creek  affair.  He  has  furnished  me  a  manuscript  on  Indian  Troubles  in 
Colorado.  I  have  drawn  from  his  notes  some  valuable  hints  of  the  early  set 
tlement  of  El  Paso  and  Park  counties.  A  Woman  s  Experience  in  Colorado, 
MS. ,  by  Mrs  W.  R.  Fowler,  also  contains  incidents  of  the  Indian  war,  of  alarms 
that  were  well-founded,  and  others  that  were  exaggerated  by  fear.  Further 
authorities  are  The  Sand  Creek  Affair,  MS.,  by  Byers;  correspondence  be 
tween  Mr  Byers  and  Mrs  Jackson  in  N.  Y.  Tribune  of  Feb.  5  and  22,  and 
Mar.  3,  1880;  Ind.  Aff.  Rept,  1865,  app.,  515,  527;  Id.,  1867,  app.;  Speech 
of  Chivington,  in  Hett's  Tales  of  Colorado  Pioneers,  88-92;  McClures  Three 
Thousand  Miles,  358-95;  Elberfs  Public  Men  and  Measures,  MS.,  6-7;  How- 
bcrt's  Indian  Troubles,  MS.,  8;  Gilpin's  Pioneer  of  1842,  MS.,  8;  Dixons  New 
America,  49-51;  Townshend's  Ten  Thousand  Miles,  142;  Beckwitlis  Rept,  44; 
Cong.  Globe,  1864-5,  250-6;  Newlins  Proposed  Indian  Policy;  Council  Jour. 
Colo,  1865,  2;  Gen,  Laws  Colo,  1864,  259;  and  many  brief  allusions  by  varioni 
writers. 


468  INDIAN  WARS. 

May  a  committee  consisting  of  United  States  Senator 
J.  R  Doolittle,  L.  F.  S.  Foster,  and  L.  W.  Boss 
were,  at  their  own  solicitation,  appointed  to  negotiate 
with  the  hostile  tribes,  and  an  order  was  issued  to 
suspend  the  campaign  against  them.  The  Indians, 
however,  could  not  so  suddenly  be  brought  to  enter 
tain  the  idea  of  peace.  In  the  mean  time  the  com 
mand  of  the  district  of  the  upper  Arkansas  was  given 
to  General  Sanborn,  who,  with  Leavenworth,  agent 
for  the  lower  Arkansas,  in  the  course  of  the  summer, 
obtained  the  consent  of  the  Kiowas,  Comanches, 
Arapahoes,  and  Cheyennes  to  meet  in  council  early 
in  October  at  Bluff  creek,  forty  miles  south  of  the 
Little  Arkansas,  any  commissioners  the  president 
might  appoint.  At  this  council  treaties  were  entered 
into  between  these  tribes  and  the  United  States. 
The  proposition  of  Sanborn,  as  chairman  of  the  com 
mission — Harney,  Murphy,  Carson,5  Bent,  Leaven- 
worth,  and  Steele  being  the  other  members — was  to 
make  reparation  for  the  injury  done  the  Indians  at 
Sand  creek,  by  repudiating  the  action  of  the  Colorado 
cavalry,  and  restoring  the  property  captured  or  its 
equivalent,  and  giving  to  each  of  the  chiefs  to  hold  in 
his  own  right  320  acres  of  land,  and  to  each  of  the 
widows  and  orphans,  made  such  by  that  affair,  160 
acres,  besides  allowing  them  all  the  money  and 
annuities  forfeited  by  going  to  war.  The  amount 
appropriated  as  indemnity  for  the  Indian  losses  at 
Sand  creek  was  $39,050.  A  treaty  was  affected 
with  the  southern  bands  of  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes, 
and  with  the  Kiowas  and  Comanches,  by  which  they 
consented  to  allow  the  president  to  select  a  reserva 
tion  away  from  contact  with  white  people,  a  conces 
sion  which  led  to  their  removal  to  the  Indian  Terri 
tory,  where  they  have  since  remained,  the  govern- 

5  Carson,  who  figured  prominently  on  the  Indian  side  in  the  investigation, 
died  at  Boggsville,  Colorado,  in  August  1868.  In  Nov.  his  remains,  with 
those  of  his  wife,  were  removed  to  Taos.  N.  M.,  where  they  were  honored 
with  a  masonic  funeral.  Bozeman  Avant  Courier,  March  24,  1876.  He  was  a 
colonel  in  the  volunteer  U.  S.  service  in  New  Mexico  during  the  civil  war, 
and  was  Indian  agent  before  that  in  N.  M. 


THE  CHEYENNES  AND  ARAPAHOES.  469 

ment  paying  them  at  the  rate  of  $40  per  capita,  or 
$112,000  annually,  for  forty  years.  A  treaty  was 
also  effected  with  the  Apaches  who  were  confederated 
with  the  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes  on  the  same 
terms. 

With  the  close  of  the  civil  war  the  volunteer  regi 
ments  were  disbanded  and  the  regular  army  sent  to 
take  their  place.  Notwithstanding  the  treaties,  four 
infantry  and  two  cavalry  companies  were  stationed  at 
Fort  Lyon ;  two  infantry  and  two  cavalry  companies 
at  Fort  Garland  ;  one  cavalry  and  two  infantry  com 
panies  at  Fort  Morgan,  in  Weld  county  ;  at  other 
posts  in  the  district  of  the  upper  Arkansas  twenty- 
one  companies  of  mixed  infantry  and  cavalry ;  and  in 
the  district  of  New  Mexico  thirty-three  companies; 
all  these  being  in  the  territory  formerly  roamed  over 
by  the  treaty  Indians.  Nor  were  they  suffered  to 
rust  in  garrison  ;  for  between  the  Sioux  and  the  other 
plains  tribes  they  were  pretty  constantly  employed. 
Hostilities  were  renewed  in  1866,  and  in  the  winter 
of  that  year,  as  related  in  my  histories  of  Montana  and 
Wyoming,  occurred  the  defeat  of  Fettermann's  com 
mand  at  Fort  Philip  Kearny,  by  the  Sioux.  In  the 
spring  of  1867  a  systematic  war  was  begun  along  the 
Platte,  in  which  the  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes  were 
implicated  with  the  Sioux.  About  the  first  of  Septem 
ber,  1868,  Colorado  was  visited  by  a  party  of  seventy- 
five  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes  with  passes  from  forts 
Larned  and  Wallace.  They  went  through  Colorado 
City  and  the  Ute  Pass,  killing  a  party  of  Utes,  and 
returning  by  an  unfrequented  trail,  stampeded  and 
captured  a  herd  of  120  horses.  This  act  being  re 
garded  as  a  declaration  of  war,  the  stockade  erected 
in  1864  was  hastily  repaired,  and  arms  collected  for 
defence.  Meanwhile  a  company  of  scouts  pursued  to 
recover,  if  possible,  the  property  taken,  but  were  sur 
rounded  by  the  Indians,  and  only  escaped  by  the 
arrival  of  a  party  from  Denver,  at  whose  appearance 
the  Indians  fled,  their  swift  horses  distancing  those  of 


470  INDIAN  WARS. 

the  volunteers.  A  few  days  afterwards  a  war  party 
appeared  in  the  valley  of  Monument  creek,  killing 
three  persons,  wounding  two  others,  and  driving  off 
all  the  stock  they  could  gather  up.  North  of  here 
they  killed  four  other  persons,  and  burned  one  resi 
dence.  This  was  the  last  foray  of  the  plains  Indians 
in  the  Colorado  territory.  Two  years  longer  war 
raged  upon  the  plains.  Every  mile  of  the  Union  Pa 
cific  and  Kansas  Pacific  railroads  was  disputed.  But 
with  their  completion  came  peace ;  for  against  the 
despotism  of  steam  and  electricity  there  is  no  power 
in  the  Indian  to  defend  himself. 

The  Utes,  occupying  the  country  west  of  the 
Rocky  mountains,  had  taken  no  part  in  the  hostilities 
thus  far  recorded,  but  rejoiced  in  whatever  punish 
ment  was  inflicted  on  their  hereditary  enemies,  the 
Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes.  Of  this  people  there 
were  seven  bands  loosely  confederated,  but  having 
each  a  chief  and  council.  The  most  powerful  of  these 
occupied  the  north-west  portion  of  Colorado,  and 
have  been  most  commonly  known  as  the  White  River 
Utes.  Their  chief  was  Nevava.  Their  territory 
bordered  on  that  of  the  Arapahoes  and  Cheyennes, 
with  whom,  whenever  they  met,  courtesies  were  ex 
changed  in  the  form  of  scalps  and  horses  to  the  vic 
tors.  South  of  the  White  River  Utes  were  the 
Uncompahgre  Utes,  whose  chief  was  Ouray ;  and 
south  of  these  were  the  southern  Utes,  whose  chief 
was  Ignacio.  These  three  bands  belonged  in  Colo 
rado.  In  New  Mexico  were  three  bands,  known  as 
the  Mowaches,  Tabaquaches,  and  Wemiquaches.  In 
Utah,  west  of  the  White  River  Utes,  dwelt  the 
Uintah  Utes. 

In  1861  the  Colorado  superintendent  of  Indian  af 
fairs  sent  Lafayette  Head,  an  experienced  agent,  to 
reside  at  Conejos  in  charge  of  the  Tabaquache  Utes, 
and  to  distribute  presents  to  other  bands,  in  order  to 
gain  their  confidence,  In  1862  several  chiefs,  includ- 


THE  UTES.  471 

ing  Ouray  of  the  Uncompahgres,  were  induced  to 
visit  Washington  with  Agent  Head,  where  they  wit 
nessed  the  movements  of  troops,  the  action  of  artil 
lery,  and  other  impressive  demonstrations.  But  in 
1863  the  Utes  were  somewhat  troublesome,  having 
been  engaged  in  several  raids,  which  they  said  were 
against  the  Sioux,  but  in  which  they  carried  off  con 
siderable  property  of  the  white  people.  To  counter 
act  the  hostile  tendency,  agents  were  appointed  to  the 
other  bands  of  Utes,  Simeon  Whitely  being  appointed 
to  the  northern  agency  established  in  Middle  park. 
A  council  was  held  with  the  Tabaquaches,  who  relin-- 
quished  their  claim  to  the  lands  the  government  de 
sired  to  purchase ;  namely,  the  San  Luis  valley  and 
mountains,  and  that  portion  of  the  country  west  of 
the  Rocky  mountains  in  which  settlements  had  already 
been  made.  From  this  time  there  were  no  serious 
troubles  between  the  Colorado  Utes  and  the  white 
population,  although  depredations  were  occasionally 
committed  by  the  New  Mexico  bands  in  the  southern 
counties.6 

A  council  was  held  with  the  Utes  in  Middle  park 
in  1866.  There  was  the  usual  dissatisfaction  because 
a  treaty  had  been  concluded  with  one  band  and  not 
with  the  others.  There  was  also  a  very  just  dissatis- 

6  In  1865  a  council  was  held  at  Fort  Garland  to  settle  the  troubles  between 
the  Utes  and  the  Mexican  population,  and  a  peace  concluded  by  a  mutual 
indemnity.  In  1867  a  chief  of  one  of  the  New  Mexico  bands,  Kaneache,  had 
a  quarrel  with  a  United  States  officer,  in  which  threatening  language  was 
used  on  both  sides.  A  collision  was  averted  by  the  sagacity  of  L.  B.  Max 
well.  But  Kaneache's  heart  became  bad  toward  the  white  race,  and  he 
made  a  raid  upon  the  cornfields  of  the  Purgatoire  valley,  claiming  the  soil 
and  the  crops,  which  so  exasperated  the  Mexican  planters  that  retaliatory 
measures  were  resorted  to.  The  troops  from  Fort  Stephens,  a  camp  at  the 
foot  of  the  Spanish  peaks,  interfered,  and  met  with  a  slight  loss.  Kaneache 
now  took  the  war-path  in  earnest,  raiding  up  the  Purgatoire,  around  the 
Spanish  peaks,  over  the  Cucharas,  and  up  the  Huerfano.  Couriers  were  sent 
to  invite  the  Tabaquaches  and  Ouray  to  join  him.  Instead  of  joining  him, 
however,  Ouray  placed  all  his  people  under  the  surveillance  of  Fort  Garland, 
commanded  by  Col  Carson,  and  repaired  to  the  Purgatoire  to  warn  the  set 
tlers.  The  enemy  was  met  by  a  small  force  of  Tabaquaches,  under  Shawno, 
one  of  their  chiefs,  whom  Carson  sent  to  bring  in  Kaneache,  dead  or  alive. 
The  order  was  obeyed,  Kaneache  and  another  hostile  leader  being  captured 
and  taken  to  Fort  Union.  Five  white  men  were  killed  during  the  raid,  and 
much  property  taken  or  destroyed.  But  for  the  exertions  of  Ouray,  many 
more  lives  would  have  been  lost, 


472  INDIAN  WARS. 

faction  on  the  part  of  the  Tabaquaches  on  account  of 
the  character  of  the  annuity  goods  furnished  them, 
which  were  disgracefully  worthless,  rotten,  and  dis 
gusting,  and  might  reasonably  have  been  made  the 
ground  of  revocation  of  the  treaty.  In  1868  another 
treaty  was  made  with  all  the  Colorado  Utes,  in  which 
some  of  the  provisions  of  the  former  were  confirmed, 
but  important  modifications  made.  The  bounds  of 
the  reserved  lands  were  the  southern  limit  of  Colo 
rado  on  the  south,  the  107th  meridian  on  the  east,  the 
40th  parallel  on  the  north,  and  the  territory  of  Utah 
on  the  west.  The  government  was  pledged  to  expend 
annually  for  the  Utes  a  sum  not  to  exceed  $30,000  in 
clothing,  blankets,  and  other  articles  of  utility ;  and 
$30,000  in  provisions  until  such  time  as  these  Indians 
should  be  found  capable  of  self-support.  Among 
themselves  there  were  certain  causes  of  difference. 
The  United  States  had  insisted  that  there  should  be 
a  head  chief  over  all  the  confederate  tribes,  through 
whom  business  could  be  transacted  without  the 
tedious  council  in  which  they  delighted  to  exhibit 
their  eloquence  and  their  obstinacy.  Nevava  had 
passed  away,  and  his  sons,  of  whom  he  had  several, 
each  claimed  the  inheritance  of  the  chieftainship  of 
the  White  River  Utes.  There  were  many  in  this 
tribe  who  would  gladly  have  accepted  this  distinction 
— Antelope,  Douglas,  Johnson,  Colorow,  Jack, 
Schwitz,  and  Bennett.  But  in  their  stead  was 
appoined  Ouray,  of  the  Uncompahgre  band  chief  over 
all,  with  a  salary  of  $1,000  a  year ;  and  the  lesser 
chiefs  were  forced  to  content  themselves  with  such  a 
following  as  their  individual  qualities  could  command. 
There  was  much  jealousy.  The  White  River  Utes 
who  thought  the  head  chief  should  have  been  chosen 
from  among  themselves,  began  conspiring  against 
Ouray  as  early  as  1875,  and  talked  openly  of  killing 
him.  The  neglect  of  the  government  in  sometimes 
failing  to  deliver  the  annuities  was  charged  against 
the  head  chief,  who  was  said  to  be  in  collusion  with 


OURAY.  473 

certain  white  men  in  depriving  them  of  their  goods,  a 
suspicion  to  which  the  greater  wealth,  dignity,  and 
prosperity  of  Ouray  gave  some  coloring,  for  Ouray, 
like  Lawyer  of  the  Nez  Perces,  was  far  above  his 
contemporaries  in  shrewdness  and  intelligence.  But 
the  attempts  to  unseat  Ouray  amounted  to  nothing.7 
The  effect  of  this  dissatisfaction  was  to  culminate  in 
disasters  more  serious  and  important  than  the  over 
throw  of  the  head  chief.  In  1876  the  White  Kiver 
Utes  began  burning  over  the  country  north  and  east 
of  their  reservation,  claimed  by  them,  although  prop 
erly  belonging  to  the  Arapahoe  lands,  which  had  been 
purchased.  The  following  year  a  chief  known  as  Jack 
made  overtures  to  their  traditional  foes,  the  Chey- 
ennes  and  Arapahoes,  with  whom  he  appointed  a  ren 
dezvous  in  western  Wyoming.  Here  he  found  con 
genial  sympathizers,  who  filled  his  ears  with  stories 
of  the  excitement  and  glory  of  war.  The  southern 
TJte  agency  was  at  Los  Pinos  on  the  Uncompahgre 
river,  a  few  miles  from  the  present  town  of  Ouray, 
where  the  head  chief  had  his  residence.  The  agency 
of  the  White  River  Utes  had  been  removed  to  the 
southern  bank  of  that  stream.  Early  in  1879  the 
venerable  N.  C.  Meeker,  first  president  of  the  union 
colony,  was  appointed  to  the  charge  of  the  White 
River  Utes.  He  undertook  to  carry  out  the  designs 
of  the  department,  by  selecting  agricultural  lands  and 
opening  a  farm  at  the  new  agency,  by  encouraging 
the  Indians  to  build  log  houses,  and  by  opening  a 
school  which  was  taught  by  his  daughter.  He  found 
himself  opposed  from  the  outset  by  the  Indians,  some 

7  Ouray  was  brought  up  in  part  under  the  influences  of  the  Mexicans,  and 
was  made  much  of  afterward  by  Agent  Head.  Evans  appointed  him  inter 
preter  at  the  Conejos  agency,  paying  him  $500  a  year.  He  assisted  in  dis 
tributing  the  sheep  and  cattle  presented  to  the  Utes  after  the  treaty  of  1863. 
Keeping  his  own,  he  bought  others  with  his  money,  and  in  the  course  of  time 
was  able  to  employ  Mexican  herders.  He  erected  a  good  dwelling,  well  fur 
nished,  near  where  the  town  of  Ouray  is  located,  where  he  lived  in  comfort 
until  his  death  in  1880.  Evam'  Intel-view,  MS.,  13-15;  Dead  Men's  Gulch, 
MS.,  1-11;  In<iersoWs  Knocking  Around  the  Rockies,  96-106;  Denver  Tribune, 
Aug.  28,  1880;  Colorado  Mining  Camps,  MS.,  12-15;  Sturgia'  Ute  War,  7-8; 
Treaties  with  Indiana,  MS.,  11. 


474  INDIAN  WARS. 

of  whom  pretended  that  when  the  sod  was  once 
broken,  it  was  no  more  Ute  soil,  the  real  difficulty 
being  that  Johnson,  a  brother-in-law  of  Ouray,  wanted 
the  land  selected  by  Meeker  for  pasturing  his  numer 
ous  ponies.  Several  councils  were  held,  and  when  the 
excitement  was  abated,  Meeker  resumed  farming  op 
erations,  when  Johnson  assaulted  him,  forcing  the 
agent  out  of  his  own  house,  and  beating  him. 

Meeker  then  wrote  to  the  department  that  if  he 
was  to  carry  out  his  instructions,  he  must  have  troops. 
Assistance  was  promised.  Orders  were  issued  by  the 
commander  of  the  department,  that  a  troop  of  colored 
cavalry  from  Fort  Garland,  under  Captain  Payne, 
should  scout  through  the  parks  on  the  border  of  the 
reservation  to  protect  the  settlers  and  prevent  arson, 
and  join  a  command  of  160  cavalry  and  infantry  from 
Fort  Fred  Steele,  under  Captain  Thornburg,  ordered 
to  repair  to  the  reservation.  When  he  was  at  Bear 
river,  Indian  runners  brought  the  news  to  the  agency, 
and  in  much  excitement  required  the  agent  to  write 
to  Thornburg  not  to  advance,  but  to  send  five  officers 
to  compromise  the  difficulties.  Meeker  wrote  as  re 
quested,  sending  a  courier  with  the  letter,  which  left 
the  matter  to  Thornburg's  judgment.  The  decision 
of  that  officer  was  to  advance,  and  to  reach  the  agency 
September  30th,  but  to  quiet  the  Indians  by  promis 
ing  to  meet  five  of  the  Utes  at  Milk  creek  on  the 
evening  of  the  29th. 

On  the  morning  of  the  29th,  a  large  number  set  off 
with  the  alleged  object  of  having  a  hunt,  taking  their 
rifles  and  ammunition.  The  ordinary  affairs  were  be 
ing  transacted  with  less  than  customary  friction,  ow 
ing  to  the  absence  of  so  many  turbulent  spirits,  when 
at  about  one  o'clock  the  lightening  fell  out  of  a  clear 
sky.  A  runner  from  Milk  creek  brought  the  news 
that  a  battle  was  going  on  between  the  troops  and 
Indians  at  that  place.  This  information  was  not  im 
parted  to  Meeker,  but  half  an  hour  after  it  was  re 
ceived  twenty  armed  Utes  of  Douglas'  band  attacked 


SANGUINARY  CONFLICT. 


475 


the  agency.  Twelve  men  and  boys  were  quickly 
slaughtered.  The  agency  buildings  were  robbed  and 
burned.  The  gray  headed  philanthropist  was  dragged 
about  the  agency  grounds  by  a  log  chain  about  his 
neck,  and  with  a  barrel  stave  driven  down  his  throat. 
The  women  were  seized  and  carried  to  the  tepees  of 
Douglas,  Johnson,  and  Persune,  to  be  subjected  to 
their  lusts. 


W 


THORNBURG  BATTLE  GROUND. 

At  Milk  creek  were  other  deplorable  scenes.  The 
pretended  hunting  party  had  ambushed  Thornburg  at 
ten  o'clock  that  morning,  in  a  narrow  pass  at  this 
place,  and  separated  the  troops  from  the  supply  train 
in  the  rear.  Major  Thornburg,  in  attempting  to  fall 
back,  made  a  charge  on  the  cordon  of  Indians,  and 
was  killed,  with  thirteen  of  his  men.  The  command 


476  INDIAN  WARS. 

then  devolved  on  Captain  Payne  of  the  5th  cavalry, 
who  reached  the  train  with  forty-two  wounded,  in 
cluding  every  officer  but  one. 

Trenches  were  dug,  and  breastworks  erected  out  of 
the  wagons  and  their  contents,  to  which  were  added 
the  carcasses  of  horses  and  mules,  and  even  the 
bodies  of  dead  soldiers,  piled  up  and  covered  with 
earth.  In  the  centre  of  the  entrenchments  a  pit  was 
dug,  to  be  used  as  a  hospital,  where  the  wounded  were 
placed,  the  surgeon  himself  being  one  of  them.  The 
Indians  attempted  to  force  the  troops  out  of  their  in- 
trenchments  by  setting  fire  to  the  tall  dry  grass  and 
brush,  in  the  defile,  and  nearly  suffocating  them  ;  but, 
although  they  had  no  water,  they,  put  out  the  fire 
with  blankets  as  it  came  near,  and  so  conquered  that 
peril.  At  sundown  the  Utes  came  up  and  were  re 
pulsed.  That  night  a  scout,  named  Rankin,  stole  ont 
of  camp,  and,  finding  a  horse,  mounted  and  rode  to 
Rawlins,  160  miles,  arriving  on  the  morning  of  the 
1st  of  October.  It  was  not  until  the  9th  of  October 
that  information  was  received,  via  the  Uncompahgre 
agency,  at  Los  Pinos,  that  the  women  and  children 
were  alive,  in  captivity.  Troops  were  rapidly  concen 
trated  for  the  relief  of  Payne.  Meanwhile,  on  the 
third  night  after  the  attack,  Captain  Dodge,  with  the 
colored  troop  before  mentioned,  succeeded  in  eluding 
the  Utes,  and  joined  Payne  in  the  entrenchment;  but 
to  very  little  use,  as  all  the  horses  had  been  killed  but 
two,  and  as  this  troop  only  added  forty  more  to  the 
loss  sustained  by  the  government,  their  dead  bodies 
being  soon  added  to  the  fleshy  and  rotting  rampart  by 
which  they  were  surrounded.  As  the  Indians  gen 
erally  withdrew  at  night,  some  relief  was  obtained  by 
dragging  away  and  burying  the  decaying  animals,  and 
carrying  water  from  a  spring  near  at  hand.  In  this 
manner  were  passed  six  days. 

Relief  came  on  the  5th  of  October,  when  Colonel 
Merritt  arrived,  after  a  forced  march  of  72  hours, 
with  a  force  of  550  men.  For  the  appearance  of  this 


THORNBURG.  477 

particular  officer  the  besieged  had  waited  with  a  con 
fidence  which  sustained  them  through  one  of  the 
most  trying  ^  ordeals  ever  experienced  by  troops. 
There  was  a  skirmish  next  day,  but  the  Indians  soon 
retired,  and  the  dead  were  buried  as  decently  as  the 
circumstances  allowed.  In  the  affair  of  the  29th,  35 
Indians  were  killed.  The  loss  to  the  white  forces  was 
14  killed  and  43  wounded.  Thornburg's  body  was 
but  little  mutilated.  The  Utes  had  disposed  the 
limbs  decently,  and  placed  a  photograph  of  Colorow 
in  one  hand,  to  signify  by  whom  he  had  come  to  his 
death.  The  officers  engaged  in  this  affair,  besides 
Thornburg,  were  captains  J.  Scott  Payne  and  Joseph 
Lawson  of  the  5th  cavalry ;  Lieutenant  J.  V.  S.  Pad 
dock  of  the  3d  cavalry  ;  lieutenants  Wolf  and  Wooley 
of  the  4th  infantry,  and  Lieutenant  S.  A.  Cherry  of 
the  5th  cavalry,  the  sole  officer  unhurt,  and  E.  B. 
Grimes.  Thornburg  was  a  Tennessean.  He  en 
listed  as  a  private,  September  1861,  in  the  6th  Ten 
nessee,  serving  until  August  1863.  He  rose  in  five 
months  to  be  sergeant-major,  and  in  two  months 
more  to  be  lieutenant  and  adjutant.  He  subsequently 
entered  West  Point  academy,  graduating  in  1867. 
He  was  commissioned  second  lieutenant  of  2d  artil 
lery,  and  was  stationed  at  San  Francisco,  Fortress 
Monroe,  Alcatraz,  and  Sitka,  and  was  professor  of 
military  science  at  San  Diego,  California,  and  subse 
quently  at  the  East  Tennessee  university,  going 
thence  to  Fort  Foote,  Maryland ;  and  from  there  to 
San  Antonio,  Texas ;  then  to  Fort  Brown,  and  to 
Omaha.  He  became  major  of  the  4th  infantry  at 
Fort  Fred.  Steele.  Merritt  reached  the  agency  on 
the  llth,  finding  twelve  dead  and  mutilated  bodies.8 

8  Others  not  here  named  were  likewise  killed.  The  twelve  were  N.  C. 
Meeker,  E.  W,  Eskridge,  his  clerk,  a  lawyer  by  profession,  and  had  been  a 
banker;  W.  H.  Post,  assistant  agent  and  farmer;  E.  Price,  blacksmith;  Frank 
Dresser,  Harry  Dresser,  Frederick  Shepard,  George  Eaton,  W.  H.  Thomp 
son,  E.  L.  Mansfield,  Carl  Goldstein,  and  Julius  Moore.  N.  C.  Meeker  was 
born  in  Euclid,  Ohio,  in  1815.  He  was  early  known  as  a  newspaper  and 
magazine  writer.  He  married  the  daughter  of  one  Smith,  a  retired  sea-cap 
tain,  joining  a  society  known  as  the  Trumbull  Phalanx,  a  branch  of  the 


478 


INDIAN  WARS. 


While  the  command  remained  at  White  river,  Lieu 
tenant  Weir  and  a  scout  named  Humme  were  killed 
while  hunting  in  the  vicinity  of  the  agency,  but  no 
demonstration  was  made  against  the  Indians. 


UNCOMPAHGRE  AGENCY. 


North  American  Phalanx  and  Brook  Farm  Societies.  Communism  not  com 
ing  up  to  his  expectations,  he  returned  to  Cleveland,  and  went  into  a  mer 
cantile  business  in  a  small  way,  prospering  very  well.  Then  he  became  war 
correspondent  of  the  N.  Y.  Tribune,  and  later  was  on  the  editorial  staff.  In 
1869,  being  sent  to  write  up  Mormonism,  he  spent  a  little  time  in  Colorado, 
and  was  so  charmed  with  the  scenery  and  the  climate  that  he  determined  to 
settle  here  with  his  family.  In  this  design  he  was  encouraged  by  Greeley, 
who  promised  to  aid  him  with  the  Tribune.  Out  of  this  grew  the  Union  col 
ony.  How  Greeley  kept  his  word  the  readers  of  the  Tribune  remember,  and 
the  flourishing  town  of  Greeley  attests,  named  in  acknowledgment  of  his 
services. 


PEACE  SCHEDULE.  479 

The  captives  were  finally  given  up,  owing  to  the 
skill  of  Postal-agent  Charles  N.  Adarns  and  the  in 
fluence  of  Ouray.  The  Indians  guilty  of  the  crimes 
committed  at  the  agency  did  not  present  themselves, 
and  finally  Adams  went  on  to  Washington  with 
Ouray,  Jack,  and  other  lesser  personages  to  the  num 
ber  of  a  dozen.  After  nearly  a  fortnight  of  negotia 
tions  there,  during  which  the  government  insisted 
upon  two  points,  the  relinquishment  of  the  criminals 
and  the  removal  of  the  Utes  to  a  reservation  outside 
of  Colorado,  Jack  and  three  other  Utes  returned  with 
Adams  to  this  state  to  attempt  once  more  the  capture 
of  Douglas,  Johnson,  and  others  under  criminal 
charges.  About  the  middle  of  February  they  were 
so  far  successful  that  Douglas  and  Johnson  were 
among  the  Indians  who  accompanied  them  east, 
Douglas  being  left  in  confinement  at  Fort  Leaven- 
worth. 

On  the  6th  of  March  a  new  convention  was  en 
tered  into  between  the  Ute  representative  in  Wash 
ington  and  the  agents  of  the  United  States.  By  this 
arrangement  the  chiefs  agreed  to  endeavor  to  effect 
the  surrender  of  the  Indians  implicated  in  the  massa 
cre  of  Meeker  and  his  employes,  or,  if  not  able  to  take 
them,  they  promised  not  to  obstruct  the  government 
officers  in  the  same  effort.  They  agreed  to  cede  the 
Ute  reservation,  except  that  the  southern  Utes,  or 
Ignacio's  band,  were  to  be  settled  in  several ty  on  agri 
cultural  lands  on  the  La  Plata  river,  and  in  New 
Mexico.  The  Uncompahgres  were  to  settle  upon 
lands  on  Grand  river,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Gunni- 
son,  in  Colorado  and  Utah.  The  White  River  Utes 
agreed  to  settle  on  lands  in  several  ty  on  the  Uintah 
reservation  in  Utah.  The  severalty  bill  passed  by 
congress  allowed  160  acres  of  pasture  and  the  same 
amount  of  farming  land  to  each  head  of  a  family,  and 
80  acres  to  each  child.  The  consent,  first  of  congress, 
and  secondly  of  a  majority  of  the  three  bands,  was  to 
be  obtained  to  this  arrangement,  when  $60,000,  or  as 


480 


INDIAN  WARS. 


much  more  as  congress  might  appropriate,  should  be 
distributed  among  them.  An  annuity  of  $50,000  was 
also  to  be  paid  them,  and  a  support  furnished  them 
and  their  children  until  they  became  self-supporting.9 
This  schedule  was  so  altered  as  to  require  the  sur 
render  of  the  murderers  before  the  White  River  Utes 
should  receive  all  their  share  of  the  money,  and  an 
annuity  of  $500  each  was  to  be  taken  out  of  the  Ute 
annuity  to  be  paid  to  the  widows  of  the  men  slain  at 


UINTAH  RESERVATION. 

the  agency.  On  the  other  hand,  Schurz  insisted  on 
an  appropriation  of  $350,000  for  different  objects 
beneficial  to  the  Utes,  to  be  expended  in  surveying 

9  Denver  Tribune,  Mar.  7,  1880.  The  history  of  the  progress  of  the  Ute 
commissions  was  reported  in  the  Tribune  from  day  to  day,  and  from  its  col 
umns  I  have  drawn  most  of  my  statements  and  some  of  my  conclusions. 
The  account  of  the  massacre,  etc. ,  contained  in  Baskins  Denver  Hist. ,  is  ap 
parently  derived  from  a  similar  source.  There  is  a  pamphlet  by  Thomas 
Sturgis,  The  Ute  War  of  1879,  Cheyenne,  1879,  pp.  26,  showing  why  the  Ind 
ian  bureau  should  be  transferred  from  the  interior  department  to  the  mili 
tary,  which  also  contains  a  history  of  the  outbreak.  I  find  partial  accounts 
in  Bye™'  Centennial  State,  MS.,  46-52;  U.  S.  H.  Doc.,  1879-80;  Helena 
( Mont. )  Herald,  Oct.,  Nov.,  and  Dec.,  1879;  Helena  Independent,  Oct.  16 
and  30,  1879;  Sen.  Jour.  Colo,  1881,  42-3;  V.  S.  Sen.  Doc.,  i.  29,  46th  cong. 
2dsess.;  U.  S.  H.  Doc.,  ix.,  pt  5,  pp.  109-11,  121-5,  46th  cong.  2d  sess.; 
Stockton  Independent,  Mar.  17.  1880. 


PEACE  SCHEDULE.  481 

their  lots,  building  houses  and  mills,  buying  wagons, 
harness,  cattle,  and  other  property.  Back  annuities, 
which  by  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  1868  might  be 
paid  in  cattle,  the  Utes  insisted  should  now  be  paid 
in  cash,  and  enough  added  to  it  to  make  it  $75,000 
annually.  The  bill  finally  passed  with  these  provis 
ions.  Douglas  was  kept  in  confinement  at  Fort 
Leaven  worth  for  more  than  a  year.  His  tribe  were 
removed  to  Utah.  Ouray  returned  to  Colorado, 
where  he  died  in  August.  Colorow  lived  to  cause 
further  trouble. 


HIST.  NEV.    31 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

MATERIAL  PROGRESS. 
1859-1875. 

PLACER  AND  QUARTZ  MINING — REFRACTORY  ORES— PROCESSES — SMELTING — 
SWINDLING  CORPORATIONS — THE  FLOOD — INDIAN  HOSTILITIES— AGRI 
CULTURE — PRODUCTS  AND  PRICES — DISCOVERY  OF  SILVER — LOCALITIES 
AND  LODES — THE  SAN  JUAN  COUNTRY — ADVENTURES  OF  JOHN  BAKER'S 
PARTY — GREAT  SUFFERINGS — ARCHITECTURAL  REMAINS  OF  PRIMITIVE 
PEOPLES — PILE'S  EXPEDITION — TREATY  VIOLATIONS — OPENING  OF  ROADS 
— SILVER  LODES — SAN  MIGUEL  GOLD  DISTRICT — OURAY. 

IT  is  time  now  that  I  should  turn  to  the  considera 
tion  of  the  material  development  of  the  country. 
After  the  first  three  or  four  years  of  immigration  and 
gold  mining,  during  which  $30,000,000  of  gold  was 
produced,  it  began  to  be  realized  that  the  placer  dig 
gings  were  soon  to  be  exhausted,  and  that  quartz  min 
ing  only  could  be  made  remunerative  in  the  future.  A 
more  discouraging  discovery  was  that  the  ores  in 
quartz  were  refractory,  and  the  proper  methods  of 
working  them  unknown.  It  was  then  that  many 
Colorado  miners,  hearing  of  Salmon  river  in  what 
was  then  Washington  territory,  migrated  in  that 
direction  with  the  same  impetuousness  with  which 
they  had  first  flown  to  the  rumored  El  Dorado  of  the 
Rocky  mountains.  Failing  to  reach  there  for  want 
of  a  wagon- road,  they,  with  others  from  the  western 
states,  began  prospecting  on  the  headwaters  of  the 
Missouri  river,  and  discovered  gold.  Forthwith  the 
town  of  Bannack  sprang  up,  then  Virginia  City,  and 
simultaneously  other  towns  in  what  was  soon  Idaho, 
followed  by  the  rapid  population  of  the  still  later 

(482) 


PLACER  AND  QUARTZ  MINING.  483 

territory   of    Montana,  Colorado    furnishing  a  large 
proportion  of  the  first  settlers  of  that  region.1 

Placer,  gulch,  and  bar  mining  had  about  come  to 
an  end  in  1859  in  Arapahoe  county  ;  in  Clear  creek 
and  Boulder  counties  in  1860;  in  the  parks  by  1861; 
and  in  Gilpin  county  by  1863.  It  revived  somewhat 
afterward  in  the  parks.2  The  richest  of  the  gulch 
claims  had  proved  to  be  the  croppings  of  quartz  ledges, 
which  were  easily  worked,  the  gold  near  the  surface 
being  freed  from  its  matrix  by  elemental  forces 
operating  for  ages.  Little  water  at  first  accumulated 
in  these  mines  ;  simple  machinery  answered  for  hoist 
ing  the  ore,  and  fuel  was  cheap.  Arastras  and  stamp- 
mills  were  introduced  as  early  as  1859,  as  I  Lave 
before  mentioned,  and  were  quite  numerous  in  1860. 
But  to  the  surprise  of  their  owners  the  mills  were 
often  found  not  to  save  gold  enough  to  pay  expenses. 
D.  D.  White  is  said  to  have  thrown  a  quantity  of 
gold-dust  into  the  battery  of  his  mill  in  Boulder 
county  that  he  might  be  able  to  declare  that  he  had 
cleaned  up  some  gold,  and  not  a  trace  of  the  gold  thus 
devoted  could  be  found.  The  first  successful  mill  was 
the  property  of  Robert  and  Gary  Culver  and  John 
Mahoney,  and  was  set  up  in  July  1860  at  Gold  hill, 
ten  miles  from  the  town  of  Boulder,  to  work  the  ore 
of  the  Horsfal  mine,  discovered  3  in  June  1859,  and 
which  had  already  yielded  $10,000  by  sluicing.  Two 
months  later  a  six-stamp  Gates  mill  belonging  to 
Wemott  &  Merrill  arrived  from  Chicago,  and  was  set 

lThe  following  persons  were  in  both  Colorado  and  Montana:  W.  McKim- 
ons,  J.  Daniothy,  E.  Nottingham,  A.  W.  Pillsbury,  J.  Brady,  F.  Temple, 
W.  Rogers,  John  Call,  John  Willbard,  Christopher  Richter,  Nicholas  Kess- 
ler,  W.  J.  English,  G.  W.  Krattoar,  Sargeant  Hall,  O.  \V.  Jay,  Joseph 
Eveans,  Wilson  Butt,  James  M.  Cavanaugh,  William  Arthur  Davis,  O. 
Bryam,  James  Williams,  Thomas  Foster,  John  M.  Shelton,  Charles  L. 
Williams,  Benjamin  R.  Dittos,  John  Fenn,  Thomas  Garlick,  Will 'am  Fern, 
David  Alderdice,  C.  B.  Reed,  A.  E.  Grater,  Alexander  Metzel,  Edward  D. 
Alston,  J.  WT.  Marshall.  Isaac  Hall.  William  Stodden,  George  L.  Shoup. 

2  Ifollixter  Mints  of  Colo,  1 2*2-3. 

3 By  David  Horsfal.  M.  L.  McCaslin,  and  William  Blore.  Blore  was  a 
native  of  Otsego  co.,  N.  Y.,  though  of  German  descent,  and  was  born  in 
1833.  He  resided  in  Pa  when  a  child,  going  to  Neb.  in  1856,  and  being  one 
of  the  Colorado  pioneers  of  ]858.  He  purchased  land  and  went  to  farming 
and  stock-raising. 


484  MATERIAL  PROGRESS. 

to  work  upon  this  lode,  the  proprietors  of  the  former 
mill  discarding  their  own  and  purchasing  an  interest 
in  this.  By  this  means  $600  to  $700  per  cord — ore 
being  measured,  not  weighed,  at  this  time — was  saved, 
and  the  Horsfal  yielded  over  $300,000  in  the  succeed 
ing  two  years.  Some  other  mills  made  good  returns 
for  a  time  ;4  but,  as  I  have  said,  at  no  great  depth  the 
ores  generally  proved  refractory  to  the  treatment  to 
which,  following  the  methods  familiar  in  California, 
they  were  subjected.  The  milling  processes  practised 
on  the  Comstock  enabled  the  mill  men  to  extract  the 
metal  from  a  ton  of  ore  at  a  cost  of  from  five  to  ten 
dollars;  consequently  low-grade  ores  could  be  profita 
bly  worked  ;  but  it  was  found  that  quicksilver,  which 
in  California  and  Nevada  saved  the  free  gold  and  car 
bonates  by  amalgamation,  was  wholly  indifferent  to 
the  sulphurets  and  pyrites5  of  Colorado,  and  that  the 
ores  would  have  to  be  treated  by  some  then  unknown 
method,  and  at  probably  a  greatly  increased  cost. 
Much  money  was  expended  in  unprofitable  experi 
ment  for  the  whole  period  between  1864  and  1867, 
and  many  claims  were  abandoned  which  have  since 
been  profitably  worked.6  From  $7,500,000  annual 

4  Archibald  J.  Van  Deren  of  Ky  came  to  Colorado  in  1859,  and  operated 
successfully  one  of  the  first  stamp-mills  brought  to  Colorado  at  Nevada 
gulch.  He  was  commissioner  of  Gilpin  co.  in  J861.  In  1863  he  was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  legisiature.  The  John  Jay  mine  was  discovered  by  him.  Ensign 
B.  Smith,  born  in  N.  Y.,  came  to  Colorado  in  1859  with  his  family,  building 
the  second  house  in  Golden,  which  he  kept  as  a  hotel.  In  1860  he  removed 
to  Black  Hawk  and  erected  a  quartz-mill  of  6  stamps,  which  he  sold,  and 
erected  another  at  Buckskin  Joe,  which  ran  for  half  a  year,  when  he  aban 
doned  it  and  returned  to  hotel-keeping.  He  was  appointed  probate  judge  in 
1862.  In  1863  he  built,  in  connection  with  his  brother  and  W.  A.  H.  Love- 
land,  the  Clear  creek  wagon-road  from  Golden  to  the  Golden  Gate  road- 
Perry  A.  Kline,  born  in  Pa,  came  in  1859,  and  mined  in  the  Gregory  and 
Russell  diggings,  and  in  1860  at  California  gulch,  French  gulch,  and  Buck 
skin  Joe.  In  1861  he  was  employed  in  a  mill  on  the  Gunnell  lode,  near  Cen 
tral  City,  and  became  superintendent.  He  was  subseqiiently  superintend 
ent  of  several  different  mills,  among  others  the  Kansas  Consolidated,  run 
ning  52  stamps. 

0  Pyrites  are  sulphurets  of  iron,  whereas  combinations  of  sulphur  and 
other  metals  are  called  sulphurets.  Pyrites  may  have,  besides  iron,  the  sul 
phurets  of  other  metals. 

6  Warren  R.  Fowler,  author  of  Around  Colorcuio,  MS.,  was  born  in  N".  Y., 
and  in  1849  came  to  Cal.,  and  to  Central  City  in  1860,  which  he  helped  to 
build  iip.  He  has  remained,  mining  and  farming  in  different  parts  of  the 
state,  finally  making  his  residence  at  Canon  City, 


NATHANIEL  P.  HILL.  485 

production  the  mining  output  diminished  until  in  1867 
it  was  but  $1,800, 000, 7  when  men  ceased  to  exhaust 
their  means  in  worthless  "  new  processes,"  and 
returned  to  their  stamp-mills,  which  wasted  from  one 
half  to  two  thirds  of  the  precious  metals,  and  all  of 
the  lead  and  copper  contained  in  the  ores,  but  still 
afforded  a  profit.  During  this  period  many  miners 
parted  with  their  properties  to  eastern  men,  who  had 
advanced  money  on  them,  and  they  were  lying  idle, 
which  accounted  in  part  for  the  decrease  of  gold  pro 
duction  in  Colorado.  Time  was  required  to  establish 
titles  and  start  up  the  mines  under  a  new  regime. 
Also  a  large  per  cent  of  the  unsold  mining  property 
was  bonded  to  be  sold,  in  which  condition  it  could  not 
be  worked.  Gradually  the  new  owners,  having  com 
mand  of  capital,  secured  the  services  of  mining  experts 
from  Europe,  who  introduced  processes  of  dressing 
and  smelting  ores,  which  being  improved  upon  by 
native  ingenuity,  resulted  in  a  solution  of  the  problem. 
The  yield  of  the  Colorado  mines  in  1870  rose  to 
$5,000,000,  and  in  1871  to  $6,000,000. 

In  the  meantime  the  discovery  had  been  made  that 
some  of  the  supposed  gold  mines  were  really  not  gold, 
but  silver;  as,  for  instance,  the  Seaton  mine  in  Idaho 
district,  which  became  almost  valueless  from  the  small 
amount  of  gold  contained  in  the  bullion  produced  by 
it,  the  name  of  Seaton  gold  being  synonymous  with  a 
nearly  white  metal.  Comparison  of  the  ore  with  some 
from  the  Comstock  mines  revealed  a  resemblance,  but 
the  owners  were  still  doubting,  because  they  knew 
nothing  of  silver  in  Colorado,  and  no  competent 
assayer  was  at  hand  to  decide  the  question.  In  the 
summer  of  1864,  however,  there  was  discovered  a 
lode,  which,  on  being  tested  by  experts,  was  pro 
nounced  to  be  undoubted  silver  ore.  This  important 
revelation  changed  at  once  the  reputation  of  such 

7  Tices  Over  the  Plains,  226;  Helena  Republican,  Sept.  15,  1866.  The 
Montana  Post  of  Apr.  30,  1869,  says  that  Montana  produced  in  1868,  $i5,000,- 
000  in  precious  metals,  against  $2, 107,235  in  Colorado,  and  that  Montana's 
agricultural  product  was  $5,913,000,  against  §2,683,840  ia  Colorado. 


486  MATERIAL  PROGRESS. 

mines  as  the  Seaton,  which,  from  being  regarded  as 
almost  worthless,  assumed  a  great  if  unknown  value. 
It  also  stimulated  prospecting  afresh,  and  prompted 
the  holders  of  mines  which  were  lying  idle  to  attend 
to  their  development. 

It  was  in  1864  that  a  company  of  capitalists  of 
Boston  and  Providence  requested  Nathaniel  P.  Hill, 
at  that  time  professor  of  chemistry  at  Brown  univer 
sity,  to  visit  Colorado,  in  order  to  examine  a  land 
grant  in  which  they  were  interested.  This  examina 
tion  led  to  a  second  visit  in  1865,  when  the  mines  of 
Gilpin  county  were  subjected  to  thorough  research, 
and  the  attention  of  the  man  of  science  was  drawn  to 
the  imperfect  methods  in  use  for  treating  ores.  After 
acquainting  himself  with  his  subject,  Hill  paid  two 
visits  to  Swansea  in  Wales,  taking  with  him  enough 
of  the  Colorado  ores  to  make  practical  tests  at  the 
Swansea  works,  and  studying  ore-reduction  in  other 
parts  of  Europe.  Returning  to  the  United  States  in 
the  autumn  of  1866,  he  organized  the  Boston  and 
Colorado  Smelting  company,  with  a  cash  capital  of 
$275,000,  and  proceeded  to  erect  a  furnace  at  Black 
Hawk,  near  Central  City.  This  furnace  solved  the 
knotty  problem  of  how  to  reduce  refractory  ores,  and 
make  abandoned  mines  of  value.  For  ten  years  its 
fires  were  never  out,  but  other  furnaces  were  added 
by  the  company  until  there  were  eight,  which  were 
always  fully  employed.  In  1878  the  company  removed 
its  works  to  Argo,  a  suburb  of  Denver,  where  seven 
acres  were  covered  by  them,  and  where  ore  was 
brought  by  the  railroads,  not  only  from  different  parts 
of  Colorado,  but  from  New  Mexico,  Arizona.  Utah, 
and  Montana.  The  company  had  increased  its  capi 
tal  before  removal  to  $800,000,  and  its  products  from 
$300:000  in  1868  to  $2,250,000  in  1878.  Until  he 
was  chosen  to  the  United  States  senate,  Professor 
Hill  devoted  his  entire  energies  to  the  mining  devel 
opment  of  the  country,  whose  savior,  in  this  direc 
tion  he  became.  Not  that  smelters  before  1865-7 


REDUCTION  WORKS.  487 

had  been  overlooked,  though  there  might  be  smelters 
and  no  gold  or  silver.  The  first  furnace  erected  was 
in  September  1861,  by  Lewis  Tappan,  who  had  dis 
covered  a  lead  mine  in  Quartz  valley.  Governor  Gil- 
pin  was  in  need  of  bullets  for  his  1st  Colorado  cav 
alry,  and  did,  I  am  bound  to  believe,  draw  his  drafts 
on  the  treasury  to  erect  this  smelter  in  order  to  sup 
ply  them.  These  bullets  had  the  reputation  of  being 
poisoned,  so  few  of  the  wounded  recovered,  though  it 
was  not  the  governor  who  was  at  fault,  but  the 
smelter,  which  did  not  extract  the  poisonous  metals 
mixed  with  the  silver  in  the  lead  thus  obtained.8  The 
second  furnace  erected  was  for  smelting  gold,  and 
was  built  at  Black  Hawk  in  18 64  by  James  E,  Lyon, 
but  failed  of  its  purpose,  as  I  have  already  intimated. 
After  reduction  works  were  successfully  introduced 
at  Black  Hawk,  they  multiplied  in  the  gold  and  silver 
districts.  The  mills  resumed  crushing,  those  few 
mines  which  produced  ore  free  from  sulphur  being 
generally  furnished  with  apparatus  for  turning  out 
bullion,  and  the  majority  sending  their  concentrated 
ore  to  the  reduction  works.10  of  Colorado,  or  quite 

8 1  find  these  facts  in  a  manuscript  on  J\Ilniny  and  Smelting  in  Colorado,  by 
John  Bennett,  of  Littleton,  who  was  born  in  Stafford  co.,  Eng.,  in  1820,  and 
migrated  to  America  in  1849,  landing  at  N.  O.,  and  drifting  to  Wis.,  where 
he  remained  working  in  the  lead  mines  until  18(50,  when  he  came  to  Colorado. 
He  made  the  plan  of  the  furnace  which  furnished  lead  for  Gilpin's  regiment. 
It  was  '  built  of  rock,  with  a  channel  chiseled  out  to  receive  the  lead  as  it 
was  melted  in  the  fire,  a  blacksmith's  bellows,  a  water-wheel,  and  a  small 
stream  of  water  to  give  blast  to  the  furnace. '  Bennett  assisted  Hill  in  select 
ing  ores  to  be  taken  to  Europe.  See,  also,  Gilpin's  Pioneer  of  1SJ2,  MS. 

90:ie  run  only  was  made.  A  '  button,'  2h  feet  in  diameter  and  six  inches 
in  thickness  was  the  result,  which  was  placed  on  exhibition  at  the  national 
bank,  and  the  works  closed,  the  process  proving  too  costly.  Meagher,  Obser- 
vithnA,  MS.,  2.  Meline,  Two  Thousand  Miles  on  Horxeback,  66-8,  tells  all 
that  I  have  told  here,  but  in  the  light  of  a  huge  joke,  or  at  least,  with  little 
sympathy  for  the  disappointed  smelter-owner. 

u  Cash  and  Rockwell  of  Central  City,  between  1867  and  1870,  erected 
works  near  Central  City  for  the  reduction  of  gold  ores,  which  saved  95  to  98 
par  cent  of  the  precious  metal.  Wallinyhams  Colo  Gazetteer,  230.  Besides 
Hill's  smelter  at  Black  Hawk,  there  were  reductions- works  for  the  treatment 
of  silver  ores  at  Georgetown  in  Clear  creek  co.,  erected  by  Garrott  and 
Buchanan,  but  sold  to  Palmer  and  Xichols:  and  Stewart's  silver-reducing 
works,  also  at  Georgetown;  Brown  Co. 's  reduction  works  at  Brownville,  I 
miles  from  Georgetown;  Baker's  works  8  miles  above  Georgetown,  the 
International  Co.'s  works  in  east  Argentine  district;  and  the  Swansea  reduc 
tion  works,  4  miles  above  Georgetown.  At  the  latter,  both  gold  and  silver 


488  MATERIAL  PROGRESS. 

often  to  Omaha  or  Chicago,  where  large  smelters  had 
been  erected  for  the  purpose  of  reducing  and  refining 
the  ores  from  Colorado,  Montana,  and  other  mining 
regions  to  which  railroad  transportation  was  being 
extended.  The  expense  of  the  treatment  and  hand 
ling  made  a  low  grade  of  ores  comparatively  worth 
less.  In  the  first  place,  the  mills  charged  from  $20 
to  $35  per  cord  ll  for  crushing  the  rock,  to  which  was 
added  the  cost  of  concentration,  reduction,  and  trans 
portation,  in  all  from  $45  to  $50.  Still,  the  average 
assay  of  all  the  silver  ores  treated  was  $118,  of  which 
80  per  cent  was  guaranteed  to  the  miner.  Some  ores 
yielded  from  $350  to  $650  per  ton,  these  being  sent 
to  Newark,  England,  or  elsewhere  for  reduction.12 

While  the  territory  was  passing  through  this  exper 
imental  period  of  its  mining  history,  it  had  yet  other 
brawbacks  in  the  operations  of  swindling  companies, 
which  brought  discredit  upon  the  country  by  cheating 
their  stockholders,  and  then  unblushingly  pricking 
the  bubble.  One  fraud  of  this  kind  gained  more 
notoriety  than  many  excellent  investments.  In  other 
cases  there  were  really  good  mines  in  the  hands  of 
operators,  who  mercilessly,  by  a  system  of  assessments 
and  practices  known  among  miners  as  freezing  out, 
excluded  all  but  a  favored  few  from  participation  in 
the  benefits  of  mining  property  in  which  they  had  in 
the  first  instance  embarked  their  small  capital.  If  a 
prison  is  the  proper  thing  for  men  brave  and  bold 
enough  to  rob  contrary  to  law,  a  rope  would  be  about 
right  for  the  vile  creatures  that  cheat  and  steal  within 
pale  of  the  law.  Besides  those  intentional  wrongs, 
there  were  many  failures  which  were  the  result  of 

ore  were  reduced.  In  Summit  co.  there  were  the  Sukey  Silver  Mining  Co.  's 
reduction  works,  and  the  works  of  the  Boston  association,  which  were  all 
the  smelters  in  operation  in  1870.  Ruins  of  experiments  were  to  be  seen  in 
all  the  mining  districts. 

11 A  cord  measured  128  cubic  feet,  and  weighed  from  6  to  10  tons,  accord 
ing  to  density. 

12  It  would  be  out  of  place  for  me  to  go  into  details  concerning  the  meth 
ods  of  reducing  ores  in  Colorado.  No  two  smelters  used  the  same  processes, 
and  every  process  was  varied  to  adapt  it  to  the  requirements  of  the  miner 
als  to  be  separated. 


BAD  MANAGEMENT.  489 

folly  in  the  management  of  funds,  in  the  erection  of 
expensive  but  unnecessary  buildings,  or  attempts  at 
the  hitherto  unheard-of  processes  to  which  I  have 
alluded.  From  the  depression  of  this  period  I  shall 
show  by  and  by  that  the  mining  interest  completely 
emerged,  if  not  all  at  once,  yet  before  the  admission 
of  Colorado  into  the  union.  In  nine  years,  ending 
1880,  the  small  county  of  Gilpin  produced  $18,126,- 
564  in  gold  and  silver.13 

Going  back  to  the  beginning  of  this  chapter,  it  was 
not  altogether  the  failure  of  placer  mining,  the  ignor 
ance  of  and  subsequent  blunders  made  in  quartz  min 
ing,  with  their  concomitant  ills,  of  which  Colorado 
had  to  complain  in  the  years  of  her  infancy  In 
common  with,  but  to  a  greater  comparative  extent, 
the  new  commnnity  suffered  like  the  older  ones  the 
burdens  and  the  losses  by  civil  war,  which  had 
diverted  men  and  capital,  raised  prices,  depreciated 
currency,  and  even  swallowed  up  the  means  of  trans 
portation  across  the  plains.  The  summer  of  1863 
was  a  season  of  drought,  when  boats  could  not  ascend 
the  Missouri  with  freight  for  points  above  the  mouth 
of  the  Kansas  river,  and  goods  became  scarce.  The 

O 

grass  on  the  plains  was  burnt  up  by  the  sun,  so  that 
stock  did  not  thrive ;  the  city  of  Denver  was  visited 
by  a  fire  which  destroyed  property  worth  a  quarter  of 
a  million,  and  all  things  conspired  to  make  desolate 
the  hearts  of  the  pilgrims  from  home  and  plenty. 

Following  this  exceptional  summer  was  an  equally 
exceptional  winter,  which  began  in  October  and  was 
severely  cold.  The  impoverished  cattle  on  the  plains 
perished  by  hundreds.  Hay  and  grain  brought 
twenty  cents  per  pound,  and  fuel  advanced  a  hundred 
per  cent.  Trains  with  supplies  and  machinery  were 
snowed  up  en  route,  and  some  were  lost.  Others 

13 Gilpin  co.  produced  $2,240,000  in  1876,  which  it  did  not  exceed  for 
9  years  except  in  1878  and  1880.  In  the  latter  year  the  yield  was  $2,680,- 
090, 


490  MATERIAL  PROGRESS. 

were  a  year  arriving.  While  these  circumstances 
made  gold  more  than  usually  a  necessity,  mining  was 
interrupted  by  the  cold.  The  spring  brought  no 
relief,  the  rains  descending  in  floods,  driving  out  of 
their  claims  the  few  miners  who  had  returned  to  the 
mountains,  and  destroying  the  crops  which  had  not 
entirely  succumbed  to  the  drought.  On  the  19th  of 
April  the  waters  of  Plum  and  Cherry  creeks  suddenly 
rose,  and  sweeping  through  Denver,  carried  destruc 
tion  and  death  in  their  course.  A  million  dollars 
worth  of  property,  and  twenty  lives  were  lost.14  Sim 
ilar,  though  less  extensive  damage  was  wrought  by 
the  storm  in  other  portions  of  the  territory.  Follow 
ing  this  sudden  flood,  was  a  heavy  and  continuous 
rainfall,  which,  with  the  melting  snow  in  the  moun 
tains,  caused  a  second  slower  rise,  which  overflowed 
the  farming  lands,  and  remaining  up  for  a  month 
ruined  the  crops,  the  young  fruit  trees,  and  in  many 
instances  changed  the  face  of  the  county  by  deposit- 

14  The  storm  which  caused  such  devastation  in  Denver  came  from  the 
south-east,  and  was  a  heavy  fall  of  rain,  followed  by  hail,  which  dammed  the 
water  from  the  mountains  until  its  weight  forced  the  barriers,  filling  up  the 
valley,  and  carrying  everything  before  it.  Mixed  with  the  water  and  hail 
was  the  sand  which  had  accumulated  in  the  bed  of  Cherry  creek,  giving 
it  additional  weight.  The  flood  struck  the  town  at  2  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
and  12  hours  afterward  water  was  still  rolling  on  in  massive  billows,  which 
rose  so  high  in  their  frantic  course  that  a  man  standing  on  one  bank  would  be 
momentarily  hidden  from  sight  on  the  other.  A  cupful  of  the  liquid  was 
fonnd  to  be  half  sand.  The  fall  of  the  creek  through  the  town  was  35  feet  to 
the  mile;  above  it  was  much  greater.  The  city  hall  stood  in  the  hitherto  dry 
bed  of  the  creek.  It  was  utterly  destroyed,  and  a  safe  containing  the  valua 
bles  of  the  city  was  never  seen  again.  The  office  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  News 
was  erected  on  piling  on  a  little  island  in  the  creek  bed.  It  had  in  it  5  print 
ing  presses,  one  weighing  between  2  and  3  tons.  All  were  swept  away  with 
the  building,  and  so  lost  and  covered  up  that  they  were  not  discovered  for 
9  or  10  years,  when  the  heaviest  press  was  found  in  the  middle  of  Platte 
river,  below  the  mouth  of  the  creek.  A  portion  of  another  press — the  one 
Byers  brought  from  Omaha  in  1859 — was  found  covered  10  feet  deep  with 
earth  when  the  water  company  excavated  for  their  first  works  at  Denver. 
Against  such  power  as  this  nothing  could  stand — houses,  bridges,  property 
of  every  kind  disappeared  forever.  Five  persons  asleep  in  the  News  office 
were  aroused  only  in  time  to  spring  from  a  window  into  an  eddy  formed  by 
drift  lodged  for  the  moment  against  the  building,  from  which  they  were 
drawn  and  rescued  just  as  the  office  was  carried  away  with  all  it  contained, 
and  the  lot  on  which  it  stood.  The  pioneer  saw  mill  of  D.  C.  Oakes  was 
carried  away.  Byers,  besides  losing  all  his  town  property,  had  his  farm, 
which  was  in  a  bend  of  Platte  river,  destroyed  by  the  cutting  of  a  new  chan 
nel.  Hist.  Colo,  MS.,  48.  Gibson,  Arnold,  Schlier,  Lloyd,  Stover,  and  other 
farmers  were  ruined.  Reed,  Palmer,  and  Barnes  together  lost  4,000  sheep, 
and  so  on.  For  a  new  country  it  was  a  great  disaster. 


FLOODS  AND  INDIAN  TROUBLES.  491 

ing  sand  to  a  considerable  depth  over  it.  The  roads 
became  impassable  for  weeks  from  the  thorough  sat 
uration  of  the  soil  of  the  plains,  and  every  kind  of 
business  was  brought  to  a  stand  still. 

This  stagnation  in  the  life  giving  industries  was 
followed  by  an  uprising  among  the  Indians  along  the 
overland  route,  which  added  still  further  to  the  dis 
tress  already  felt  on  account  of  interrupted  communi 
cation  with  the  east.  The  situation  called  for  a  mili 
tary  force,  which  was  organized  about  midsummer  for 
ninety  days'  service,  and  sent  out  to  open  the  closed 
communication  with  the  east,  which  it  effected.  An 
account  of  these  affairs  is  elsewhere  given ;  I  only 
remark  here  that  Colorado,  young  and  heavily  taxed 
as  she  was,  had  already  raised  two  regiments  in 
defence  of  the  government,  which  were  then  in  the 
field,  and  that  the  1,200  ninety  days'  men  made  the 
third.  Had  business  been  better  it  might  have  been 
more  difficult  to  raise  this  last;  but  at  all  events 
matters  could  not  mend  until  the  embargo  on  trans 
portation  was  raised.  The  vengeance  meted  out  to 
the  Indians  reacted  during  the  following  winter, 
when  again  all  communication  was  cut  off  for  two 
months,  the  Platte  route  desolated  for  250  miles,  and 
again  the  territory  raised  300  militiamen  to  open 
communication.15  The  dangers  and  losses  to  freight 
ers  greatly  raised  the  charges  on  freight,  a™  also  the 
price  of  every  commodity,  and  the  result  was  that  by 
the  time  the  heavy  milling  machinery  so  long 
delayed  was  upon  the  ground  the  companies  owing  it 
had  exhausted  their  treasuries  These  were  the  dark 
days  of  Colorado ;  yet  never  so  dark  that  faith  in  her 
was  lost  by  those  best  acquainted  with  her  resources. 
Two  things  they  waited  for  which  came  not  fa1"  apart 
—  a  knowledge  of  the  true  methods  of  extracting  gold 
and  silver  from  refractory  ores,  and  railroad  commu 
nication.  I  might  add  that  confidence  in  the  value 

15 Bayles  Politics  and  Minim/,  MS.,  4;  Evans'  Interview,  MS.,  16;  Elbtrfs 
Pub.  Men  and  Measures,  MS.,  9. 


492  MATERIAL  PROGRESS. 

of  agriculture,  which  was  established  after  a  few  years 
of  experimental  farming,  tended  to  give  permanence 
to  other  enterprises.  These  years  of  waiting,  from 
1864  to  1867,  were  not  lost.  They  proved  the  stuff 
of  which  not  the  mountains  but  the  men  were  made. 
No  more  did  they  depend  on  freight  teams  to  bring 
to  them  from  the  Missouri  flour,  corn,  and  potatoes. 
In  a  single  season,  1866,  Colorado  became  self-sup 
porting;  in  1867  she  exported  food  to  Montana,  and 
contracted  to  supply  the  government  posts ;  and  in 
1868  made  food  cheaper  than  in  the  States.16 

I  have  not  yet  given  the  actual  history  of  the  dis 
covery  of  silver  in  Colorado.  An  assay  made  of  ore 
from  the  Gregory  lode  in  1859  resulted  in  showing  a 
yield  of  16f  ounces  of  silver  per  ton,  and  10 \  ounces 
of  gold  ;  the  assay er  being  John  Torry  of  the  United 
States  assay-office,  New  York,  a  notice  of  which  was 
published,17  but  does  not  seem  to  have  attracted  much 

16  Says  Bowles,  in  his  letters  to  the  Springfield  Republican  in  1868,  after 
ward  published  in  a  vol.  entitled  The  Svxteerland  of  America,  'At  a  rough 
estimate  the  agricultural  wealth  of  Colorado  last  year  was  1,000,000  bushels 
of  corn,  500,000  of  wheat,  500,000  of  barley,  oats,  and  vegetables,  50,OCO 
head  of  cattle,  and  75,000  to  100,000  of  sheep.'  Of  the  prolific  qualities 
of  the  new  soil  he  says:  'The  irrigated  gardens  of  the  upper  parts  of 
Denver  fairly  riot  in  growth  of  fat  vegetables,  while  the  bottom-lands  of  the 
neighboring  valleys  are  at  least  equally  productive  without  irrigation. 
Think  of  cabbages  weighing  50  to  60  pounds  each!  And  potatoes  from  5  to 
6,  onions  1  to  2  pounds,  and  beets  6  to  10.'  Byers  speaks  of  watermelons 
'piled  up  on  the  top  of  one  another,'  so  abundantly  the  vines  were  laden. 
Hist.  Colo,  MS.,  43.  Market  prices  for  1868,  before  harvest:  barley,  3  cents 
a  pound;  corn,  3^  to  4g;  corn-meal,  5  cents;  oats,  3  cents;  potatoes,  2  and  3 
cents;  wheat,  3f  cents;  tomatoes,  fresh,  3  cents;  cabbages,  1  cent;  beef  12 
to  15  cents;  cheese,  20  to  22  cents;  butter,  45  cents;  Hour,  7  to  9  cents;  eggs, 
50  to  60  cents  a  dozen.  Formerly  the  simple  freight  on  all  these  articles  had 
been  from  6  to  10  cents  a  pound.  Concerning  locations  of  farming  lands  at 
that  period  there  were  the  Cache-la-Poudre  valley  on  a  branch  of  the 
Platte  in  Larimer  co.,  which,  besides  grain,  vegetables,  and  hay,  produced 
fiom  15,000  to  20,000  pounds  of  butter;  the  Big  Thompson  valley,  in  the 
same  country,  which  produced,  besides  grain,  hay,  and  vegetables,  7, ECO 
pounds  of  cheese;  the  Platte  valley,  between  Denver  and  the  Cache-la- 
Poudre,  which  produced,  besides  a  large  crop  of  grains,  etc..  23,000  pounds 
of  butter;  the  same  valley,  for  20  miles  south  of  Denver,  and  Bear  creek 
also  had  considerable  cultivated  land.  In  the  main  valley  of  the  Arkansas 
about  6,000  acres  were  under  cultivation;  on  the  Fontaine-qui-Bouille,  6,000; 
on  the  St  Charles,  1,500;  in  the  Huerfano  valley,  5,000;  all  of  which  com 
prised  about  half  of  the  land  actually  farmed  in  the  territory  in  1868. 

17  In  the  Rocky  Mountain  News,  Aug.  20,  1859.  See  also  Clear  Creek  and 
Bouldtr  Val  Hist.,  278;  King,  U.  S.  Geol  Explor.,  iii.  588-62.  I  find  in 
Aux's  Miniwi  in  Colorado,  MS.,  4,  that  the  author  claims  for  himself  and  A. 
Miller  the  first  discovery  of  a  silver  lode,  in  July,  1859,  They  found  it  near 


SILVER  LODES.  493 

attention,  probably  owing  to  the  shifting  nature  of 
the  mining  population,  and  the  prevailing  ignorance 
of  silver  mining.  Nevertheless,  the  Ida  mine,  near 
Empire,  in  Clear  creek  county,  was  recorded  as  a 
silver  lode  by  its  discoverer,  D.  C.  Daley,  in  Septem 
ber  1860.  It  was  assayed  by  Day  of  Central,  and 
found  to  contain  100  ounces  of  silver  per  ton. 
Another  lode  was  recorded  October  4,  1860,  called 
the  Morning  Sun  Silver  lode.  A  number  of  other 
locations  was  made  of  silver  lodes  by  E.  H.  F.  Pat 
terson  and  others,  and  not  infrequent  mention  was 
made  of  these  claims  in  the  local  prints.18  They  were 
found  in  Gilpin  and  Clear  creek  counties,  but  chiefly 
in  the  latter,  about  Georgetown.  The  Seaton  mine 
was  discovered  in  July  1861,  by  S.  B.  Womack  and 
others,  who  mined  it  for  gold  only.  It  became  one 
of  the  celebrated  silver  mines  of  the  world.  The 
existence  of  silver  was  not,  however,  authoritatively 
proved  until  several  years  later. 

In  the  summer  of  1864  Cooley  and  Short,  while 
prospecting  on  Glazier  mountain,  discovered  a  lode 
which  became  known  as  the  Cooley,  ore  from  which 
being  carefully  assayed  by  Frank  Dibdin,  a  metallur 
gist,  and  other  experts,  was  pronounced  to  be  beyond 
doubt  silver.  Dibdin  indeed  seems  to  have  estab 
lished  a  fact  which  the  Coloradans  were  slow  to 
grasp,  that  theirs  was  a  silver  mining  region,  with 
much  better  prospects  for  a  solid  future  than  if  their 
mines  had  been  all  gold  mines.  This  was  the  first 
rift  in  the  cloud  of  dullness  which  had  at  this  period 
settled  over  the  pregnant  mountains.  The  first  pay 
ing  silver  lode  was  the  Belmont,  later  the  Johnson, 
discovered  in  September  1864,  by  R.  W.  Steel,  James 
Huif,  and  Robert  Layton.  The  first  accurate  assay 
of  the  Belmont  gave  $827.48  per  ton.  This  inter- 

Central  City,  and  called  it  the  Dalles;  but  thinking  it  worthless,  after 
recording,  abandoned  it.  Grasset  relocated  it,  and  sold  to  Tappan  Brothers, 
who  worked  it  for  lead,  which  was  sold  to  the  government  and  condemmed 
as  poisonous. 

18 Rocky  Mountain  News,  Nov.  2,  1860;  Governors  Mess,,  in  Western 
Mountaineer,  Nov.  22,  1860. 


494  MATERIAL  PROGRESS. 

ested  eastern  capitalists.  C.  S.  Stowel  erected  the 
first  mill  in  the  argentiferous  district  in  which  George 
town  is  situated,  in  1866.  For  the  reduction  of  the 
ore  an  ordinary  blast  furnace  was  provided,  which 
failed,  after  several  weeks  of  trial,  to  liquefy  it  so  that 
the  metal  could  be  run  off.  When  the  owner,  and 
even  Dibdin  himself,  had  exhausted  their  science  and 
ingenuity  in  the  effort,  a  negro  named  Lorenzo  M. 
Bowman,  from  the  lead  mines  in  Missouri,  offered  his 
services,  and,  from  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  tem 
perature  to  be  attained,  succeeded  in  smelting  the 
ore.  But,  as  I  have  before  stated,  these  first  efforts 
were  unprofitable,  and  it  was  not  until  about  1868 
that  there  was  a  marked  improvement  in  quartz  min 
ing.  Stamp  mills,  which  had  been  for  a  time  super 
seded  by  a  variety  of  experimental  structures,  began 
again  about  this  time  their  continuous  crunching  and 
grinding  upon  the  rocky  gangue  of  the  precious  met 
als,  which  has  since  never  ceased,  and  promises  to  go 
on  with  increasing  din  forever. 

The  number  of  stamp  mills  running  in  the  autumn 
of  1868,  in  Gilpin  county,  was  thirty-eight,  with  an 
average  of  nineteen  stamps  to  a  mill,19  and  the  bul 
lion  shipment  was  $1,775,477,  of  which  $123,730  was 
in  silver.  The  number  of  mines  in  this  county,  in 
which  development  had  begun  in  1870,  was  over  170; 
of  those  in  which  hoisting  apparatus  was  employed 
on  account  of  depth,  about  a  dozen.  Clear  creek 
county  had  at  the  time  fewer  mills,  but  between  300 
and  350  mines,  on  which  some  work  had  been  done. 
Boulder  county  had  about  100  mines,  with  some 
improvements,  and  only  two  quartz  mills.  Summit 
county  had  no  mills,  and  about  20  mines,  not  much 
developed.  Lake  county  had  70  mines  in  one  district, 
the  Red  mountain,29  which  assayed  well,  but  were 
not  yet  improved  to  any  extent.21 

19  Rocky  Mountain  News,  Feb.  3,  1869. 

20  This  district  was  discovered  about  the  1st  of  August,  1869. 

21  Forty  other  miscellaneous  mines  are  mentioned,  19  of  which  were  in 
Gilpin,  14  in  Clear  creek,  two  in  Park,  two  in  Jefferson,  and  four  in  Lake 
county.     See  al  o  Denver  Rocky  Mountain  Herald,  Aug.  27,  1869. 


THE  SAN  JUAN  COUNTRY. 


495 


In  another  place  I  have  mentioned  that  in  1860  a 
prospector  named  John  Baker  led  an  exploring  party 
into  that  rugged,  south-west  portion  of  Colorado, 
vaguely  known  as  the  San  Juan  country,  from  which 
the  company  returned  disappointed.  The  history  of 
this  expedition,  on  account  of  subsequent  develop 
ments,  becomes  a  portion  of  the  history  of  mining 
discovery. 


SAN  JUAN  MINING  DISTRICT. 

The  San  Juan  country,  as  now  known  to  the  world, 
includes  Las  Animas  district,  situated  on  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Rio  Animas  with  Baker  park  as  a  cen 
tre  ;  Lake  district,  situated  on  the  Uncompahgre 
slope ;  and  Summit  district,  situated  on  the  eastern 
or  Rio  Grande  slope  of  the  continental  divide.  It  is 
the  wildest  and  most  inaccessible  region  in  Colorado, 
if  not  in  North  America.  The  mountain  ranges, 
which  are  lofty,  are  broken  and  deflected  from  the 
main  Cordillera  del  Sierra  Mad  re,  which  bends  to  the 
south-west  from  the  foot  of  South  park.  Crossing 
Saguache  county  it  swerves  still  more  to  the  west, 
until  midway  between  the  meridians  107°  and  108°  it 
bifurcates/  the  main  ridge  separating  the  head  waters 


496  MATERIAL  PROGRESS. 

of  the  Rio  Grande  and  Rio  Animas,  and  turning  east 
ward  forms  the  so-called  San  Juan  range.  The  other 
ridge  continues  in  a  south-west  direction,  becoming 
the  Sierra  San  Miguel  and  the  Sierra  La  Plata.  It 
is  as  if  the  great  spinal  column  of  the  continent  had 
bent  upon  itself  in  some  spasm  of  the  earth,  until  the 
vertebra  overlapped  each  other,  the  effect  being 
unparalleled  ruggedness,  and  sublimity  more  awful  than 
beautiful.  Here,  indeed,  is  one  of  the  continental 
summits,  from  which  flow  many  rivers,  tributaries, 
and  sources  of  the  Colorado  and  Rio  Grande,  in  rapid 
torrents,  frequently  interrupted  by  cataracts  of  con 
siderable  height.  In  the  midst  of  a  wild  confusion  of 
precipitous  peaks  and  sharp  ridges  are  a  few  small 
elevated  valleys,  or  as  the  early  trappers  would  have 
designated  them  "  holes,"  but  which  are  without  much 
relevancy  denominated  parks  by  modern  Coloradans, 
after  the  great  parks  of  the  country.  Among  these 
higher  valleys  is  the  historical  Baker  park,  a  simple 
widening  of  the  bottom  land  of  the  Rio  Animas  at 
the  north  end  of  the  canon,  for  six  or  eight  miles,  to 
a  width  of  one  mile.  Animas  park,  another  widening 
of  the  Animas  valley,  is  thirty  or  more  miles  further 
down  the  stream,  and  consequently  at  a  less  altitude, 
and  being  on  the  south  side  of  the  divide  has  a  climate 
much  warmer  than  the  upper  park.  The  lower  val 
leys  of  all  the  tributaries  of  the  Las  Animas  are  small, 
but  of  great  fertility.  They  are  the  Navajo,  Nutria 
or  Piedra,  Florida,  Pinos,  Plata,  and  Mancos,  all 
flowing  into  the  Rio  San  Juan.  The  higher  portions 
of  these  valleys  abound  in  yellow  pine,  and  spruce,  fir, 
and  aspen  are  found  on  some  of  the  slopes  in  the 
vicinity  of  Baker  park.  Below  the  cataracts,  the 
streams  abound  in  salmon-trout,  and  game  is  abundant. 
Such  are  the  more  prominent  features  of  the  San  Juan 
country  as  it  existed  in  1860,  and  for  a  dozen  years 
thereafter." 

"San  Juan  and  Other  Sketches,  MS,  12-17;  Pitkin's  Political  Views,  MS., 
4;  Out  West,  Dec. -Jan.,  1873-4. 


SAN  JUAN  EXPEDITION.  497 

Baker  was  a  mountaineer  of  note.  He  had  heard 
from  the  Navajos  and  other  Indians  that  the  royal 
metal  existed  in  the  mysterious  upper  regions  of  the 
Sierra  Madre,  proof  of  which  was  exhibited  in  orna 
ments  and  bullets  of  gold.  More  than  these  pre 
tended  revelations  no  one  knew,  when  Baker  deter 
mined  to  prove  the  truth  or  falsity  of  the  Arabian 
tales  of  the  Navajos,  who  had  frequently  received 
bribes  to  disclose  the  new  Golconda,  but  evaded  mak 
ing  the  promised  disclosure.  Finding  at  Pueblo  a 
considerable  number  of  prospectors  who  had  passed 
an  unprofitable  season  in  looking  for  placer  mines,  and 
who  yet  had  the  courage  for  new  undertakings,  Baker 
raised  a  company  variously  stated  at  from  '  a  few'  to 
1,000  and  even  5,000,  who  set  out  on  their  crusade  as 
gayly  as  knights  of  old,  albeit  their  banners  were  not 
silken,  and  their  picks  and  shovels  were  not  swords. 
Proceeding  into  New  Mexico,  they  entered  the  San 
Juan  valley  ;  from  there,  by  the  way  of  the  Tierra 
Amarillo  and  Pagosa,"  they  penetrated  the  country 
as  far  as  the  headwaters  of  the  Rio  de  las  Anirnas, 
where,  in  anticipation  of  the  future  populousness  of 
the  country,  they  laid  out  a  town,  calling  it  Animas 
City,  which  was  seen  longer  on  the  maps  than  on  the 
ground.  Some  placer  diggings  were  found  along  the 
various  streams  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Baker  park, 
but  nothing  which  promised  to  realize  the  exagger 
ated  expectations  of  the  discoverers.  Small  garnets 
and  rubies  were  also  picked  up,  and  indications  were 
believed  to  be  seen  of  diamonds.24  The  main  portion 
of  the  company  went  no  further  than  Animas  City, 
but  a  few  penetrated  to  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte. 
Reinforcements  with  provisions  failed  to  arrive  as 
expected,  and  the  condition  of  the  adventurers  became 
critical.  Anxious  to  avoid  the  long  journey  back 

23  Pagosa  is  the  Indian  word  for  hot  springs. 

24  D.   C.  Collier  of  Central  City  visited  the  San  Juan  country  the  same 
season,  with  others,  and  offered  to  stake  his  reputation  as  a  geologist  and 
journalist  on  this  being  the  richest  and  most  extensive  diamond  field  in  the 
world.  Out  West,  Dec-Jan.  1873-1. 

HIST.  NEV.    32 


498  MATERIAL  PROGRESS. 

through  New  Mexico,  the  company  separated  into 
squads,  each  of  which  sought  according  to  its  judgment 
a  shorter  way  out  of  the  maze  of  canons  and  peaks 
than  the  one  by  which  they  came.  Many  perished 
by  starvation,  cold,  and  Indians,  and  those  who  sur 
vived  suffered  the  pangs  of  death  many  times  over 
before  they  found  egress  from  the  imprisoning  moun 
tains  '5  Baker  lived  to  be  a  wealthy  cattle-owner, 
and  to  organize  an  expedition  to  explore  the  grand 
canon  of  Colorado.  He  was  killed  at  the  entrance 
to  the  canon,  with  all  his  party  save  one,  a  man  in  the 
prime  of  life,  who  reached  the  outlet  after  days  of 
indescribable  suffering,  with  hair  bleached  like  snow, 
and  both  hands  and  feet  blistered,  in  which  condition 
and  insensible  he  was  finally  rescued.  He  had 
devoured  his  shoes,  his  leathern  belt,  and  buckskin 
pouch.  So  suffered,  and  often  so  died,  the  vanguard 
of  civilization  on  this  continent.  Before  the  inexora 
ble  laws  of  nature  an  heir  of  centuries  of  intellectual 
growth  is  no  more  than  the  jelly-fish  to  the  sea, 
which  casts  it  upon  the  sands  to  rot  in  the  sun  ! 

The  outcome  of  the  San  Juan  expedition  deterred 
further  exploration  for  several  years  ;  and  in  the  mean 
time  mining  affairs  fluctuated  in  the  older  districts,  as 
I  have  described.  In  1868,  by  a  treaty  made  with 
the  Utes,  they  were  allowed  the  exclusive  use  of  all 
that  portion  ot  Colorado  west  of  the  107th  meridian, 
and  south  of  40°  15'  north  latitude,  or,  in  brief,  four 
fifths  of  the  whole  territory  west  of  the  main  sierra, 
including  the  San  Juan  country. 

At  this  period  the  boundary  between  New  Mexico 
and  Colorado  was  not  clearly  defined,  but  the  mining 
district  of  Moreno,  believed  to  belong  to  the  former, 
was  coveted  by  the  latter,  and  the  Colorado  legisla 
ture  memorialized  congress  to  annex  it  to  their  terri- 

O 

tory,  hearing  of  which  the  New  Mexico  legislature, 

25  Adam  Augustine  and  David  McShane.  residing  later  in  Monument  val 
ley,  were  members  of  this  expedition,  as  were  also  Charles  Jones  of  Gilpin 
co.,  and  Charles  Hall  of  Salt-works,  South  park. 


BOUNDARIES.  499 

in  February  1868,  addressed  to  that  body  a  counter 
memorial.  Congress  does  not  appear  to  have  con 
cerned  itself  much  about  either,  and  in  the  meantime 
the  boundary  line  was  being  surveyed  westward  from 
the  north-east  corner  of  New  Mexico  on  the  37th 
parallel  to  the  north-west  corner,  which  survey  was 
reported  as  completed  in  1 868-9. 26  It  found  several 

26  See  Sec.  Int.  Rcpt,  39,  41,  2.  This  report  gives  an  interesting  description 
of  the  route  with  the  various  streams  and  valleys  crossed,  and  mentions  the 
abandoned  cliff-dwellings  in  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Mancos.  A.  D.  Wilson  of 
the  Hayden  geological  survey,  while  pursuing  his  labors  in  the  topographical 
corps,  discovered  a  stone  building  '  about  the  size  of  the  patent-office  at 
Washington.'  It  stood  upon  the  banks  of  the  Rio  de  las  Animas,  and  con 
tained  about  500  rooms.  A  part  of  the  wall  left  standing  indicated  a  height 
of  4  stories.  A  number  of  the  rooms,  fairly  preserved,  had  loop-hole  windows 
but  no  doors.  They  had  evidently  been  entered  by  ladders,  which  were 
drawn  in  by  the  occupants.  The  floors  were  of  cedar  logs,  the  spaces  between 
the  logs  being  filled  neatly  by  smaller  poles  and  twigs,  covered  by  a  car- 
pat  of  cedar  bark.  The  ends  of  the  timber  were  hewed  and  fra}7ed,  as  if 
severed  by  a  dull  instrument;  in  the  vicinity  were  hatchets  and  saws  made 
of  sandstone  slivers,  two  feet  long,  worn  to  a  smooth  edge.  A  few  hundred 
yards  from  this  'casa  grande  '  was  a  second  large  ruin,  and  between  them 
rows  of  small  dwellings  made  of  cobble-stones  laid  in  adobe,  which  on  account 
of  the  shape  of  the  stones  were  in  a  more  advanced  state  of  destruction  than 
the  larger  buildings.  The  ruins  of  this  ancient  town  were  overgrown  with 
juniper,  and  pifion,  the  latter  a  dwarf,  wide-spreading  pine,  which  bears 
beneath  the  scales  of  its  cones  together  with  nutritious  nuts.  From  the  size 
of  the  dead  and  the  living  trees,  and  their  position  on  heaps  of  crumbling 
stone,  a  long  time  must  have  elapsed  since  the  buildings  fell.  Ihe  preserva 
tion  of  the  wooden  parts  does  not  militate  against  their  antiquity.  In  Asia, 
cedar  lasts  for  thousands  of  years.  The  cedars  of  the  south-west  Colorado 
region  do  not  rot  even  in  groves.  The  winds  and  whirling  sands  carve  the 
dead  trees  into  fantastic  forms,  drill  holes  through  their  trunks,  and  gradually, 
after  ages  of  resistance,  wear  them  away  into  dust,  which  is  scattered 
abroad,  atom  by  atom.  Subsequent  investigation  showed  the  casas  grandes 
of  Wilson  to  be  on  the  northern  edge  of  an  immense  settlement,  which  once 
extended  far  down  into  New  Mexico,  covering  several  thousand  square  miles, 
and  comprising  also  portions  of  Colorado,  Utah,  and  Arizona.  The  most  south 
ern  ruins  exhibit  the  best  architectural  designs.  The  region  is  remote  from 
civilization.  From  Fort  Garland,  which  is  west  of  the  Rocky  mountains  and 
ea*t  of  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte,  in  latitude  37°  23'  north,  longitude  27°  20' 
west,  the  route  leads  across  a  trackless  desert,  where  no  shrubbery  is  found 
but  sage-brush  and  grease-wood,  and  no  animal  life  except  rattlesnakes, 
horned-toads,  lizards,  and  tarantulas.  Patches  of  alkali  whiten  the  sands, 
and  the  sun  beats  down  on  all  with  a  blistering  heat.  The  streams  coming 
from  the  rocky  range  flow  through  deep  canons,  often  thousands  of  feet 
below  the  surface — that  is,  when  they  flow  at  all,  \vhich  they  do  not  all  the 
year — and  springs  are  of  rare  occurrence,  even  in  the  canons  The  country 
sought  lies  in  a  triangle  between  the  Rio  Mancos,  La  Plata,  and  Rio  San 
Juan,  and  around  the  triangle  is  a  net-work  of  ravines  crusted  with  ruins. 
The  San  Juan  and  La  Plata  have  some  width  of  bottom-lands  between  their 
-sides,  but  the  Rio  Mancos  runs  between  walls  closely  approaching  each  other. 
On  the  rocky  terraces  of  the  more  open  canons  are  multitudes  of  ruins;  even 
in  the  wilder  and  narrower  ravines  are  single  houses  or  groups  of  two  or 
three  perched  on  the  face  of  the  dizzy  cliff,  so  far  above  the  valley  that  the 
naked  eye  can  distinguish  them  merely  as  specks.  Above  them  the  rocks 


500  MATERIAL  PROGRESS. 

Mexican  towns  north  of  the  line,27  and  one,  La  Cos- 
tilla,  directly  upon  it.  Soon  after  the  survey  the 
legislature  of  New  Mexico  memorialized  congress  to 
have  the  counties  of  Costilla  and  Conejos  reannexed 
to  New  Mexico  upon  the  ground  that  Colorado  had 
obtained  them  "  through  fraudulent  representations," 
and  that  the  people  desired  it,  which  was  not  the 
fact.28  The  boundary  remained  unchanged.29 

In  1869  Governor  Pile  of  New  Mexico,  as  if  to 
retaliate,  and  meet  covetousness  with  covetousness, 
fitted  out  a  company  of  experienced  prospectors  to 
explore  the  headwaters  of  the  San  Juan  and  the  con 
tiguous  country,  who  learned  at  this  time  little  to 
encourage  effort  in  that  direction.  But  the  following 
year  a  party,  having  pushed  their  explorations  west 
ward  to  the  Rio  Animas  near  Baker  park,  discovered 
the  Little  Giant  gold  lode,  samples  of  which  were 
sent  to  New  York  for  assay,  and  yielded  from  $900 
to  $4,000  per  ton.  Other  discoveries  followed,  chiefly 
of  silver  lodes,  and  Las  Animas  district  was  formed 
in  1871,  while  the  mountains  swarmed  with  pros 
pectors.  This  being  a  violation  of  the  treaty  of  1868, 
the  Utes  and  the  miners  were  soon  antagonistic, 
though  no  open  hostilities  followed.  In  1872  troops 
were  sent  into  the  country  to  keep  out  the  miners, 
which  action  on  the  part  of  the  government  only 
stimulated  the  desire  of  occupancy.  A  commission 

project  so  that  they  could  not  have  been  approached  from  above,  and  there 
remains  no  means  of  reaching  them  from  below,  though  signs  of  a  trail 
doubling  among  the  rocks  are  here  and  there  visible.  In  the  few  cases 
where  towers  exist  they  are  curved  and  smoothly  rounded.  Emma  C.  Hard- 
arce,  in  Hayden's  Great  West,  445-56. 

27  Trinidad,  with  500  inhabitants,  Calaveras,  San  Louis,  Guadalupe,  Cone 
jos,  San  Antonio,  and  several  minor  Spanish  settlements  were  found  to  be 
north  of  the  line,  according  to  the  survey  report. 

'*  U.  8.  H.  Misc.  Doc.,  97,  41st  cong.,  2d  sess.;  H.  Jour.,  383,  41st  cong. 
2d  sess. 

29  The  survey  of  1868-9  seems  to  have  been  made  merely  preliminary,  and 
the  final  boundaries  of  the  state  of  Colorado  were  not  established  for  10  years 
thereafter.  H.  Com,.  Repts,  708,  45th  cong.  2d  sess.  There  was  a  bill  before 
congress  in  1869  to  extend  the  boundaries  of  Nevada,  Minnesota,  and 
Nebraska,  and  the  territories  of  Colorado,  Montana,  and  Wyoming,  which 
was  referred  to  the  committee  on  territories  and  there  lost.  U.  S.  H,  Jour., 
13?,  40th  cong.  3d  sess.;  U,  S.  Sen.  Jour.,  150,  40th  cong.  3d  sess. 


LAS  ANIMAS  DISTRICT.  501 

was  also  appointed  to  negotiate  the  purchase  of  the 
mineral  lands  of  the  Ute  reservation,  which,  through 
the  machination  of  interested  persons  in  Wall  street, 
failed  of  its  object.  An  order  was  issued  in  Febru 
ary  1873,  at  the  request  of  the  interior  department, 
requiring  all  miners,  prospectors,  and  others  to  quit 
the  reservation  before  the  first  of  June.  So  strenu 
ous  were  the  objections  to  the  order  that  a  detach 
ment  of  troops  was  ordered  to  march  to  San  Juan  to 
enforce  it,  and  was  half  way  up  the  Rio  Grande  when 
it  was  suspended  by  the  president.  A  commission 
was  again  ordered,  and  a  treaty  made  by  which  the 
Utes  surrendered  a  tract  of  country  containing  3,000,- 
000  acres  of  territory,  which,  though  unparalleled  for 
roughness,3'  was  considered  of  inestimable  value  by 
mining  men. 

In  1874  more  than  a  thousand  lodes  were  claimed, 
upon  many  of  which  the  work  required  by  law  was 
done.31  In  1875  roads  had  been  opened  by  which 
machinery  was  transported  to  the  Animas  district, 
11,000  and  12,000  feet  above  the  sea,  where  it  was 
put  in  operation  before  winter.  The  first  mine  worked 
was  the  Little  Giant  in  Arastra  gulch.  With  this 
exception,  the  leading  lodes  in  this  district  were 
argentiferous  galena,  highly  impregnated  with  gray 
copper,  the  veins  being  large  and  well  defined,  yield 
ing  in  the  smelter  $150  to  $2,000  per  ton."  Blue 

30  Ernest  Ingersoll,  in  Harper 's  Magazine,  April  1882.     See  also  Ingersoll's 
Crest  of  the   Continent,  162,  'a  record  of  a  summer's  ramble  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains, 'and  supplementary  to  Knocking  around  the  Rockies,  which  describes 
Colorado  as  seen  in  1874,  when,  attached  to  the  U.  S.  survey,  the  author 
made  a  tour  of  the  mountains. 

31  The  mining  laws  were  generally  known  and  understood,  like  common 
law,  except  in  the  matter  of  local  rules  in  different  districts.     In  1881  R.  S. 
Morrison  and  Jacob  Fillius,  lawyers  of  Denver,  published  a  volume  on  Min 
ing  Rights,  pp.  336,  12  mo.,  containing  all  the  Colorado  statutes  on  mining, 
including  the  rules  adopted  under  the  provisional  government,  and  all  suc 
cessive  regulations,  with  the  U.  S.  laws  on  the  subject-     The  law  to  which 
referencee  was  had  above  required  a  discovery  shaft  to  be  10  feet  deep,  and 
$100  worth  of  work  to  be  performed  annually  to  hold  it;  or,  if  $500  worth 
were  done,  a  patent  might  be  obtained. 

3;iThe  names  of  some  of  the  earliest  mines  of  note  were  the  Highland 
Mary,  Mountaineer,  North  Star,  Tiger,  Thatcher.  Chepauqua,  Comstock, 
Pride  of  the  West,  Philadelphia,  Susquebanna,  Pelican,  Gray  Eagle,  Shen- 
andoah,  Bull  of  the  Woods,  Prospector,  McGregor,  Aspen,  Seymour,  Letter 


502  MATERIAL  PROGRESS. 

carbonates  of  lime  were  found  on  Sultan  mountain, 
and  large  deposits  of  iron  ore  at  its  foot. 

The  Eureka  district  lay  north  of  Animas,  with  the 
town  of  Eureka,  nine  miles  from  Silverton,  surrounded 
by  large  ore  bodies.  The  Uncoinpahgre  district,  the 
highest  in  the  San  Juan  country,  contained  a  better 
class  of  ores  than  the  lower  districts.  Lake  district, 
in  Hinsdale  county,  and  more  accessible  than  the 
others,  had  for  its  chief  town  Lake  City.  Hundreds 
of  mines  were  located  here,  its  tellurium  lodes  being 
the  only  ones  of  note  in  the  San  Juan  region.  One 
hundred  and  fifty  tons  of  selected  ore  from  the  Hotch- 
kiss  sold  in  San  Francisco  at  the  rate  of  $40,000  per 
ton.33  Ouray  county,  which  is  on  the  northern  skirt 
of  the  San  Juan  country,  was  found  to  contain  not 
only  silver  mines  of  the  highest  value,  but  the  gold 
district  of  San  Miguel.  This  gold  district  reveals 
one  of  those  wonderful  pages  in  the  history  of  the 
globe  which  inspire  awe,  the  gravel  deposits,  100  to 
150  feet  above  the  present  San  Miguel  river,  being 
evidently  the  bed  of  some  mightier  stream,  which  in 
a  remote  past  rolled  its  golden  sands  toward  that 
buried  sea,  to  which  geological  facts  point  a  signifi 
cant  finger.  The  present  cost  of  carrying  water  to 
these  ancient  gravel  beds  is  in  itself  a  fortune,  which 
only  the  certainty  of  greater  riches  would  tempt  asso 
ciations  of  miners  to  expend. 

But  it  is  as  a  silver  region  that  San  Juan  became, 
and  will  remain,  preeminent.  Some  of  the  moun 
tains,  notably  King  Solomon  in  San  Juan  county, 
were  so  seamed  with  mineral  veins  of  great  width 
that  they  could  be  seen  for  two  miles.  The  most 
remarkable  of  the  Ouray  county  lodes  was  Begole, 

G.,  Empire,  Sultana,  Hawkeye,  Ajax,  Mollie  Darling,  Silver  Cord,  Althea, 
Last  of  the  Line,  Boss  Boy,  Crystal,  King  Hiram,  Abiff  (gold),  Ulysses, 
Lucky,  Eliza,  Jane,  Silver  Wing,  Jennie  Parker. 

33  Some  of  the  leading  lodes  in  Hinsdale  county  are  the  Accidental,  Amer 
ican,  Hotchkiss,  and  Melrose  in  Galena  district,  yielding  from  100  to  600 
ounces  of  Inillion  per  ton,  in  the  concentration  works  at  Lake  City;  Belle  of 
the  East,  Belle  of  the  West,  Big  Casino,  Croesus,  Dolly  Varden,  Gray  Copper, 
and  Hidden  Treasure.  Ocean  Wave,  Plutarch,  Ule,  Ute,  and  Wave  of  the 
Ocean  are  in  Galena  district. 


MINES  AND  MINING.  503 

known  as  Mineral  farm,  because  the  locations  upon  it 
cover  forty  acres,  and  the  veins  twelve  acres.  It  was 
located  in  1875,  and  developed  by  a  company  which 
built  reduction  works  at  Ouray,  the  county  seat,  in 
1887.  One  vein  carried  a  rich  gray  copper  in  a 
a  gangue  of  quartzite,  much  of  which  milled  from 
$400  to  §700  per  ton,  and  another  in  some  parts  car 
ried  a  hundred  ounces  of  silver  with  forty  per  cent  of 
lead,  per  ton.  The  latest  discovery  in  the  San  Juan 
region  was  of  carbonates,  in  the  western  part  of 
Ouray  county,  on  Dolores  river,  where  the  mining 
town  of  Rico  was  located  in  one  of  the  inclined  val 
leys  near  the  top  of  the  globe.  Almost  every  kind 
of  ore  was  found  in  this  district,  not  often  in  regular 
veins,  but  in  irregular  deposits,  lead  and  dry  ores 
occurring  in  contiguous  claims.  Also  coal,  bitumin 
ous  and  anthracite,  limestone,  bog  and  magnetic  iron, 
fire-clay,  building-stone,  and  wood  for  charcoal,  from 
which  it  is  evident  nature  designed  this  for  a  centre 
of  reduction  works  and  founderies.  A  branch  of  the 
Denver  and  Rio  Grande  railway  was  constructed  to 
Silverton,  one  to  Antelope  springs,  one  to  Lake  City, 
and  one  to  Ouray.  The  region  which  I  have  briefly 
described  under  the  general  name  of  San  Juan  com 
prises  the  counties  of  La  Plata,  Hinsdale,  San  Juan, 
Ouray,  and  Dolores,  created  in  the  order  in  which 
they  are  here  named,  out  of  the  territory  purchased 
from  the  Utes  in  1873. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT. 

1875-1886. 

CALIFORNIA  GULCH  REDIVIVUS  —HILLS  OF  SILVER— THE  CARBONATE  MINES 
— MEN  OF  THE  PERIOD — ORGANIZATION  OF  LEADVILLE — MONETARY  AND 
POLITICAL  INSTITUTIONS — OUTPUT  OF  THE  MINES — VIGILANCE  COM 
MITTEES — MINERS'  STRIKE — MARTIAL  LAW  PROCLAIMED — DISAFFECTED 
UTES — THE  GUNNISON  COUNTRY — SCIENTIFIC  AND  MINING  EXPEDITIONS 
—THE  GUNNISON  COLONY — COAL — TOWNS  ESTABLISHED — BIBLIOGRAPHY 
— NEWSPAPERS. 

THE  San  Juan  region  was  only  fairly  started  on  the 
road  to  development  when  a  fresh  fever  seized  the 
Coloradans  and  drew  many  to  an  older  field,  but  where 
discovery  made  it  seem  new.  California  gulch,  as  the 
reader  knows,  was  discovered  early,  and  had  yielded 
in  the  first  five  years  over  $3,000,000.  After  that  its 
productiveness  lessened,  dropping  annually,  until  in 
1876  the  diggings  yielded  but  $20,000.'  During  six 
teen  years  the  miners  had  been  accustomed  to  move 
out  of  their  way  with  difficulty  certain  heavy  boulders 
which  neither  they  nor  scientific  geologists  had  recog 
nized  as  of  any  value.  No  one  for  all  this  time  had 
thought  to  question  whence  they  came. 

Among  those  who  had  long  followed  placer  mining 
in  California  gulch  was  W.  H.  Stevens,  who  in  1876 
discovered  a  supposed  lead  mine  on  a  hill  on  the  south 
side  of  California  gulch,  a  mile  and  a  half  above  the 
present  site  of  Leadville.  This  is  known  as  the  Rock 
mine,  and  adjoining  it  is  the  Dome  mine,  also  owned 

1 A  gold  lode,  the  Printer  Boy,  was  discovered  in  1868,  which  drew  pros 
pectors  for  a  season,  who  soon  abandoned  further  search. 
(504) 


DISCOVERIES  AT  LEADVILI  E.  505 

by  Stevens  and  his  partner,  Leiter.2  From  the  Rock 
mine  Stevens  took  samples  of  ore,  which  being  assayed 
by  A.  B.  Wood  yielded  from  twenty  to  forty  ounces 
of  silver  to  the  ton.  It  now  became  apparent  what 
was  the  nature  of  the  boulders  which  had  so  troubled 
the  miners  while  sluicing  in  the  placer  diggings.3 
Further  exploration  revealed  richer  ore,  and  carbon 
ate  of  lead  similar  to  that  of  White  Pine  district, 
Nevada,  was  found  to  exist  over  a  number  of  emi 
nences  surrounding  the  mining  camp  of  Oro.  These 
hills,  before  unmarked,  now  took  names  of  the  mines 
first  located  upon  them,  or  of  their  discoverers.  The 
Carbonate  mine,  discovered  by  Hallock  and  Cooper, 

fave  its  name  to  Carbonate  hill ;  the  Iron  mine  to 
ron  hill ;  Long  and  Derry  mine  to  Long  and  Derry 
hill ;  Yankee  mine  to  Yankee  hill ;  Breece  mine  to 
Breece  hill ;  Fryer  hill  being  named  after  one  of  the 
discoverers,  Borden  and  Fryer.  These  hills  were  the 
seat  of  so  many  different  groups  of  mines,*  some  loca- 

*  Leadvilk,  Colorado,  the  most  Wonderful  Mining  Camp  in  the  World,  etc., 
Colorado  Springs,  1879,  is  the  name  of  a  pamphlet  written  concerning  the  dis 
covery.  Soon  after  the  first  location  there  were  discovered  north  from  the 
Rock  the  Adelaide,  Camp  Bird  (by  Long  and  Derry),  Pine  (by  the  Gallagher 
brothers),  and  Iron.  In  Stray  horse  gulch  the  Wolfstorie  was  located  the 
same  year,  these  being,  according  to  the  authority  above  quoted,  all  the 
important  discoveries  of  1876.  The  Iron  mine  paid  its  owners  in  the  first 
two  years  $200,000  above  expenses,  which  were  $57,500.  The  Silver  Wave 
mine  adjoined  the  Iron.  Maurice  Hays,  and  brother,  and  Durham  are  men 
tioned  among  the  original  locators.  Belmont  Nev.  Courier,  Oct.  21,  1876. 

3  This  statement  is  premature  as  to  time,  for  although  silver  was  known 
to  exist  in  the  lead  ore  in  the  beginning,  the  nature  of  the  composition  was 
not  at  once  understood.     Carbonate  of  lead  is  the  silver  base  in  nearly  all 
the  ores,  which,  however,  vary  in  the  different  groups. 

4  The  Leodville  Democrat  of  Dec.   31,    1881,   gives  the  principal  mines  of 
these  various  groups  as  follows:  On  Fryer  hill,  the  Robert  E.  Lee,  Chrysolite, 
Matchless,  Little  Chief,   Dunkin,   Amie,  Little  Pittsburg,  Climax,   Carbon 
iferous;  and  among  the  less  known,  the  Little  Sliver,  American,   Forepaugh, 
Bangkok,  and  others.    On  Carbonate  hill  were  the  Evening  Star,   Morning 
Star,  Glass-Pendery,  Cloutarf,  Yankee  Doodle,  yEtna,  Carbonate,  Maid  of 
Erin,  Henrietta,  Wolf  Tone,  and  Vanderbilt.     On  Iron  hill,  the  Iron  Silver, 
Smuggler,  Tuscon,  Lime,  Cleora,  Silver  Cord,  Silver  Wave,  Rubie,  Adelaide, 
Frenchman,  and  Belgium.     On  Yankee  hill  the  principal  was  the  property  of 
the  Denver  City  company.     On  Breece  hill  the  Breece,  Iron,  Highland  Chief, 
Miner  Boy,   Colorado  Prince,   Black  Prince,   Highland  Mary,   and  others, 
On  Long  and  Derry  hill,  the  Long  and  Derry,  Hoosier  Girl,  Belcher,  Preston. 
Hawkins.       In    California    gulch,    the   Last    Rose   of    Summer,    Columbia, 
A.  Y.,  Gilt  Edge,  La  Plata,  Rock,    Dome,   Stone,   and  Leopard.     In  Iowa 
Gulch,  to  the  south,  were  the  Florence,  First  National,   Kaiser,  Brian  Boru. 
Oa  Bald  Mountain,  at  the  head  of  California  gulch,  the  Green  Mountain 


506  FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT. 

tions,  however,  being  made  in  gulches  which  subse 
quently  proved  to  be  rich  in  veins  of  carbonate.  The 
oxide  of  iron  imparted  to  one  group  of  ores  a  red 
color,  chromate  of  iron  gave  another  group  a  yellow 
hue,  while  the  predominance  of  silica  and  lead  in 
others  imparted  a  gray  color.  Chloride  of  silver  per 
meated  all  the  ores,  and  horn  silver  was  found  in  all 
the  prominent  mines.  What  were  termed  the  hard 
carbonates  were  those  in  which  silica  was  predomi 
nant,  with  iron  for  a  base,  preventing  disintegration 
as  in  the  before  mentioned  boulders.  The  soft  car 
bonates  had  a  base  of  lead.  The  normal  position  of 
the  lodes  appeared  to  have  been  in  contact  or  hori 
zontal  veins,  sometimes  called  blanket  veins,  with 
limestone  as  the  contact,  iron  above  the  ore,  and 
trachyte  as  the  cap,  the  latter  being  covered  from  ten 
to  a  hundred  feet  with  drift.  The  veins  dipped 
slightly  to  the  east,  and  varied  in  thickness  from  a 
mere  line  to  a  chamber  of  ore  from  ten  to  forty  feet 
in  height,  giving  evidence  of  disturbance  bewildering 
to  the  prospector.  The  ores  in  almost  all  cases  were 
easily  smelted  without  roasting. 

Such  in  brief  was  the  character  of  the  new  mines 
to  which  thousands  hurried  in  1877  and  1878.  In 
June  1877  the  first  building  was  erected  in  Leadville, 

mine,  while  '  scattered  along  the  whole  length  of  the  gulch  were  numerous 
other  mines  and  prospects  in  various  stages  of  development.1  In  Evans' 
gulch  were  the  Ocean,  Seneca,  and  Little  Ellen.  Six  miles  from  Leadville, 
across  the  Arkansas  river,  were  Frying  Pan  and  Colo  gulches,  with  the  Sun 
down,  Defiance,  Venture,  Gertrude,  Golden  Curry  in  tho  former,  and  the  Sil 
ver  Moon,  Little  Mystic,  and  others  in  the  latter.  West,  in  Half-moon  and 
Little  Half- moon  gulches,  were  the  Susquehanna,  Harding,  Billy  Wilson,  and 
Iron  Duke.  Lackawana  gulch  and  Twin  lakes  are  mentioned  as  rich  districts. 
In  the  latter  were  the  Eagle  Nest,  Boaz,  Gordon,  Bengal  Tiger,  M.  R., 
Pounder,  Australia,  and  others.  In  Hayden  and  Echo  canons  were  the 
Black  Diamond,  Black  Crook,  Nabob,  Copperopolis,  Garfield,  Ross,  Sweep 
stakes,  Fisher,  Antelope,  Dexter,  and  Mountain  Quaie.  North  of  Leadville 
were  Mosquito,  Buckskin,  and  Pennsylvania  gulches,  in  which  were  the 
London  and  New  York,  Sunny  South,  Bonanza  Queen,  Bonanza  King,  Grace, 
St  Louis,  Steele,  Stonewall,  Fannie  Barrett,  Silver  Leaf,  and  '  a  large  number 
of  rich  claims.'  Northwest  of  Leadville  was  Tennessee  park,  where  were 
El  Capitan,  Plattsburg  Junior,  Sylvanite,  and  other  rich  claims.  South  of 
Leadville,  in  Georgia  and  Thompson  gulches,  were  the  Coon  valley  and 
Mishawaka.  In  a  new  district,  the  Holy  Cross,  on  French  mountain,  150 
mines  were  located,  '  nearly  all  of  which  are  in  pay  mineral. ' 


QUICKLY  MADE  MILLIONAIRES.  507 

which  soon  grew  so  as  to  absorb  the  mining  camp  of 
Oro,  where  Tabor  was  keeping  a  store  and  post-office, 
in  a  resident  population  of  about  fifty  persons.5  The 
effect  on  Tabor's  fortunes  was  magical.  The  Little 
Pittsburg,  in  which  he  was  third  owner,  proved 
exceedingly  rich.  Soon  after  it  was  opened  he,  with 
one  partner,  was  able  to  pay  $90,000  cash  for  the 
interest  of  the  other  owner.6  A  month  later  the  sec 
ond  partner  was  brought  off  for  $265,000,  and  Tabor 
became  associated  with  Senator  Chaffee  in  the  owner 
ship  of  the  mine.  In  an  incredibly  short  time,  not 
only  Tabor,  but  many  others,  could  lay  claim  to  be  of 
America's  privileged  order — millionaires.7  Nor  can 

5 So  says  Tabor  in  a  brief  MS.,  Early  Days,  devoted  to  Leadville  history. 
Mrs  labor,  in  Cabin  Life  in  Colorado,  MS.,  relates  how  by  mutual  labor  and 
hardship  in  the  mines  they  acquired  37,000  in  money,  after  which  they  set 
up  a  store  and  boarding-house,  with  a  post-office  and  express -office,  the  care 
of  all  falling  on  her,  while  her  husband  looked  after  a  contract  for  furnishing 
railroad  ties  to  the  Atchison  and  Santa  Fe  railway,  in  which  he  made  nothing, 
not  even  wages.  They  were  still  keeping  their  little  trading-post  in  Oro 
when  the  Carbonate  mines  were  discovered,  Tabor  'grub-staked,' as  the 
miners'  phrase  is,  Rische  and  Hook,  two  prospectors  who  discovered  the  Little 
Pittsburg,  on  Fryer  hill,  in  April  1878,  and  in  Oct.  bought  and  sold  his  hun 
dreds  of  thousands  worth  of  mining  property  for  cash. 

6  Rische,  who  with  Tabor  bought  out  Hook,  was  a  Prussian,  born  in'Min- 
den,  in  1833,  and  immigrating  to  America  in  1852,  worked  at  shoemaking  in 
St  Louis.     He  served  in  our  civil  war,  coming  to  Colorado  in  1868,  and  work 
ing  at  his  trade  in  Fairplay.     He  retired  from  the  ownership  of  the  Little 
Pittsburg  with  §310,000,  and  afterward  owned  in  the  Nevada,  Hard  Cash, 
Last  Chance,  Little  Rische,  Wall  street,  and  Willie  mines.   Leadville  in  Your 
Pocket,  176-7;  Leadville  Dem.,  Jan.  1881. 

7  Among  the  men  who  profited  by  the  discovery  of  the  carbonate  mines 
was  J.  Y.  Marshall,  born  in  Pa,  and  came  to  Colo  in  1873,  settling  at  Fair- 
play.     He  was  elected  to  the  legislature  in  1875,  and  removed  to  Leadville 
in  1878.     He  was  elected  judge  of  the  district  court  in  1881,  serving  two 
years.     He  was  the  first  president  of  the  Robert  E.  Lee  mine,  not  far  from 
the  Little  Pittsburg,  which  proved  very  valuable,  and  made  its  owners  rich. 

J.  J.  Du  Bois,  born  in  N.  Y.,  came  to  Colorado  in  1877,  locating  the  same 
year  in  California  gulch,  and  prospecting  for  mines.  The  time  of  his  arrival 
was  fortunate.  In  August  he  had  an  interest  in  four  claims,  and  in  Dec. 
staked  out  the  Little  Eaton,  '  in  snow  waist  deep, '  the  mine  being  afterward 
sold  for  $1,200,000.  Du  Bois  was  elected  mayor  of  Leadville  in  1884. 

Charles  J.  Rowell,  a  native  of  Vt,  located  himself  in  1880  at  Leadville,  in 
a  law  partnership  with  A.  S.  Weston.  In  May  1882  he  was  made  business 
manager  of  Tabor's  property,  of  which  he  had  control  for  18  months,  resuming 
his  law  practice  late  in  1883.  He  became  owner,  with  Tabor  and  Weston,  of 
the  Santa  Eduviges,  in  Chihuahua,  and  also  owner  of  valuable  mining  prop 
erty  in  Montana. 

Lyman  Robison,  born  in  Ohio,  came  to  Colorado  in  1878,  and,  with  a  part 
ner,  located  the  Col  Sellers  mine  at  Leadville,  which  produced  in  4  years 
$400,000,  and  was  then  valued  at  over  $1,000,000.  He  was  one  of  the  incor- 
porators  of  the  South  Park  Land  and  Cattle  co.  in  1881,  with  a  capital  of 


508  FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT. 

it  be  denied  that  in  some  instances  their  liberality  and 
public  spirit  were  as  princely  as  their  fortunes.8 

$750,000,  and  in  1885  was  vice-president.  His  residence  in  Canon  City  cost 
$50,000.  He  married  in  1860  Mary  A.  Roodnight  of  Chicago. 

Peter  W.  Breene,  from  Ireland,  located  himself  in  1874  atLeadville,  where 
he  became  part  owner  in  the  Crown  Point,  Pinnacle,  and  Big  Chief  mines, 
besides  having  other  mining  interests.  He  was  elected  to  the  lower  house 
of  the  general  assembly  in  1882,  and  lieut-gov.  in  1884.  He  married  Mary 
L.  McCarthy,  principal  of  a  public  school  at  Leadville,  in  May  1884. 

John  D.  Morrissey,  born  in  N.  Y.,  came  to  Colorado  in  1872,  settling  at 
Georgetown,  working  at  mining  until  1878,  when  he  removed  to  Leadville, 
and  became  interested  in  the  Crown  Point  and  Pinnacle  mines,  which,  though 
slow  in  developing,  finally  made  him  wealthy.  Crown  Point  yielded,  in 
Sept.  1883,  $20,000  per  month,  and  was  afterward  still  richer. 

Samuel  Adams,  born  in  Canada  in  1850,  removed  to  New  York  city  in 
1866,  and  to  Colorado  in  1880.  Soon  after  arriving  he  purchased  half  of  the 
Brooklyn  mine,  at  Leadville,  for  $50,000  cash.  In  1881  he  bought  other 
mining  interests,  and  organized  the  Adams  Mining  company,  with  150,000 
shares  at  $10  per  share.  In  3  years  the  company  took  out  §425,000,  paying 
$220,000  in  dividends,  leaving  $50,000  in  the  treasury  after  paying  all  ex 
penses,  besides  having  $600,000  worth  of  ore  in  sight  in  1885 

John  T.  Elkins,  from  Mo.,  joined  Price's  army  in  1861,  and  surrendered 
to  Gen.  Canby  in  1865,  going  to  Nebraska  afterward;  then  to  New  Mexico, 
where  he  was  a  freighter  and  miner  until  1879,  when  he  came  to  Leadville. 
He  obtained  interests  in  the  Leadville  Consolidated,  Boreal,  Small  Hopes, 
and  Annie,  selling  the  Annie  in  1881  for  $750,OOJ,  $500,000  of  which  he  in 
vested  in  Kansas  City  real  estate.  He  was  elected  state  senator  in  1884. 

F.  Be  Maine ville  and  W.  H.  Brisbane  were  partners  in  Wilmington,  Del., 
from  1871  to  1876,  when  they  removed  to  Cheyenne,  Wy.,  where  they  kept 
a  hotel  until  1879,  in  which  year  they  came  to  Leadville,  investing  what 
capital  they  could  command  in  mining  property.  In  1882  they  erected  the 
De  Maineville  block,  at  a  cost  of  $16,000  for  the  land,  and  $25,000  for  the 
building;  and  secured  a  large  amount  of  real  estate  in  Leadville. 

Luther  M.  Goddard,  born  in  Wayne  co.,  N.  Y.,  in  1837,  was  in  1864  en 
gaged  in  freighting  across  the  plains  between  Leavenworth  and  Denver.  In 
1878  he  came  to  reside  in  Colorado,  and  began  the  practice  of  law  at  Lead 
ville  that  year,  investing  some  money  in  the  Pendery  mine,  which  in  1879 
proved  rich,  when  he  sold  five  sixths  of  it  for  $200,000.  He  afterward  ac 
quired  an  interest  in  Crown  Point  and  Silver  Cross,  the  former  at  Robinson, 
in  Summit  co.,  and  the  latter  in  Chaffee  co. .  both  of  which  proved  valuable 
properties.  He  was  elected  judge  of  the  district  court  of  the  5th  judicial 
district  in  1882  for  a  term  of  6  years. 

8  Horace  A.  W.  Tabor  was  born  in  Vt  in  1830.  At  the  age  of  19  years 
he  removed  to  Mass.,  where  he  remained  until  he  came  to  Colorado  in  1859, 
and  had  his  share  of  the  rough  work  of  erecting  a  new  state.  He  had  resided 
in  Kansas,  and  been  a  member  of  the  Topeka  legislature.  He  was  the  first 
to  realize  any  large  amount  from  the  mines  at  Leadville,  and  thereafter  kept 
in  the  lead.  In  1881  he  owned  the  following  mines  wholly  or  in  part:  the 
Matchless,  Scooper,  Dunkin,  Chrysolite,  Union,  Emma,  Denver  City,  Henri 
etta,  Maid  of  Erin,  Empire,  Hibernia,  New  Discovery,  May  Queen,  besides 
mining  property  in  Mexico,  and  6  claims  in  the  San  Juan  country.  He  erected 
the  Tabor  opera-house,  costing  $850,000,  and  built  the  bank  of  Leadville  for 
a  safe  deposit.  He  was  first  in  the  organization  of  a  fire  department,  pre 
senting  the  hose  company  with  their  outfit;  caused  the  construction  of  water 
works,  the  incorporation  of  a  gas  company  in  which  he  was  principal  owner, 
and  which  expended  $75,000;  organized  the  Tabor  Milling  company  for 
crushing  dry  ores,  investing  $100,000;  and  equipped  the  Tabor  light  cavalry, 
50  men,  at  a  cost  of  $10,000,  besides  donating  $10, 000  annually  to  schools  and 


SMELTING.  509 

On  the  1st  of  August  1877,  there  were  six  buildings 
on  the  site  of  the  present  town  of  Leadville,9  and  by 
the  end  of  the  year  300  inhabitants.  But  until 
smelters  on  the  ground  should  test  the  various  ores 
there  could  be  no  certainty  of  riches  sufficient  to  cause 
a  great  influx  of  population.  The  town  organization 
was  perfected  in  January  1878.  About  the  same 
time  the  first  smelter  was  completed  by  the  St  Louis 
Smelting  and  Refining  company,  Weise  superintend 
ent,  which  received  its  ore  through  the  sampling- 
works  of  A.  R.  Meyer  &  Co.10  During  eleven  months 
ending  November  30,  1878,  1,080  tons  of  bullion  were 
produced  from  3,330  tons  of  ore.  Only  one  furnace, 
with  a  capacity  of  fifteen  tons  daily,  was  employed 
until  late  in  the  season  when  the  capacity  was  dou 
bled.  By  the  end  of  the  year  four  other  smelters  of 
various  capacity  were  in  operation.11  The  smelters 

churches,  and  giving  freely  in  private  charities.  The  Tabor  block  in  Denver 
cost,  with  the  land,  $200,000;  the  Windsor  hotel  was  owned  chiefly  by  him; 
his  private  residence  cost  $40,000;  and  his  interest  in  the  First  National 
bank  amounted  to  nearly  half  the  shares. 

9  At  a  meeting  on  the  14th  of  Jan.,  1878,  at  which  18  citizens  were  present 
in  Gilbert's  wagon-shop,  where  Robinson's  block  now  stands,  at  the  corner 
of  Chestnut  and  Pine  streets,  steps  were  taken  to  organize  the  town,  and 
give  it  a  name.     It  was  suggested  to  call  it  Harrison,  after  the  owner  of  the 
first  smelter;  and  Agassiz,  after  the  great  naturalist;  and  Carbonateville, 
after  its  ores;  but  Leadville,  proposed  by  J.  C.  Cramer,  \vas  finally  adopted. 
The  town  then  had  70  houses  and  tents.     On  the  26th  the  governor  issued  a 
proclamation  for  an  election  of  town  officers  Feb.  2d.     H.  A.  W.  Tabor  was 
chosen  mayor,  C.   Mater,  Wm  Nye,   and  J.  C.   Cramer  trustees,  and  C.  E. 
Anderson  clerk  and  recorder.   Kent's  Leadville  in  Your  Pocket,  32-3. 

10  Meyer  &  Co.  purchased  the  first  ore  in  1876,  and  shipped  300  tons  to 
St  Louis  by  ox-teams,  which  did  not  pay  for  the  expense  of  transportation 
and  reducing;  but  as  the  grade  increased  by  development,  50  tons  shipped  in 
the  spring  of  1877  proved  very  well  worth  the  handling.      Meyer  &  Co.  estab 
lished  the  first  sampling  works  in  1877;  Burdell  and  Witherell  in  Nov.  1877; 
Eddy  &  James  in  July  1878.  Loomis  Leadville,  19-20. 

11  The  works  of  J.  B.  Grant  commenced  running  on  the  1st  of  October. 
1,643  tons  of  ore  purchased  averaged  84  ounces  of  silver  to  the  ton;  and  305 
tons  averaged  325  ounces.     On  the  9th  of  Oct.  the  Adelaide  company  com 
menced  smelting.     During  11  days  in  blast  before  the  1st  of  Dec.,  90  tons  of 
bullion  were  produced  from  240  tons  of  ore.     The  Malta  smelting  works,  J. 
B.  Dickson  &  Co.,  started  up  on  the  12th  of  October.     By  the  1st  of  Dec., 
they  had  smelted  1,081  tons  of  ore,  and  produced  181  tons  of  bullion,  valued 
at  $38,538.     The  average  number  of  ounces  of  silver  to  the  ton  of  ore  was  47; 
to  the  ton  of  bullion,  170.     On  the  28th  of  Oct.  the  smelter  of  Burdell  & 
Witherell  began  operations,  and  970  tons  of  ore  were  turned  into  210  tons  of 
bullion  worth  $85,000.     These  were  all  low  grade.     The  high  grade  ores  were 
reduced  olsewhere  at  first.     In  1879  A.  Eilers  erected  a  smelter  at  Leadville, 
which  he  ran  for  two  years.     Eilers  was  born  in  Germany  in  1839,  and  edu- 


510  FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT. 

settled  the  question  of  the  value  of  the  Leadville 
mines,  and  the  growth  of  the  town  in  1879  was  phe 
nomenal,  even  for  a  mining  country.  In  the  first  four 
months  of  the  year  the  increase  of  population  was 
1,000  a  month  ;  after  that  it  ran  up  to  3,000  a  month  ; 
about  the  last  of  the  year  there  were  35,000  resi 
dents.  Real  estate  was  held  at  high  figures,  and  lot 
jumping  was  practised,  as  in  early  times  at  Denver. 
A  hotel  with  accommodations  for  500  guests,  several 
lesser  ones,  a  church  and  a  theatre  were  erected  dur 
ing  the  summer,  besides  private  dwellings  and  mining 
improvements,  which  required  1,000,000  feet  of  lum 
ber  per  week. 

This  activity  was  joyful  madness.  Men  seemed  to 
tread  on  air,  so  elated  with  hope  were  they,  and  not 
only  with  hope  but  with  realization.  In  1879  Lead 
ville  was  created  a  city  of  the  second  class,  with  an 
efficient  police  and  fire  department,  water  and  gas 
works  under  construction,  telegraphic  communication, 
a  local  railroad  company  organized,  hospital  accom 
modations,  and  other  concomitants  of  modern  civiliza 
tion  It  had  a  post-office  requiring  ten  clerks,  with 
a  money-order  department  issuing  orders  at  the  rate 
of  $355,911  per  year,  and  cancelling  stamps  at  the 
rate  of  over  $32,000  annually.  In  1879  the  Denver 
and  South  park  railway  was  within  thirty  miles  of 
Leadville,  and  at  the  same  time  the  Denver  and  Rio 
Grande  road  was  extending  a  branch  to  Leadville, 
where  it  arrrived  in  August  1880.12 

cated  at  the  mining  school  of  Clausthal  and  university  of  G-ottingen.  At 
the  age  of  20  years  he  graduated,  and  immigrated  to  the  U.  S.,  being  em 
ployed  by  mining  engineers  in  New  York  tor  several  years.  In  1869  he  was 
appointed  deputy  U.  S.  mining  statistician,  which  position  he  held  until  1876. 
He  then  migrated  to  Salt  Lake,  where  he  erected  the  second  Germania  smelter 
in  1877-8.  He  then  came  to  Colorado,  and  erected  a  smelter  at  Leadville, 
which  he  sold,  and  went  to  Europe  in  1881,  where  he  spent  two  years.  On 
returning  to  Colorado  he  organized  the  Colorado  Smelting  company  in  Pueblo, 
where  a  furnace  was  started  up  in  Aug.  1883,  the  works  in  1886  having  4 
furnaces,  with  a  capacity  of  20J  tons  daily,  and  employing  125  men. 

12 George  \V.  Cook,  born  in  Bradford  Ind.,in  1850,  was  appointed  super 
intendent  and  general  agent  of  the  LeadVille  division  of  the  Denver  and  Rio 
Grande  road,  upon  its  completion.  Cook  ran  away  from  home  at  12  years  of 
age  to  enlist  as  a  drummer-boy,  and  was  mustered  out  in  Jan,  1806.  That  he 


BANKING. 


511 


The  business  of  Leadville  demanded  banks  almost 
at  once,  and  in  May  1878,  the  first  in  Leadville  was 
established  under  the  name  of  Lake  County  bank. 
Soon  afterward  it  organized  as  the  First  National 
bank  with  a  cash  capital  of  $60,000.  The  exchange 
for  1879  amounted  to  $10,000,000. 13  In  October  the 


LEADVILLE  AND  VICINITY. 


drummed  through  the  war  to  fall  on  his  feet  in  Leadville  was  a  rare  manifes 
tation  of  the  favor  of  the  fickle  goddess. 

13  The  officers  and  stockholders  were  F.  A.  Reynolds,  pres.;  Nelson  Hal- 
Inck,  vice-pres.;  John  W.  Zollars,  cashier:  A.  L.  Ordean,  asst  cashier;  Aug 
ust  R.  Meyer,  J  B.  Grant,  J.  S.  Raynolds,  Charles  Mater,  J.  C.  Cramer, 
Charles  I.  Thompson,  Peter  Finerty,  E.  D.  Long,  J.  H.  Clemer,  Charles  T. 
Limberg,  Rufus  Shute. 


512  FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT. 

ba-^k  of  Leadville  was  opened  with  a  capital  of  about 
a  million  dollars,  and  drew  $11,500,000  "  exchange 
during  1879.  Others  soon  followed  and  in  1880  there 
were  five,  since  which  another  has  been  opened. lc> 
Newspapers,  schools,  and  churches  enjoyed  the  bene 
fits  of  abundant  money.  All  this  prosperity  was  the 
result  of  mining,  and  it  would  be  superfluous  to  go 
into  further  details  concerning  individual  mines  or 
miners.  It  is  sufficient  before  proceeding  with  the 
history  of  discovery  to  state  in  evidence  of  the  perma- 
riance  of  the  Leadville  mines  that  the  average  output 
of  mineral  from  them  for  the  first  half  of  1885  was 
10,000  tons  per  day, 

It  could  not  be  expected  that  a  community  with  a 
growth  so  marvelous,  and  founded  upon  mineral 
wealth  should  have  no  other  or  more  dramatic  inci 
dents  in  its  career  than  comes  from  rapid  growth. 
The  richer  the  country,  as  a  rule,  the  more  poisonous 
the  parasites  which  it  attracts  to  fester  in  the  body 
politic ;  hence  vigilance  committees  and  midnight 
hangings  had  to  have  their  day  in  Leadville,16  Two 

14  H.  A.  W.  Tabor,  pres. ;  N.  M.  Tabor,  vice-pres. ;  George  R.  Fisher,  cash 
ier.  The  Miners'  Exchange  bank,  James  H.  B.  McFerran,  pres.;  and  George 
W-  Trimble,  cashier;  and  the  Miners'  and  Mechanic's  b  nkwere  the  next  in 
order  in  1879.  In  April  1880,  the  City  bank  of  Leadville  was  incorporated 
with  a  capital  stock  of  §50,000.  J.  Warren  Faxon,  president;  C.  C,  Howell, 
vice-president;  and  John  Kerr.  cashier.  At  the  close  of  1880  the  organization 
was  surrendered,  and  a  private  bank  opened,  C.  C.  Howell  &  Co.  proprietors. 
Leadville  Democrat,  Dec.  31,  1881.  In  August  1883  the  Carbonate  bank  was 
opened.  John  L.  McNeil,  the  first  cashier,  and  subsequently  president,  was 
born  in  Tioga  co.,  N.  Y.,  in  1849,  and  came  to  Colorado  in  1870.  He  was 
employed  as  chief  clerk  of  the  office  of  the  Denver  Pacific  R.  R.  for  a  few 
months,  when  he  took  a  position  as  teller  in  the  Colorado  National  bank,  and 
held  it  until  1876,  during  which  year  a  bank  was  opened  at  Del  Norte,  of 
which  he  was  chosen  manager.  In  1880  this  bank  was  moved  to  Alamosa, 
where  it  became  the  First  National  bank  of  that  place.  At  the  request  of 
citizens  of  Leadville,  McNeil,  as  above,  organized  the  Carbonate  bank. 

I52/oomfe'  Leadville;  Leadville  Chronicle  Annual,  1881. 

16  At  the  first  meeting  of  the  town  board  T.  H.  Harrison  was  appointed 
marshal,  T.  J.  Campbell  police  magistrate,  and  A.  K.  Updegraff  town  attor 
ney.  Harrison  was  soon  driven  out  of  town  by  the  lawless  element.  At  the 
second  election  in  April  George  O'Connor  was  chosen  marshal,  and  four  polico- 
men  assigned  to  support  his  authority.  Suspecting  one  of  them  of  complicity 
with  the  'roughs/  he  was  about  to  remove  him  from  the  force  when  he  was 
killed  by  him,  only  18  days  after  assuming  the  office.  The  ruffian's  name 
was  James  Bloodsworth,  who  escaped  arrest.  At  a  special  meeting  of  the 
board  next  morning,  Martin  Duggan  was  appointed  marshal,  and  accepted 
the  office.  Almost  immediately  he  received  written  notice  that  he  would  be 


POPULAR  TRIBUNALS.  513 

men  named  Frodshem  and  Stewart  were  taken  from 
the  sheriff  and  hanged  November  20,  1879  ;  following 
which  the  criminal  and  vicious  class,  to  the  number 
of  several  hundred,  organized  and  threatened  to  retal 
iate  by  killing  some  of  the  supposed  vigilants,  and 
burning  the  newspaper  offices.  A  few  days  of  intense 
excitement  followed,  the  city  being  patrolled  nightly 
by  the  Wolf  Tone  guards  and  Tabor  light  cavalry. 
The  action  of  the  committee  was  approved  by  the 
majority  of  responsible  citizens,  who  regarded  it  as 
necessary  under  the  provocation  given  by  the  men 
who  were  hanged.  This  sentiment,  together  with 
the  firmness  of  the  militia,  finally  awed  the  vengeful 
would  be  rioters,  and  the  city  was  restored  to  order.17 
In  the  latter  part  of  May  following,  however, 
another  kind  of  mob  violence  was  threatened,  the 
men  employed  in  several  mines  being  upon  a  strike. 
The  disturbances  increased  gradually  for  several 
weeks,  all  business  being  brought  to  a  stand,  and 
some  of  the  most  vicious  of  the  idlers,  who  were  glad 
of  the  opportunity  to  harrass  better  men,  inciting  the 
discontented  miners  to  a  riot.  On  the  12th  of  June, 
owing  to  threats,  all  the  places  of  business  in  the  city 
were  closed,  and  a  procession  of  citizens  paraded,  in 
the  hope  of  impressing  the  strikers  with  their  solid 
force.  A  proclamation  was  read  in  front  of  the  opera 
house,  signed  by  the  Citizens'  Executive  Committee 
of  One  Hundred,  declaring  that  men  who  desired  to 

killed  unless  he  should  leave  town  within  24  hours.  Duggan  made  no  sign 
that  he  had  received  the  warning,  but  took  precautions  against  seizure. 
Within  a  few  days  a  murder  was  committed  at  a  saloon  by  a  negro,  and  the 
police  had  taken  the  wretch  to  jail,  when  the  outlaw  organization  attempted 
his  release.  Duggan  faced  the  mob  with  a  revolver  in  each  hand,  and  made 
them  understand  that  he  had  the  nerve  to  shoot  any  bold  enough  to  interfere 
with  the  execution  of  the  laws,  and  they  retired.  Duggan  served  his  term, 
declining  reelection,  P.  A.  Kelly  being  his  successor.  But  Kelly  was  intim 
idated,  and  the  city  council  telegraphed  for  Duggan,  then  in  Mich.,  to  return 
and  take  the  marshalship.  He  complied,  and  served  out  Kelly's  term,  but 
refused  reelection.  He  remained  in  Leadville,  however  engaged  in  mining. 
Duggan  was  born  in  Ireland,  migrating  to  the  U.  S.  at  the  age  of  6  years, 
and  living  in  N.  Y.  until  16  years  old,  when  he  went  to  Kansas,  and  from 
Leavenworth  to  Colorado,  where  he  engaged  in  mining  and  freighting. 
17  See  Denver  Tribune,  Nov.  22  and  23,  1879. 
HIST.  NEV.  33 


514  FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT. 

return  to  work  at  former  wages  **  would  be  protected. 
A  motion  being  made  to  adopt  this  as  a  resolution, 
the  strikers,  about  1,500  in  number,  shouted  No  I 
and  assailed  the  citizens  with  threats  and  opprobrious 
epithets.  An  attempt  was  then  made  by  the  militia 
companies  to  clear  the  streets,1'  which  only  increased 
the  confusion,  and  the  belligerent  attitude  of  the 
strikers.  Hoping  to  preserve  order  by  a  show  of  law, 
the  sheriff,  L.  R.  Tucker,  arrested  the  military  com 
mander,  and  disarmed  the  companies ;  but  just  at  that 
time  a  supply  of  arms  arriving  from  Denver,  under 
escort,  the  mob  made  a  movement  to  seize  them,  and 
were  met  with  presented  carbines.  A  partial  peace 
was  restored  at  nightfall,  although  the  strikers  still 
held  out,  and  the  Citizens'  Executive  Committee  of 
One  Hundred  remained  in  session,  and  the  fire  com 
panies  in  readiness  during  the  night.  A  number  of 
telegrams  were  sent  to  Governor  Pitkin  asking  that 
martial  law  should  be  declared,  and  an  officer  ordered 
to  Leadville  to  muster  into  service  the  militia,  which 
had  disbanded  on  being  disarmed.  The  governor 
replied  by  instructing  the  sheriff  to  summon  to  his  aid 
every  law  abiding  citizen,30  and  promised  to  consider 
the  question  of  martial  law.  Other  telegrams  fol 
lowed  the  first,  and  about  midnight  a  petition,  headed 
by  the  sheriff,  and  signed  by  all  the  principal  property 
owners  in  the  city,  was  despatched  to  the  executive, 
still  urging  martial  law,21  which  was  thereupon  pro 
claimed,  and  Major-general  David  J.  Cook  ordered  to 

18  Miners  received  from  $3  to  $4  per  day.  Kent's  Leadville  in  Your  Pocket, 
150.  The  cost  of  living  was  high,  but  diminishing  as  the  railroads  ap 
proached. 

13  The  Wolfe  Tone  guards  was  the  oldest  militia  organization  in  Lead 
ville,  dating  from  July  12,  1879.  It  numbered  80  privates,  and  18  commis 
sioned  and  non-commissioned  officers;  John  Murphy,  capt.  The  Tabor  Light 
cavalry  organized  August  2d,  and  mustered  64  men;  Cecil  C.  Morgan  capt. 
There  was  a  3d  company,  the  Carbonate  rifles,  44  men,  W.  P.  Minor  capt., 
ready  to  act  as  required. 

20  The  law  gave  the  sheriff  this  authority.  Gen.  Laws  Colo,  1877,  237;  and 
Laws  of  1879,  135.     In  case  of  violence  he  might  call  out  the  military,  or  the 
aid  of  citizens. 

21  Pitkin 's  Political  Views,  MS.,  1;  Boettcher,  Flush  Times,  MS.,  2^t;  Den 
ver  Tribune,  June  15,  1880;  Colo  Sen.  Jour.,  1881,  40-1. 


MOBS  AND  STRIKES.  515 

Leadville  to  take  command  of  the  militia,  and  muster 
in  as  much  force  as  he  should  find  necessary.  In  the 
interim,  pending  his  arrival,  William  H.  Jones  of 
Leadville  was  commissioned  a  brigadier-general,  to 
take  the  command  and  perform  the  duties  of  his 
position.  Provost-marshal  J.  L.  Pritchard  forbade 
the  assembling  of  groups  of  people  upon  the  street,  or 
in  public  halls,  and  ordered  all  saloons  and  places  of 
business  closed  by  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening.  On 
the  night  of  the  14th  General  Cook  arrived,  and  found 
the  excitement  in  part  allayed,  and  some  of  the  min 
ers  returning  to  their  work.  Also  that  W.  A.  H. 
Loveland,  managing  editor  of  the  Democrat,  a  paper 
which  sided  with  the  strikers,  had  been  deposed,  and 
Clark,  one  of  the  editors  of  the  Crisis"  published  to 
stir  up  disorder,  had  absconded.  Notwithstanding 
the  serious  nature  of  the  disturbances,  no  lives  were 
lost.  On  the  22d  of  June  the  order  of  the  13th  was 
revoked,  and  civil  authority  reinstated,  the  miners 
having  returned  to  their  work.  Besides  the  loss  to 
Leadville  of  half  a  summer's  labor  and  profit,  the  state 
was  taxed  §19,506  for  the  expenses  of  the  militia. 
For  a  time  these  incidents  clouded  the  reputation,  as 
they  retarded  the  progress,  of  Leadville ;  but  the 


22  The  first  paper  established  in  Leadville  was  the  Reveille,  by  R.  S.  Allen, 
in  1878.  The  printing-office  was  a  log  house  on  Elm  street,  below  Chestnut. 
Being  a  prospector  by  nature,  Allen  had  pioneered  journalism  in  several  new 
mining  camps.  He  published  the  Re<ji$ter  at  Central  in  early  times,  and  the 
Sentinel  at  Fairplay  somewhat  later;  and,  when  carbonates  were  discovered, 
appeared  in  Leadville,  where  for  a  year  and  a  half  he  published  the  Reveille, 
and  then  suspended,  and  went  his  way.  The  second  newspaper  in  Leadville 
was  the  Eclipse,  a  daily  democratic  journal,  established  in  1878,  and  aus- 
pended  in  1879.  On  the  29th  of  June,  1879,  appeared  the  daily  Chronicle, 
owned  by  Carlyle  C.  Davis,  John  Arkins,  and  James  M.  Burnell.  Their 
printing-office  was  one  of  the  first  buildings  on  Chestnut  street,  a  one-story 
frame  structure  20  by  30  feet.  None  of  the  trio  had  any  means  which  was 
not  in  their  business,  and  used  the  office  for  a  lodging-house.  The  first  issue 
was  a  small  sheet  of  5  columns.  Its  success  from  the  start  was  so  great  that 
it  was  twice  enlarged  in  3  months.  In  May  Burnell  sold  to  the  other  part 
ners.  In  Dec.  they  purchased  a  4-horse-power  steam  engine,  with  a  press 
capacity  of  1,800  an  hour.  In  April  1880  Arkins  sold  to  Davis,  who  con 
ducted  the  business  alone,  publishing  a  6-column  daily,  quarto  size,  and  a  9- 
column  weekly,  an  able,  instructive,  and  illustrated  paper.  The  Democrat, 
and  the  Herald,  a  little  later  in  starting,  are  also  able  papers,  of  which  men 
tion  is  made  in  another  place. 


516  FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT. 

advent  of  railroads  in  August,  and  the  continued  dis 
coveries  of  rich  ore  bodies,  soon  restored  the  balance." 

Such  natural  wealth  on  the  east  side  of  the  con 
tinental  divide  was  sure  to  inspire  the  desire  of  search 
upon  the  occidental  slope.  But  all  that  country,  as 
I  have  already  stated,  was  left  in  reserve  for  the  Utes. 
The  first  attempt  of  miners  to  occupy  the  Ute  coun 
try  was  in  1861,  when  a  party  of  prospectors  all  per 
ished  at  the  hands  of  the  Indians  in  Washington 
gulch,  since  known  as  Dead  Men's  gulch,  on  the 
head  of  Rock  creek,  a  branch  of  Roaring  fork  of 
Grand  river.  A  few  men  who  were  undeterred  by 
the  massacre  of  the  first  party,  or  who  had  forced 

23  It  will  be  instructive  to  mention  the  smelters  in  and  about  Leadville  at 
the  close  of  1879,  with  their  output.  Little  Chief,  S.  Tyson  supt,  started 
Aug.  5,  1879,  with  one  furnace — silver  and  lead,  with  a  trace  of  gold — total 
value  of  bullion,  $212,775.88.  Ohio  and  Missouri,  J  M.  Rockwood  supt, 
started  July  16,  1879;  one  furnace;  total  value,  $154,817.89.  Cummings  & 
Finn,  Frederick  H.  Williams  supt,  started  July  25,  1879;  three  furnaces; 
total  value,  $323,039.24.  Gage-Hagaman,  G.  W.  Bryan  metallurgist,  started 
May  23,  1879,  one  furnace;  total  value,  $160,454.84.  Raymond,  Sherman, 
and  McKay,  started  June  26,  1879;  one  furnace;  total  value,  $143,837.20. 
Elgin  Mining  and  Smelting  company,  started  June  24,  1879;  one  furnace; 
total  value,  $425,251.20.  Harrison  Reduction  works,  started  Oct.  1878; 
three  furnaces;  total  value,  $1,018,164.24.  J.  B.  Grant  &  Co.  smelter,  Grant 
manager,  started  Sept.  23,  1878;  eight  furnaces;  total  value,  $2,397,474.48. 
Leadville  Smelting  co.,  started  May  15,  1879;  one  furnace;  total  value, 
$199,177.80.  La  Plata  Mining  and  Smelting  co.,  started  Nov.  2,  1878;  four 
furnaces;  total  value,  $1,969,636.24.  American  Mining  and  Smelting  co., 
O.  H.  Hahn  supt,  started  June  5,  1879;  two  furnaces;  total  value,  $223,837.36. 
Billing  £  Eiler's  Utah  smelter,  Fritz  Wolf  supt,  started  May  14,  1879;  two 
furnaces;  total  value,  $1,022,670.16.  California  Smelting  co.,  started  Sept. 
1879;  two  furnaces;  total  value,  $76,870.  J.  D.  Dickson  &  Co.  Lizzie  fur 
naces,  started  June  1879;  two  furnaces;  total  value,  $785,010.40.  J.  B.  Steen 
&  Co,  Malta  Smelting  works,  started  June  1878;  one  furnace;  total  value, 
$62,560.76.  Adelaide  Smelting  works,  started  1878;  one  furnace;  total 
value,  $75  252.96.  To  sum  up,  34  furnaces  in  less  than  a  year,  reducing 
210,341,719  pounds  of  ore,  produced  37,727,797  pounds  of  bullion,  containing 
6,913,408  ounces  of  silver,  valued  at  $7,743,116.86,  and  818.8  ounces  of  gold, 
valued  at  $16,376.37,  and  $1,496,437.64  worth  of  lead,  =$9,250,928.85. 
Besides  the  ore  smelted  in  the  local  works,  there  was  sent  away  to  be  reduced 
$2,751,879.76  worth  of  ore,  to  be  reduced  in  foreign  smelters,  and  $30,000  in 
gold  from  the  gold  mines,  making  the  product  for  the  period  above  given 
$12,032,808.61.  Leadville  Carbonate  Chronicle,  Jan.  3,  1880.  The  outlay  was 
of  course  enormous  to  produce  this  result,  but  it  could  never  be  so  great  for 
any  other  year  for  these  companies,  and  the  amount  of  ore  to  be  smelted 
must  increase  with  time  and  facilities.  Supposing  the  supply  to  be  prac 
tically  unlimited,  as  it  seems,  mining  becomes  in  Colorado  a  permanent  in 
dustry  on  a  grand  scale.  The  product  of  Lake  co.,  in  gold,  silver,  and  lead, 
up  to  1882,  was  $56,945,117.69. 


THE  GUXXISON  COUNTRY. 


themselves  in  at  about  the  same  time,  found  gold  in 
Union  park,  Taylor  park,  German  flats,  and  Tincup 
flats,  but  none  were  able  to  hold  their  ground  against 
the  Indians  except  a  company  in  Union  park,  which 
erected  fortifications,  and  mined  in  the  intervals  of 
hunting  and  skirmishing.  They  seem  to  have  con 
quered  a  peace,  for  this  limited  region  continued  to  be 
occupied  for  twenty  years."  Very  little  was  known 
of  the  country.  Old  mountaineers  had  traversed  it. 
Fremont  had  crossed  its  northern  portion  by  the 
White  river  branch  of  the  Colorado  in  1844.  Gun- 
nison  had  explored  it  by  the  Grand  river  branch,  the 
southern  fork  of  which  was  named  after  him  by  Gov 
ernor  Gilpin.  Expeditions  under  Macomb  and  Ives 
had  traversed  the  south-west  corner,  following  the 
old  Spanish  trail  from  Santa  Fe  to  Salt  Lake.  Ives 
explored  the  lower  Colorado  in  1857-8  to  a  point 
eighty  miles  below  Grand  canon,  where  he  organized 
a  land  expedition  and  explored  the  plateaux  traversed 
by  it.  This  expedition  approached  from  the  west, 
and  did  not  extend  to  the  Gunnison  country.  Baker's 
party  penetrated  it  to  the  Grand  canon  of  the  Col 
orado,  where  they  were  killed  by  the  Indians,  as  I 
have  already  related.  In  1869  Major  J.  W.  Powell 
explored  the  Grand  canon  with  an  efficient  company 
and  outfit,  adding  much  to  the  interest  already  felt  in 
the  country.25  He  had  been  preceded  in  the  Gunni- 

24  See  Richardson  s  History  of  the  Gunnison  Country,  MS.,  or  an  account  of 
its  exploration  and  settlement.     Sylvester  Richardson  was  born  in  Albany, 
N.  Y.     Migrating  first  to  Sheboygan,  Wis.,  he  followed  architecture  and 
boat-building,  with  music-teaching.     In  I860  he  came  to  Colorado,  where  he 
practised  medicine  22  years.      In   1861  he  went  into  cattle-raising,  but  the 
Indian  war  of  1864  ruined  his  business.     He  afterward  settled  in  the  Gunni 
son  country. 

25  In  the  summer  of  1867  Powell  visited  the  Colorado  mountains  with  a 
party  of  amateur  naturalists,  during  which  expedition  he  explored  the  canon 
on  Grand  river  below  Hot  Sulphur  springs,  and  also  the  Cedar  canon,  by 
which  Grand  river  leaves  Middle  park.     His  curiosity  thus  stimulated,  he 
determined  upon  further  explorations.     In  1868  he  organized  another  expedi 
tion,  which  spent  the  summer  among  the  mountains,  and  encamped  for  the 
winter  120  miles  above  the  mouth  of  White  river.     During  the  winter,  which 
was  a  mild  one,  excursions  were  made  southward  to  the  Grand,  down  White 
to   Green   river,  north   to  Bear  river,  and  around   the  Uintah  mountains. 
Gradually  these  exploring  excursions  had  become  geological  and  scientific, 


518  FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT. 

son  country  in  1866  by  Benjamin  Graham,  who,  in 
1870,  conducted  a  second  expedition,26  which  spent 
the  summer  in  prospecting  the  west  slope  of  the  Elk 
mountains,  where  they  discovered  many  galena  lodes, 
carrying  cerussite  in  limestone  formation,  and  a  coal 
vein  on  Rock  creek.  A  log  fort  was  erected,  and 
prospecting  continued,  but  the  Utes  in  1874  burned 
the  fort  and  drove  out  the  prospectors,  who  lost  all 
their  property  except  their  arms,  and  were  compelled 
to  make  their  way  home,  100  miles,  on  foot,  subsist 
ing-  by  shooting  game.  In  this  instance  the  Utes 
proved  themselves  able  astronomers,  as  the  107th 
meridian,  their  eastern  boundary,  agreed  to  the  year 
before,  lay  a  few  miles  east  of  the  Rock  creek  camp. 
In  1874  Hayden's  scientific  and  exploring  expedition 
passed  the  summer  in  the  Gunnison  country,  but  to 
these  the  Indians  made  no  objection,  knowing  they 
were  transient  visitors,  but  not,  perhaps,  being  aware 
that  the  knowledge  which  they  gathered  would  send 
them  more  prospectors,27  although,  as  it  happened,  the 

and  were  carried  on  under  the  patronage  of  the  government.  The  better  to 
carry  out  his  project  of  exploring  the  Colorado  canons,  Powell  had  4  boats 
built  in  Chicago,  as  strong  as  could  be  made,  and  transported  by  rail  to  the 
point  where  the  U.  P.  R.  R.  crosses  Green  river.  On  the  24th  of  May  the 
fleet  left  Green  River  city,  in  Wyoming,  provisioned  for  10  months,  and  sup 
plied  with  scientific  instruments,  arms,  ammunition,  and  tools,  and  two  of 
them  decked.  The  boats  were  named  and  manned  as  follows:  Emma  Dean, 
J.  W.  Powell,  J.  C.  Sumner,  and  William  H.  Dunn;  Kitty  Clyde's  Sister,  W. 
H.  Powell  and  O.  Y.  Bradley;  No  Name,  0.  G.  Rowland,  Seneca  Howland, 
and  Frank  Goodman;  Maid  of  the  Canon,  W.  R.  Hawkins  and  Andrew  Hall. 
A  summer  of  extraordinary  travel  and  magnificent  discovery  followed,  in 
which  the  object  was  accomplished,  the  examination  of  the  grand  canon 
of  the  Colorado,  besides  which  there  were  several  others — Contract  canon, 
41  miles  long,  with  walls  from  1,300  to  2,700  feet  in  height:  Glen  canon, 
149  miles  long,  with  walls  from  200  to  1,600  feet  in  altitude;  Marble  canon, 
65^  miles  long,  200  feet  deep  at  its  head,  and  3, 500 feet  deep  at  its  lower  end; 
Grand  canon,  217^  miles  in  length,  and  from  3,000  to  6,000  feet  in  depth. 
Powell's  Explor.  Colo  River,  5,  79-102. 

26  This  party  consisted  of  R.  A.  Kirker,  William  Gant,  Samuel  McMillen, 
Louis  Brant,  James  Brennan,  and  C.  M.  Defabauch.  See  Fossett's  Colorado, 
a  descriptive,  historical,  and  statistical  work  of  592  pages,  8  mo,  with  maps 
and  illustrations:  New  York,  1880;  the  most  complete  of  the  many  books 
about  the  centennial  state.  Kirker  was  a  resident  of  Park  county,  and  active 
in  exploring  the  mountains,  particularly  the  Park  range.  A.  Thornton  was 
a  prospector  in  this  region  about  this  time. 

27 1  have  several  times  had  occasion  to  refer  to  Hayden's  researches  in  the 
course  of  this  work.  The  reports  of  Hay  den,  Endlich,  Peale,  Gannett,  and 
Holmes  were  of  great  service  in,  making  known  to  the  world  the  mineral 


PROSPECTING  EXPEDITIONS.  519 

first  who  came  and  stayed  were  of  a  date  at  least  con 
temporaneous  with  the  government  explorations  just 
recorded. 

In  1872  a  party  of  prospectors  returning  from  the 
San  Juan  country,  where  they  were  unwelcome, 
passed  up  the  Gunnison  river,  and  examining  the  old 
diggings  on  Rock  creek,  discovered  a  number  of  sil 
ver  lodes  in  the  vicinity.28  A  company  was  raised  in 
Denver  the  following  spring  to  visit  the  alleged  dis 
covery,  among  whom  were  John  Parsons,  Lewis 
Wait,  and  Thomas  Croider.  They  went  and  returned 
by  the  old  Washington  gulch  pass,  via  Red  mountain, 
Twin  lakes,  Buckskin  Joe,  and  Fairplay,  bringing  a 

wealth  of  western  Colorado.  See  Hayden's  U.  S.  Geol.  and  Geog.  Survey  of 
Colorado  and  Adjacent  Territory,  1874,  p.  515,  Washington,  1876.  In  Hay- 
den's  letter  to  the  secretary  of  the  interior,  which  serves  as  a  preface,  he 
names  the  assistants  with  him  in  Colorado  as  follows:  first  division  crossing  the 
mountains  by  the  Bert.houd  pass,  explored  in  1861  by  Berthoud  while  looking 
for  an  overland  mail  route  by  the  way  of  Denver,  consisted  of  A.  R.  Marvine 

Geologist,  S.  B.  Ladd  topographer,  Louis  Chauvenet  asst  topographer,  M.  L. 
VTard  and  W.  S.  Holman  meteorologists,  E.  A.  Barber  botanist,  W.  W.  Wil 
liams  asst,  2  packers,  cook,  and  hunter.  The  second  division  consisted  of 
Henry  Gannett  topographer,  Fred  Owens  asst  topographer,  A.  C.  Peale  geol 
ogist,  Frank  Kellogg,  asst,  Arch.  R.  Balloch  asst,  2  packers  and  a  cook; 
field,  the  Grand  river.  Third  division  consisted  of  A.  D.  Wilson  topographer, 
F.  Rhoda  asst,  F.  M.  Endlich  geologist,  Gallup  meteorologist;  field,  the  San 
Juan  country.  With  Hay  den  were  G.  B.  Chittenden  topographer,  W.  H. 
Holmes  geologist,  W.  H.  Jackson  photographer,  Anthony  asst,  Ernest  Inger- 
soll  naturalist,  Frank  Smart  asst,  2  packers  and  a  cook. 

1  he  geographical  surveys  west  of  the  100th  meridian,  conducted  by  George 
M.  Wheeler  of  the  corps  of  engineers  for  several  successive  years,  were  of 
unusual  interest.  He  had  under  his  orders  a  party  of  engineer  officers,  and 
accompanying  him  a  number  of  specialists.  John  J.  Stevenson,  geologist,  in 
1878  examined  the  coal-measures  at  the  east  base  of  the  Rocky  mountains, 
particularly  from  Trinidad  south  to  Santa  Fe.  The  reports  down  to  1884, 
which  have  been  published,  show  a  vast  "area  of  research  for  all  the  several 
branches  of  the  survey,  but  they  are  for  the  most  part  too  labored  and  tech 
nical  for  the  general  reader.  There  are  few  Hugh  Millers  in  geology,  and  until 
there  are  more,  that  science  will  remain  a  dense  and  tasteless  topic  which 
should  glow  and  sparkle  with  suggestion  and  meaning  to  the  commonest 
understanding.  A  little  in  these  reports  concerning  the  effect  of  certain  rock 
formations  on  the  aspect  of  a  country,  its  soils,  rivers,  and  vegetable  produc 
tions,  both  before  and  after  it  comes  under  improvement,  would  prove  an 
attractive  feature  in  geological  works.  The  paleontology  of  Colorado  is 
remarkable  and  interesting,  as  shown  in  the  Bulletins  of  the  U.  S.  Geological 
and  Geographical  Survey  of  the  Territories,  Second  Series,  No.  1,  containing 
descriptions  of  fossil  fishes  and  mammalia.  This  subject,  combined  with  an 
intelligent  study  of  the  rocks,  and  the  interest  attaching  to  the  relics  of  a 
long-past  semi-civilization  in  Colorado,  should  furnish  a  fascinating  field  of 
observation  to  the  ordinary  mind  as  well  as  to  the  specialist. 

28  The  names  of  some  of  this  company  were  Douglas  McLaughlin,  James 
Brennan,  and  George  Green  (colored). 


520  FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT. 

report  so  satisfactory  that  an  expedition  was  immedi 
ately  organized  to  return  and  explore  the  whole  Gun- 
nison  country.  It  consisted  of  thirty  men  with  eight 
wagons  and  a  pack-train,  which  proceeded  to  cross 
the  mountains  by  the  South  park,  Poncho,  and 
Cochetopa  passes.  The  geologist  of  the  expedition 
was  Sylvester  Richardson,  the  metallurgist  Richard 
Cook,  and  the  botanist  Parsons,  the  recognized  leader. 
On  arriving  at  the  Indian  agency  of  Los  Pinos,  they 
were  forbidden  by  the  assembled  Utes,  numbering 
1,500,  to  continue  their  journey.  But  upon  holding 
a  council,  arid  taking  the  sense  of  the  meeting  by  vote, 
it  was  found  that  there  was  an  equal  division,  when 
the  head  chief,  Ouray,  gave  his  voice  in  favor  of 
allowing  the  party  to  proceed 

The  company  proceeded  to  the  junction  of  Tomichi 
creek  and  Gunnison  river,  where  they  met  a  couple 
of  white  herders  in  charge  of  the  government  cattle 
belonging  to  the  agency,  and  who  conducted  the 
wagons  to  a  ford  of  the  river.  On  the  site  of  Gunni- 
j$on  City  Richardson  took  an  astronomical  observa 
tion,  and  being  satisfied  that  they  were  on  the  east 
side  of  the  107th  meridian,  determined  to  there  found 
a  town,  and  occupy  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Gun 
nison.  After  several  more  days  of  toilsome  road- 
building  and  travel,  the  expedition  arrived  at  the 
head  of  Rock  creek,  and  at  once  erected  a  small 
smelter,  near  where  the  town  of  Scofield  was  subse 
quently  located.  In  two  months  a  sufficient  test  had 
been  made,  and  the  company  returned  to  winter  at 
Denver,  the  wagon -train  by  the  same  route  by  which 
they  came,  and  the  pack-train  by  the  Washington 
gulch  trail. 

Arrived  at  home,  Richardson  made  his  report  to 
persons  interested,  residing  in  Chicago,  Quincy,  and 
Denver,  which  being  favorable,  furnaces  and  machin 
ery  were  purchased,  and  all  things  placed  in  readiness 
to  commence  mining  in  Gunnison  county  as  soon  as 
spring  should  open.  Before  spring  arrived  a  panic 


GUNNISON  COUNTY. 


521 


had  occurred  in  business  circles,  which  put  an  end  to 
the  schemes  of  the  Parsons  company.  But  Richard 
son,  remembering  the  beauties  of  Gunnison  valley, 
and  being  resolved  to  locate  himself  there,  called  a 
meeting  at  Denver,  and  proceeded  to  organize  a  joint 
stock  company  for  the  purposes  of  settlement.  About 
the  1st  of  March  the  company  was  incorporated,  with 


3 


GUNNISON  MINING  REGION. 


Richardson  president,  George  Storm  vice-president, 
Charles  A.  Beale  secretary,  and  a  board  of  directors 
consisting  of  these  persons  and  J.  B.  Outcalt,  John 
Spradling,  George  W.  Hughes,  and  Doctor  Knowles. 
The  colony  arrived  at  Gunnison  river  April  21,  1874. 
The  land  was  surveyed  into  quarter  sections  ;  each 
colonist  drew  160  acres  by  lot,  and  a  town  was  laid 
off  on  Richardson's  portion,  and  named  Gunnison,  after 
Captain  Gunnison,  who  first  surveyed  this  valley. 


522  FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT. 

In  the  autumn  dissensions  arose  in  the  company, 
some  members  of  which  abandoned  their  interests  and 
went  prospecting  to  the  north.  Alll  returned  to  Den 
ver  to  winter,  and  of  the  thirty  original  members  only 
three  resumed  their  occupancy  in  1875,  namely  Rich 
ardson,  and  John  and  William  Outcalt.  Gradually 
settlers,  especially  cattle-owners,  came  to  remain.  In 
1876  a  new  town  company  was  formed,  which  took 
possession  of  the  present  site  of  Gunnison,  outside  of 
Richardson's  claim.  But  this  company  also  quar 
reled  and  dissolved.  In  1879  there  were  two  rival 
organizations — the  East  and  West  Gunnison  town 
companies.  The  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  railway  was 
being  pushed  westward  with  a  purpose  to  develop 
the  country,  and  the  west  Gunnison  town  company 
by  liberal  donations  of  land  secured  the  station  and 
car-shops. 

In  March  1879  the  legislature  established  the 
county  of  Gunnison,  and  attached  it  to  Lake  for  rep 
resentative  and  judicial  purposes.  Its  boundaries 
commenced  on  the  summit  of  the  Saguache  29  range, 
between  the  headwaters  of  the  Arkansas  and  Colo 
rado,  where  the  south  line  of  Lake  county  crossed 
the  divide,  extending  along  the  said  summit  to  the 
north  line  of  Lake  county,  thence  west  to  the  west 
boundary  of  the  state,  and  south  to  the  north  line  of 
Ouray  county,  this  being  the  north  boundary  of  the 
San  Juan  purchase,  thence  east  to  the  west  line  of 
Saguache  county,  following  the  boundary  of  this 
county  to  Saguache  range,  and  north  along  its  sum 
mit  to  the  south-west  corner  of  Lake  county,  embra 
cing  more  than  10,000  square  miles.30  Settlement 
and  discovery  progressed  slowly.  In  1877  the  Jen 
nings  brothers  located  a  mine  of  bituminous  coal  at 
Crested  Butte  mountain,  and  the  following  year  How- 

29  An  Indian  word,  pronounced  si -watch,  meaning  blue  stream.  Richard- 
sons  Hist.  Gunnison  Country,  MS.,  15. 

30  Gen.  Laws  Colo,   1879,    213-16;  Fossetfs  Colorado,   565.  Pitkin  county 
was  taken  from  the  north-east  corner  of  Gunnison  and  Montrose,  Delta  and 
Mesa  from  the  western  portion. 


GUNNISON  SETTLEMENTS.  523 

ard  F.  Smith  purchased  some  coal  interests  and 
started  the  village  of  Crested  Butte  The  existence 
of  coal  of  a  good  quality  was  of  itself  a  reason  for 
extending  railroads  in  this  direction.31  But  pros 
pectors  from  Lake  county,  the  overflow  of  Leadville, 
began  pouring  into  the  Gunnison  country  early  in 
1879 — so  early,  indeed,  that  they  had  to  tunnel  the 
snow  in  one  of  the  passes  of  the  mountains.  Rich 
discoveries  in  gold  and  silver  were  made,  and  the 
usual  sanguine  expectation  was  aroused. 

The  first  important  discovery  of  silver  was  of  the 
Forest  Queen,  in  the  summer  of  1879.  The  history  is 
simple  and  romantic,  A  Maryland  man,  W.  A. 
Fisher,  who  had  driven  an  ox-team  across  half  the 
continent,  became  fastened  in  the  mire  of  the  moun 
tains  and  was  helped  out  by  a  spectator,  O.  P.  Mace, 
whereupon  Fisher  gratefully  promised  him  a  half-inter 
est  in  the  first  mine  he  should  find,  A  few  days  later 
Mace  was  informed  of  the  discovery  of  the  Forest 
Queen  lode,half  of  which  he  received  from  Fisher  under 
the  name  of  Ruby  camp,  and  which  he  almost  immedi 
ately  sold  for  $100,000.32  The  village  of  Ruby  a  few 
miles  west  of  Crested  Butte  became  a  dependency  of 
the  mine.  Other  discoveries,  and  other  incipient 
towns  followed ;  namely,  Aspen,  Gothic,  Schofield, 
Elko,  Bellevue,  Irwin,  Pitkin,  Virginia,  Tin  Cup, 
Ohio  City,  Hillerton,  Massive,  and  Highland.  But 
in  the  midst  of  hope  and  promise  the  brightest,  a 
thunderbolt  fell.  The  Utes,  viewing  the  gradual, 
but  sure  encroachments  upon  their  reserved  territory, 
turned  in  their  rage  and  slaughtered,  not  the  intrud- 

31  A  well-known  mineralogist  is  reported  to  have  said  that  while  a  pound 
of  Penn  anthracite  will  make  25  pounds  of  steam,  a  pound  of  this  bitumi 
nous  coal  will  make  23  pounds;  but  while  one  pound  of  eastern  anthracite 
i.3  burning,  two  pounds  of  this  will  burn.  Therefore,  while  the  pound  of 
Penn.  anthracite  is  making  25  pounds  of  steam,  this  coal  will  generate  46 
pounds,  fnijersolfs  Great  of  the  Continent,  257. 

32  Graybenrd's  Colorado,  82.  '  Graybeard  '  is  John  F.  Graff,  and  his  book 
series  of  letters  to  the  Plnlmlelphia  Press,  being  notes  of  a  journey  to  Den 
ver  and  back,  in  the  autumn  and  winter  of  1881-2,  p.  90,  1882.  It  is  a 
superficial  but  pleasantly  written  view  of  the  country,  gathered  chiefly  from 
conversations  with  men. 


524  FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT. 

ers,  they  were  too  many  and  strong,  but  their  best 
friend,  the  philanthropist  Meeker,  and  his  family,  at 
the  agency,  as  I  have  related.  This  outbreak  was  an 
interruption,  but  not  a  long  one.  The  rush  to  the 
Gunnison  country  in  1880  was  greater  than  ever 
before,  being  a  repetition  of  the  Leadville  excitement. 
A  region  was  explored  fifty  by  a  hundred  miles  in 
extent.  The  mineral  formation  while  similar  to  that 
of  California  gulch  was  less  of  the  carbonate  charac 
ter,  and  consequently  more  difficult  of  reduction, 
sometimes  requiring  roasting.  Yet,  as  the  mines  wera 
frequent  and  rich,  the  Gunnison  country,  on  account 
of  its  extent,  was  regarded  as  the  great  treasury  of 
the  state.  In  July  1881  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande 
railway  was  extended  to  Gunnison  city,  and  in  the 
latter  part  of  November  to  Crested  Butte.  Before 
this,  however,  smelters  and  mills  had  been  erected. 
Such  marvels  of  progress  were  seldom  witnessed  as 
this  mining  and  railroading  progress  in  the  heart  of 
the  mountains;  nor  could  it  have  been  possible,  no 
matter  how  great  the  skill,  without  the  native  wealth 
to  sustain  the  outlay.33 

33  Some  facts  with  regard  to  Gunnison  mines  are  here  given.  The  forma 
tion  of  the  mineral  bearing  country  is  generally  porphyry,  quartzite,  and 
limestone,  or  decomposed  granite.  Among  the  noteworthy  lodes  near  Pitkin 
are  the  Fairview,  Silver  Islet,  Silver  Age,  Terrible,  Old  Dominion,  Green 
Mountain  Group,  Silver  Queen,  Silver  King,  Western  Hemisphere,  Black 
Cloud,  Merrimac.  and  Silver  Point.  The  Fairview  averaged  in  the  early  period 
of  its  development,  160  ounces  of  silver  per  ton,  with  38  per  cent  of  lead;  and 
a  large  amount  carried  450  of  silver  per  ton.  Silver  Islet  samples  of  dressed 
ore  averaged  450  ounces,  undressed,  275,  with  25  per  cent  of  copper.  It 
belonged  to  C.  C.  Puffer,  who  sold  it  for  $30,000  before  much  work  had  been 
done  on  it.  Gov.  Routt  bought  the  Red  Jacket,  a  4-foot  vein,  for  $20,000. 
Near  Ohio  City  were  the  Ohio,  Dodson,  Grand  View,  Ontario,  Gold  Point, 
Humboldt,  Tornado,  Parole,  Camp,  and  Gold  Link.  Free  milling  quartz  and 
gold  were  found  near  the  surface,  changing  to  silver  below.  Near  Hillerton 
the  Prince  mine,  on  Gold  Hill,  showed  five  feet  of  carbonates,  carrying  silver 
272  ounces  to  the  ton,  and  traces  of  gold.  The  Royal  Oak  Mining  company 
of  New  York  owned  mines  in  this  section.  Tin  Cup,  Silver  Cup,  Gold  Cup, 
Golden  Queen,  Hirbie  Lee,  Allentown,  Anna,  Dedricka,  Mayflower,  Red  Lion, 
Thompson,  Little  Anna,  and  Big  Galena,  were  among  the  prominent  mines 
about  Tin  Cup.  The  Golden  Queen  was  one  of  the  few  true  fissure  veins, 
assaying  $60  per  ton,  mostly  in  gold,  and  showing  cube  galena.  The  Tin  Cup, 
Gold  Cup,  and  Silver  Cup  were  on  one  lode  or  deposit,  being  carbonates, 
in  limestone,  worked  by  the  Bald  Mountain  co.,  and  paying  well  in  silver. 
Highland  Mining  district  on  Roaring  fork  and  Castle  creek  contained  a  belt 
of  limestone  18  miles  long  by  Smiles  in  width,  between  these  streams  in  which 


GUNNISON  MINES.  525 

I  have  now  given  the  principal  history  of  silver 
and  gold  mining  in  Colorado  for  the  first  twenty 
years,  from  1859-60  to  1879-80.  A  detailed  account 
of  all  the  minor  discoveries  would  be  more  tedious 
than  interesting.  In  the  following  chapters  a  sum 
ming  of  results,  brought  down  as  nearly  to  1886  as 
amid  transition  so  rapid  it  will  be  possible  to  do, 
will  conclude  the  history  of  this  portion  of  the  state.1* 

an  immense  amount  of  mineral  was  found.  The  Monarch  lode  cropped  out 
of  the  earth  20  feet  in  height  and  25  feet  in  thickness,  averaging  60  ounces  of 
silver  to  the  ton.  The  Smuggler,  Spar,  Cphir,  and  Richmond  yielded  hand 
somely — the  Ophir  8500  per  ton,  the  Richmond,  owned  by  Stevens  and  Leiter, 
from  $70  to  §100  per  ton.  The  Smuggler,  the  oldest  location  near  Aspen 
City,  carried  from  70  to  100  ounces  of  silver  per  ton.  The  ore  of  the  spar  was 
heavy  baryta,  with  masses  of  copper  and  chlorides  yielding  richly.  The  Sil 
ver  Bill  lode  .showed  native  silver,  and  milled  94  ounces  per  ton.  The  Little 
Russell  milled  $300  per  ton.  Massive  City  is  in  the  centre  of  a  carbonate  belt. 
Ruby  was  regarded  as  the  point  of  convergence  of  three  mineral  belts,  and  the 
richest  of  all  the  districts.  Among  its  notable  mines  were  the  Forest  Queen, 
Lead  Chief,  Bullion  King,  Independence,  Monto  Cristo,  Ruby  Chief,  Little 
Minnie,  Silver  Hill  Crystal,  Zume,  Justice,  Bobtail,  Hopewell,  Pickwick, 
Fourth  of  July,  Eureka,  and  Old  Missouri.  The  ore  of  the  first  7  named 
yielded  from  §200  to  §2,000  per  ton.  The  Good  Enough  Smelting  co.  erected 
in  1880  a  chlorodizing  and  amalgamating  mill,  the  machinery  of  which  filled 
25  railway  cars.  W.  H.  Webb,  J.  R.  T.  Lindley,  S.  L.  Townsend,  and  M. 
B.  C.  Wright  were  owners  in  this  plank.  The  Fireside,  Ruby,  Equator, 
Morning  Star,  Dictator,  Capitol,  Hunkidori,  and  Hub  are  in  this  district. 
The  first  location,  the  Ruby  Chief,  was  made  by  James  Brennan,  It  carried 
ruby  mineral.  The  Forest  Queen  in  1879  shipped  24  tons  of  picked  ore  to 
Pueblo  and  Denver  that  yielded  §10, 800.  Crested  Butte  had  a  smelter  in  1879 
though  there  are  no  silver  mines  in  its  immediate  vicinity.  Gothic  district, 
7  miles  north  of  Crested  Butte,  is  located  on  Copper  creek  and  East  river. 
Its  business  center  is  Gothic  City  at  the  foot  of  the  Gothic  mountain.  Among 
the  noted  mines  are  Independent,  Silver  Spence,  Rensselaer,  Vermont,  Jenny 
Lind,  Keno,  Wolverine,  Triumph,  and  Silver  Queen,  which  carries  350  ounces 
of  silver  per  ton  of  gray  copper.  Goodwin  &  Co.  own  the  mine.  The  Silver 
Spence  has  a  vein  of  galena,  antimonial  silver,  native  and  ruby  silver  and  sul- 
phurets,  from  4  to  20  inches  in  thickness.  The  Evening  Star  lode,  on  the  same 
creek,  is  of  fine-grained  galena  ore  intermixed  with  white  feldspar.  There 
were  four  smelters  in  the  Gothic  district  in  1880,  within  a  radius  of  ten  miles. 
On  Rock  creek  were  also  many  argentiferous  veins  and  a  smelter.  The  Sil 
ver  Reef,  three  feet  wide,  was  purchased  by  T.  Foley  of  Leadville  and  E.  B. 
Craven  of  Canon  City.  Discoveries  had  been  made  the  same  year  on  Grizzly 
creek,  30  miles  within  the  Indian  reservation. 

34  Some  of  the  authorities  consulted  for  this  chapter  and  not  previously 
noted,  are:  New  Colorado  and  the  Santa  F6  Trail,  by  A.  A.  Hayes,  Jr,  which, 
while  it  touches  on  the  subjects  herein  contained,  is  chiefly  a  humorous  view 
of  unfamiliar  scenes,  and  of  little  value  as  an  authority.  Tlie  Footprints  of 
Time,  and  a  Complete  A  nalysis  of  our  A  merican  System  of  Government,  p.  738, 
by  Charles  Bancroft,  Root  publisher,  Burlington,  Iowa,  1877,  is  as  its  name 
implies  a  compedium  of  facts  relating  to  our  govermental  system,  and  con 
tains  a  brief  outline  of  the  history  of  each  state  and  territory.  A  useful  book 
of  reference.  Summering  in  Colorado  is  a  volume  of  158  pages  published  at 
Denver  in  1874,  by  Richards  &  Co.,  with  the  design  of  attracting  tourists  to  the 
grand  and  romantic  scenery  of  the  Rocky  mountains.  It  is  descriptive,  with 


626  FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT. 

a  few  photographic  views,  and  a  table  of  altitudes  and  distances.  Colorado  and 
Homes  in  the  l\tw  West,  by  E.  P.  lenney,  president  of  Colorado  college,  p. 
118,  Boston,  1880,  is  probably  intended  to  advertise  tbe  college;  at  the  same 
time  it  gives  a  pleasant  impression  of  Colorado  as  a  whole,  and  is  a  readable 
book  on  a  plane  above  comicality,  at  which  it  is  fashionable  to  strain  in  mod 
ern  travels.  Tw)  Thousand  Miles  on  Horseback,  by  James  F.  Meline,  p.  317, 
New  York,  1867,  is  the  narrative  of  a  journey  to  Santa  Fe  and  back  in  18(56, 
but  contains  more  than  the  ordinary  amount  of  information  to  be  found  in 
such  books,  and  for  the  date  at  which  it  was  published  was  interesting,  while 
much  that  it  contains  is  still  of  value.  Meline  was  a  contributor  to  the 
Catholic  World,  in  which  the  above  narrative  first  appeared.  He  died  at 
Brooklyn,  Aug.  14,  1873,  aged  60  years.  The  Mines  of  Colorado,  by  Ovando 
J.  Hollister,  editor  and  proprietor  of  the  Colorado  Mining  Journal,  is  a  vol 
ume  of  450  pages,  devoted  to  a  brief  historical  sketch  of  the  discovery  of 
the  mines  previous  to  1867,  with  a  description  of  the  different  districts  as  they 
then  existed,  for  which  reason  it  deals  more  with  gold  than  silver  mining. 
It  is  sufficiently  practical  and  scientific  together  to  be  intelligible  to  the  gen 
eral  reader. 

Tke  Colorado  Mining  Directory  and  Mining  Laws,  1883,  p.  908,  contains 
a  description  of  every  developed  mine  in  the  state  at  the  date,  arranged  by 
counties,  with  the  statutes  on  mining,  an  admirable  authority  for  its  pur 
pose.  On  the  Plains  and  among  the  Peaks,  or  how  Mrs  Maxwell  Made  her 
Natural  History  Collection,  by  Mary  Dartt,  Philadelphia,  1879,  furnishes  lit 
tle  that  is  available  for  the  historian,  but  is  in  a  measure  authoritative  as  to 
the  fauna  of  the  country.  Mrs  Maxwell's  collection  of  Colorado  mammals 
and  birds  was  exhibited  in  Washington  in  1876-77,  and  received  much  praise. 
Hist.  Colorado,  MS.,  by  Carlyle  C.  Davis,  Leadville,  treats  of  the  history  of 
the  Chronicle,  and  other  newspapers  of  Leadville,  the  early  history  of  the 
town,  and  its  present  prosperity  and  peculiarities.  Davis  was  born  at  Glen 
Falls,  N.  Y.,  in  1846,  and  came  to  Colorado  in  Oct.  1878,  as  one  of  the  pro 
prietors  of  the  Chronicle,  which  became  a  leading  journal  in  the  state.  Towns 
about  Leadville,  MS.,  by  James  N.  Chipley,  gives  a  brief  account  of  the  rise 
of  the  mining  towns  in  Lake  co.,  and  the  history  of  leading  mines.  The 
Robert  E.  Lee  mine  took  out  in  one  day,  according  to  Chipley,  $118,000,  and 
many  days  $50,000.  Chipley  was  a  native  of  Mo.,  born  in  1854,  and  came  to 
Denver  in  1873;  thence  to  Leadville  in  1878.  The  Flush  Times  in  Colorado, 
MS.,  by  Charles  Boettcher,  Leadville,  is  a  narrative  of  the  author's  migra 
tions,  and  incidentally  a  history  of  the  places  where  he  has  tarried  for  certain 
periods;  at  Cheyenne,  in  Wyoming,  Greeley,  Boulder,  and  Leadville,  in  Col 
orado.  Boettcher  was  born  in  Germany  in  1852,  immigrating  to  the  U.  S.  in 
1867,  and  to  Wyoming  in  1868,  whence  he  came  to  Colorado  in  1871,  and  to 
Leadville  in  1878.  Smelting  in  Colorado,  MS.,  by  Franz  Fohr,  contains  some 
loose  statements  concerning  smelting;  as,  for  instance,  that  at  Denver,  Pueblo, 
Canon  City,  and  Leadville,  such  works  exist;  and  that  the  output  of  Lead 
ville  alone,  not  including  outlying  camps,  was  in  1884,  1,000  tons  of  bullion 
daily.  Progress  in  Colorado,  MS.,  by  Charles  I.  Thompson,  who  had  charge 
of  the  St  Louis  smelting  works,  and  the  Leadville  Improvement  company's 
property,  gives  a  history  of  the  troubles  of  the  latter  corporation  with  squat 
ters,  as  well  as  many  items  of  general  information.  Thompson  was  born  at 
Newburg,  N.  Y.,  in  1836,  removed  to  Ohio  in  his  childhood,  to  Kansas  City 
in  1865,  and  to  Leadville  in  1878.  Business  in  Leadville,  MS.,  by  Charles 
Mater,  is  a  view  of  early  mining,  supplemented  by  the  crowning  fact  that 
Leadville  Iron  and  Silver  Consolidated  mines  have  yielded  $30,000,000  annu 
ally  ever  since  1879,  with  many  more  general  items  of  interest.  Mater  was 
born  in  Germany  in  1835,  and  came  to  the  U.  S.  in  1853,  migrating  to  Colo 
rado  in  1869.  Notes  on  Colorado,  by  William  Gilpin,  pp.  52,  is  a  pamphlet 
descriptive  and  geological,  issued  in  1870.  Milioaukee  Monthly  Magazine, 
June  1872,  203-10,  descriptive.  San  Juan  and  Other  Sketches,  MS.,  is  a  com 
pilation  of  historical  articles,  made  for  this  work.  The  Mines  of  Colorado,  by 
Samuel  D.  Silver,  MS*  deals  with  early  times  in  California  gulch,  and  the 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  527 

subsequent  discoveries.  Silver  was  born  in  Fort  Wayne  in  1840,  and  came 
to  Colorado  in  1872.  Karl's  All  the  Year  Round  in  the  Recesses  of  the  Rocky 
Mountain*,  pp.  20,  descriptive,  illustrated. 

Journalism  in  Colorado  has  always  ranked  high,  many  of  the  weekly 
and  daily  publications  being  of  an  order  to  do  credit  to  cities  much  older 
than  Denver.  On  the  23d  of  April,  1859,  two  newspapers  were  issued  at 
Denver,  then  Auraria,  the  Rocky  Mountain  News  and  the  Cherry  Creek  Pio 
neer.  The  latter  was  issued  by  John  Merrick,  on  a  cap-size  lever  press,  and 
suspended  after  the  first  number.  The  News,  which  was  owned  by  William 
N.  Byers  and  Thomas  Gibson,  continued  to  appear  weekly.  In  July  1859, 
Gibson  sold  to  John  L.  Dailey,  and  he  in  1870  to  Byers,  who  conducted  the 
business  alone  for  8  years,  when  he  sold  to  K.  G.  Cooper  and  associates,  who 
in  two  months  sold  to  William  A.  H.  Loveland  and  John  Arkins,  or  the  News 
Printing  co.  In  politics  the  News  was  republican  until  it  came  under  late 
management.  The  Rocky  Mountain  Gold  Reporter  was  started  in  July  1859, 
at  Central  City,  by  Ihomas  Gibson,  who  published  it  about  three  months, 
when  he  returned  to  Nebraska.  The  press  he  used  was  that  brought  out  by 
Merrick,  and  after  his  departure  it  was  taken  to  Golden  City,  where  it  served 
the  Boston  co.  to  print  the  Western  Mountaineer,  which  flourished  for  one 
year  under  the  conduct  of  George  West,  the  material  and  press  being  sold  in 
Dec.  1860  to  Mat.  Riddlebarger,  who  took  it  to  Canon  City.  Early  in  the 
spring  of  1860  H.  E.  Rounds  and  Edward  Bliss  came  from  Chicago  with  a 
newspaper  outfit,  which  Byers  &  Dailey  managed  to  consolidate  with  the 
News.  In  the  mean  time  Gibson  had  returned  to  Denver  with  another  press, 
and  on  the  1st  of  May,  1860,  began  the  issue  daily  and  weekly  of  the  Rocky 
Mountain  Herald,  the  first  daily  in  the  territory.  Ihe  News  soon  followed 
with  a  daily  edition,  and  also  published  the  Bulletin,  for  circulation  among 
immigrants,  which  was  discontinued  in  a  few  months.  The  News  and  Herald 
were  active  rivals.  Both  maintained  pony-express  lines  to  the  principal  min 
ing  camps,  delivering  the  daily  in  3  or  4  hours — 25  cents  a  copy,  $24  a  year. 
But  this  was  not  all  the  extra  outlay  required.  There  being  no  U.  S.  mail 
for  nearly  two  years,  the  mails  from  the  east  came  by  express,  at  lOc.  a  news 
paper  and  25c.  a  letter,  which,  with  the  heavy  freight  and  express  charges 
on  material,  made  newspaper  publication  not  so  profitable  as  it  seemed.  As 
soon  as  the  telegraph  was  completed  to  Fort  Kearny,  the  rival  papers  began 
taking  despatches  forwarded  by  express  daily,  and,  when  the  news  was  im 
portant,  by  pony,  at  a  heavy  cost.  After  the  destruction  of  the  News  office, 
in  1864,  Byers  &  Dailey  purchased  the  Herald  to  continue  business.  The 
publication  of  the  Herald  was  resumed,  in  1868,  by  O.  J.  Goldrick.  Late  in 
1860  a  third  daily  was  started  at  Denver,  called  the  Mountaineer,  by  Moore 
and  Coleman.  It  was  strongly  confederate  in  sentiment,  and  was  bought  out 
and  silenced  by  Byers  &  Dailey  in  the  spring  of  1861.  During  this  year 
there  were  two  ephemeral  publications  at  Central  City,  the  most  notable  of 
which  was  the  Mining  Life,  by  L.  M.  Amala,  a  native  of  the  Sandwich 


inlands.     The  little  press  which  had  done  duty  in  Central  and  Golden  was 
winter  of  1860-1  in  starting  the  pioneer  paper  of  southern  Col 
orado,  namely,  the  Canon  City  Times,  owned  by  H.  S.  Millett  and  Riddle 


barger  before  mentioned.  It  ran  but  a  few  months,  disappearing  with  the 
population,  and  following  it  into  South  park,  where  already  there  had  been 
a  paper,  called  the  Miners'  Record,  started  by  Byers  &  Dailey,  in  July  1861, 
at  Tarryall,  which  was  discontinued  after  the  political  campaign  of  that  year 
was  over,  in  which  it  played  an  important  part.  During  the  summer  a  sheet 
called  the  Colorado  City  Journal  was  published  in  Colorado  City,  but  printed 
in  Denver,  on  the  Commonwealth  press,  and  partly  made  up  from  that  paper. 
It  was  also  a  republican  paper,  edited  by  B.  F.  Crowell,  and  was  discontin 
ued  when  the  campaign  ended.  In  the  spring  of  1862  there  was  a  newspaper 
published  at  Buckskin  Joe,  on  the  Times  press,  brought  from  Canon  City, 
.  which,  like  its  predecessors,  soon  succumbed  to  changes  in  population  and 
business.  On  the  26th  of  July,  1862,  Alfred  Thompson  established  the 
Miners'  Register  at  Central  City,  a  tri-weekly,  printed  on  a  Washington  hand- 


528  FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT. 

press,  and  type  brought  from  Glenwood,  Iowa.  David  C.  Collier  soon  became 
associated  with  the  Register  as  editor,  and  was  of  eminent  service  to  the  ter 
ritory  in  upholding  the  government  during  the  rebellion.  In  April  1863 
Collier,  in  company  with  Hugh  Glenn  arid  George  A.  Wells,  purchased  the 
paper.  In  May  it  was  enlarged  to  a  24-column  sheet,  and  in  August  was  is 
sued  as  a  daily.  In  Sept.  Glenn  sold  out  to  Collier  &  Wells,  and  in  Nov.  the 
Register  appeared  in  new  type,  and  commenced  the  regular  publication  cf 
telegraphic  news.  The  telegraph  was  completed  at  this  interesting  period  of 
the  war,  and  extras  were  issued  as  often  as  any  important  news  was  received. 
When  the  carriers  appeared  a  shout  was  raised,  and  everyone  hastened  into 
the  streets  to  learn  and  discuss  the  news.  At  the  quartz-mills  the  sight  of  an 
extra-carrier  was  the  signal  to  blow  the  whistles  for  leaving  work  until  the 
despatches  were  read  to  the  anxious  men.  Wells  sold  his  interest  in  the  paper 
to  Frank  Hall  in  Oct.  1865,  the  firm  being  now  Collier  &  Hall.  In  July  1868 
the  name  was  changed  to  Central  City  Register.  In  1873  Collier  disposed  of 
his  interest  to  W.  W.  Whipple,  Hall  being  editor.  This  partnership  was  not 
of  long  duration;  Hall  became  sole  proprietor,  and  on  June  1,  1877,  the 
whole  establishment  passed  into  the  hands  of  James  A.  Smith  and  D.  Mar- 
low,  who  conducted  it  for  7  months,  when  they  took  in  H.  M.  Rhodes  as 
partner  and  editor.  About  this  time,  Feb.  1878,  another  paper,  named  The 
Evening  Call,  was  started  in  Central,  under  the  management  of  G.  M.  Laird 
and  D.  Marlow.  In  May  this  firm  purchased  the  Register,  consolidating  it 
with  the  Call,  under  the  name  of  Register-Call,  and  issuing  a  daily  and 
weekly  edition,  John  S.  Dormer  editor-in-chief,  and  J.  P  Waterman  mining 
reporter.  Throughout  all  its  changes  the  Register  has  remained  republican. 
In  1863  a  paper  was  started  at  Black  Hawk,  called  the  Colorado  Miner,  by 
W.  Train  Muyr,  which  became  during  the  year  the  Black  Hawk  Journal, 
with  Hollister  &  Blakesley  publishers,  and  afterward  Hollister  &  Hall.  In 
1866  this  establishment  was  moved  to  Central,  and  published  as  the  Times, 
by  Henry  Garbanati  and  0.  J.  Goldrick.  In  politics  it  was  democratic. 
Early  in  1868  Thomas  J.  Campbell  purchased  it,  and,  changing  the  name  to 
Colorado  Herald,  published  a  daily  and  weekly.  In  the  latter  part  of  1870 
it  was  sold  to  Frank  Fossett,  who  managed  it  until  it  suspended  altogether, 
in  1873.  In  Jan.  1866  the  Valmont  Bulletin  was  started  on  the  same  pioneer 
press  which  had  made  the  circuit  of  Central,  Golden,  Canon  City,  Tarryall, 
and  Buckskin  Joe,  and  been  returned  to  its  owners  in  Denver.  The  propri 
etors  of  the  Bulletin  were  W  H.  Allen  and  D.  G.  Scouten.  In  April  1877  it 
was  removed  to  Boulder,  and  published  as  the  Valley  News,  by  W.  C.  Cham 
berlain,  for  1^  years.  In  the  autumn  of  1868  it  became  the  Boulder  County 
Pioneer,  J.  E.  Wharton  editor.  Soon  after  the  stockholders  leased  it  to  Rob 
ert  H.  Tilney,  who  changed  the  name  to  The  Boulder  County  News.  In  1870 
the  News  passed  into  the  hands  of  D.  A.  Robinson  and  D.  G.  Scouten.  In 
May  1871  it  was  sold  to  Henry  M.  Cort.  who  sold  it  again,  in  Aug.,  to  Wyn- 
koop  &  Scouten;  and  before  the  year  was  out,  Scouten  and  Joseph  P.  Mclntosh 
owned  it.  In  1872  Wynkoop  alone  owned  it.  In  1874  it  was  sold  to  Amos 
Bixby  and  Eugene  Wilder,  who  enlarged  it  to  an  8-column  journal.  In  1878 
Bixby  sold  his  interest  to  William  G.  Shedd,  proprietor  of  the  Sunshine  Cou 
rier,  and  the  two  papers  were  united,  under  the  name  of  News  and  Courier, 
Shedd  &  Wilder  proprietors,  Thomas  H.  Evarts  editor,  assisted  in  1879  by 
P.  A.  Leonard,  and  Charles  Tucker.  It  was  still  a  leading  newspaper  in 
1886.  The  pioneer  press,  on  which  the  Neivs  was  started,  was  afterward 
taken  to  New  Mexico,  and  used  in  issuing  the  first  paper  at  Elizabethtown. 
The  Sunshine  Courier  was  started  by  J.  B.  Bruner  and  J.  W.  Cairns  in  May 
1875.  Cairns  sold  in  1877  to  Hawkins;  and  in  the  same  year  Hawkins  sold 
to  William  G.  Shedd,  who  in  1878  purchased  the  whole,  and  removed  it  to 
Boulder,  where  it  was  consolidated  with  the  News.  In  1866  George  West, 
who  had  been  captain  in  the  2d  Colorado  volunteer  infantry,  returned  to 
Golden,  and  established  The  Transcript,  a  democratic  journal,  still  in  exist 
ence  in  1886,  and  with  one  exception  the  oldest  established  paper  in  Colorado. 
West  was  a  printer  by  trade,  and  had  owned,  with  others,  a  stereotype 


THE  PRESS.  529 

foundery  in  Boston  before  coming  to  Golden  in  1859  with  the  Boston  com 
pany.  As  a  newspaper  man  he  was  always  successful.  The  Denver  Tribune 
was  established  in  1867  by  H.  Beckurts,  and  became  one  of  the  great  dailies 
of  the  city,  issuing  also  a  weekly,  and  being  in  politics  republican.  On  the 
1st  of  May,  1868,  the  Georgetown  Colorado  Miner  was  first  issued,  by  E.  J. 
Wharton  and  A.  W.  Barnard.  E.  H.  N.  Patterson,  who  wrote  over  the  sig 
nature  of  '  Sniktau, '  was  for  a  long  time  connected  with  this  paper.  He  died 
in  1880.  W.  B.  Vickers,  another  journalist,  died  the  same  year.  The  char 
acter  of  the  Miner  was  always  well  sustained.  On  June  1,  1868,  Pueblo  was 
presented  with  the  first  issue  of  its  first  local  newspaper,  the  Colorado  Chief 
tain,  by  M.  Beshoar  and  Samuel  McBride,  proprietors,  and  George  A.  Hins- 
dale  and  Wilbur  F.  Stone,  editors.  The  paper  was  well  printed  and  edited- 
At  one  time  Beshoar  was  sole  owner,  and  at  another  McBride  owned  the 
establishment.  McBride  finally  sold  to  John  J.  Lambert,  who  continued  to 
publish  it.  George  S.  Adams  and  E.  G.  Stroud  were  employed  upon  its 
editorial  columns  after  Hinsdale  and  Stone.  In  1872  a  daily  edition  was 
issued,  with  C.  J.  Reed  as  editor.  After  Reed  came  A.  P.  George,  R.  M. 
Stevenson,  C.  Conover,  G.  Shober,  and  G.  G.  Withers.  The  second  news 
paper  of  Pueblo  was  published  in  1871  by  a  stock  company,  with  George  A. 
Hinsdale  editor.  It  was  democratic  in  politics.  About  the  same  time  the 
Caribou  Post  was  published,  Collier  &  Hall  proprietors,  and  A.  Bixby  editor. 
The  Greeley  Tribune  was  first  published  in  1870  by  N.  C.  Meeker;  and  the 
Greeley  Sun  in  1872,  by  H.  A.  French.  Both  were  weekly.  The  Golden 
Eagle,  John  Sewell  proprietor,  a  republican  paper,  was  started  1871,  and  the 
following  year  merged  in  the  Golden  Globe,  both  of  Golden  City.  In  July 
1871  the  Longmont  Sentinel,  the  first  newspaper  in  this  colony,  was  published 
by  Lowe  and  Hall.  It  changed  proprietors  and  name  the  following  year, 
and  became  the  Longmont  Press,  E.  F.  Beckwith  editor  and  publisher,  and 
F.  C.  Beckwith  associate  editor.  F.  C.  Beckwith  was  born  in  N.  H.  in 
1840.  He  received  a  good  public  school  education,  and  came  to  Colorado  at 
the  age  of  19  years.  He  mined  and  farmed,  and  was  active  in  founding 
the  town  of  Burlington,  situated  one  half  mile  from  the  site  of  Longmont, 
which  superseded  it,  and  which  he  was  instrumental  in  establishing  at 
that  place.  The  Denver  Daily  and  Weekly  Times  was  established  in  1872 
by  Roger  S.  Woodbury;  politics,  republican.  The  Boulder  Rocky  Moun 
tain  Eayle,  started  in  1873  by  William  Morris,  was  sold  to  Wangelin  &  Til- 
ney,  who  changed  it  to  the  Colorado  Banner,  a  weekly.  In  1880  Tilney 
became  sole  owner.  In  1876  the  Black  Hawk  Post,  a  democratic  journal, 
was  established  by  William  McLaughlin  andW.  W.  Sullivan.  The  latter 
sold  bis  interest  to  James  R.  Oliver,  and  McLaughlin  soon  after  died. 
It  subsequently  was  owned  by  Oliver  and  Brandgust.  In  the  same  year 
the  Democrat  was  started  at  Pueblo  by  A.  Y.  Hall.  It  was  founded  with 
the  material  used  a  year  or  two  earlier  to  start  the  Republican,  by  J.  M. 
Murphy,  which  was  sold.  Hall  brothers  were  proprietors  of  the  Demo 
crat  for  a  time,  when  they  sold  it  to  another  Missourian,  named  Royal,  who 
changed  the  name  to  the  Daily  News.  In  1877  the  Longmont  Printing 
company  issued  the  Post,  edited  by  W.  L.  Condit.  It  was  changed  after  a 
short  time  to  the  Valley  Home  and  Farm,  and  managed  by  W.  E.  Pabor  in 
the  interest  of  agriculture,  until  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  a  company,  and 
was  renamed  the  Longmont  Ledger.  On  the  24th  of  May,  1877,  the  George 
town  Conner  was  first  issued,  J.  S.  Randall  being  proprietor  and  Samuel 
Cushaii  editor.  The  first  newspaper  at  Del  Norte,  The  Prospector',  was  issued 
in  1874  by  Nicholas  Lambert,  brother  of  J.  J.  Lambert,  who  founded  the 
Pueblo  Chieftain.  In  1875  M.  R.  Moore  became  proprietor.  The  Cactus  and 
the  Democrat  appeared  later  at  Del  Norte,  but  were  discontinued.  The  Sil- 
verton  Miner  was  started  in  1875  by  John  R.  Curry  of  Iowa.  M.  R.  Moore 
was  editor  in  1876.  In  1875,  also,  the  Silver  World  was  first  published  at 
Lake  City  by  H.  M.  Woods,  who  sold  it  in  1877  to  H.  C.  Olney.  Moore  was 
editor  in  1877-78.  Woods  started  another  paper  in  1877  at  Lake  City,  the 
Crescent,  which  ran  only  one  year.  The  Times  was  the  first  paper  in  Ouray, 
HIST.  NEV.  34 


530  FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT. 

founded  by  Ripley  Brothers  in  1877.  The  same  year  the  San  Juan  Sentinel 
was  started  and  discontinued.  In  1879  the  Ouray  Solid  Muldoon  was  estab 
lished  by  David  F.  Day.  It  is  the  property  of  the  Muldoon  Publishing  com 
pany.  The  same  year  the  Cleora  Journal  was  started  by  Dr  S.  C.  McKeaney, 
but  only  ran  3  months.  The  Mining  Register  of  Lake  City  was  started  in 
1880  by  J.  F.  Downey.  The  Salida  Mountain  Mail  was  founded  by  M.  R. 
Moore  in  1880,  and  sold  in  1883  to  W.  W.  Wallace.  A  great  number  of 
newspapers,  corresponding  to  the  growth  of  new  towns  or  the  resurrection  of 
old  ones,  started  up  about  this  time.  In  1880  the  Telluride  Journal  was  first 
issued.  In  the  same  year  the  Buena  Vista  Miner  started,  E.  D.  Hunt  pro 
prietor,  who  removed  it  to  Maysville,  and  sold  to  J.  S.  Painter,  the  paper 
being  discontinued  in  1882.  In  1881  the  Maysville  Mining  Ledger  commenced 
publication,  J.  H.  Nomaker  proprietor.  The  office  was  removed  to  Salida,  and 
destroyed  by  fire  in  1882.  Mrs  C.  W.  Romney  established  the  first  paper  in 
Durangoin  1880,  soon  after  which  the  Durango  Herald  waa  published  by  Marsh 
Brothers.  Tompkins  Brothers  issued  a  paper  for  a  short  time  at  Nathorp  in 
1880,  which  was  suspended.  About  the  same  time  the  Dolores  News  was 
published  by  Frank  Hartman;  and  the  Mountaineer,  at  St  Elmo,  by  Howard 
Russell;  the  True  Fissure,  at  Alpine,  which  soon  suspended;  the  Chaffee 
County  Times,  at  Buena  Vista,  by  P.  A.  Leonard;  and  the  Buena  Vista  Her 
ald,  by  A.  R.  Kennedy,  who  sold  it  in  1884  to  A.  R.  Crawson.  The  Buena 
Vista  Democrat  was  issued  in  1882  by  J.  A.  Cheeley,  who  transferred  it  to 
W.  R.  Logan.  The  Poncho  Springs  Herald,  started  by  Tompkins  Brothers 
in  1881,  was  discontinued  in  1882.  In  1882  the  Salida  Sentinel  appeared, 
Petton  &  Brown  owners.  It  was  consolidated  with  the  Mountain  Mail  in 
1883.  In  that  year  the  Salida  News  was  published  by  W.  B.  McKinney. 
The  Silverton  Democrat  was  issued  first  in  1882.  On  the  18th  of  Feb.,  1880, 
the  Boulder  County  Herald  was  established,  by  Otto  H.  Wangelin.  On  the 
17th  of  April  it  issued  the  first  daily  published  in  Boulder.  The  Denver 
Republican,  a  daily  and  weekly,  was  founded  in  1879  by  the  Republican  com 
pany.  Later  it  was  consolidated  with  the  Tribune  as  the  Triljune- Republican. 
A  number  of  other  journals  belong  to  Denver — the  Colorado  Journal,  a 
weekly,  founded  in  1872  by  W.  Witteborg;  the  Colorado  Farmer,  a  weekly, 
founded  in  1873  by  J.  S.  Stanger;  the  Presbyterian,  a  monthly,  founded  in 
1871  by  S.  Jackson;  The  Financial  Era,  a  weekly,  started  in  1878  by  F.  C. 
Messenger  &  Co. ;  the  Colorado  Post,  a  weekly,  issued  by  the  News  Printing 
company  in  1879;  The  Colorado  Antelope,  a  monthly  journal  devoted  to 
'woman's  political  equality  and  individuality,'  published  by  Mrs  C.  M. 
Churchill,  started  in  1882;  Real  Estate  and  Mining  Review,  first  published  in 
1873  by  T.  E.  Picott;  Denver  Opinion,  Inter-Ocean,  Great  West,  and  Vidette. 
A  paper  called  the  Evans  Journal  was  started  at  Evans  in  1871  by  James 
Torrens,  and  one  at  Sterling  at  a  later  period.  The  Castle  Rock  News  Letter 
was  published  in  1875  by  C.  E.  Parkinson,  and  the  Castle  Rock  Journal  was 
issued  about  1880.  The  Fort  Collins  Express  was  the  first  paper  in  Larimer 
county,  and  was  founded  by  J.  S.  McClelland  in  1873.  The  Fort  Collins 
Courier  was  founded  by  Watrous  and  Pelton  in  1878.  W.  E.  Pabor  started 
the  Colorado  Grange,  an  agricutural  monthly  journal,  in  1876,  at  Longmont. 
The  Mentor  was  issued  at  Monument  in  1878  by  A.  T.  Blachley.  The  Colo 
rado  Springs  Gazette  was  established  in  1873  by  the  Gazette  Publishing  Com 
pany.  In  the  same  year  the  Mountaineer  was  started  by  a  printing  company 
at  the  same  place;  and  in  1875  the  Deaf  and  Mute  Index,  by  H.  M.  Harbert. 
More  recent  publications  at  Colorado  Springs  are  the  State  Republic  and  the 
Evening  Times.  Pueblo  and  South  Pueblo  have  added  to  the  early  El  Paso 
county  journals  the  Banner,  by  A.  J.  Patrick;  the  Evening  Star,  a  daily,  by 
Lacey  &  Westcott;  Saturday  Opinion,  by  J.  A.  Wayland;  Commercial  Stand 
ard,  and  Colorado  Methodist.  Bent  county  published  first  the  Leader,  in  1873, 
at  West  Las  Animas,  C.  W.  Bowman  proprietor,  and  the  Tribune  at  La  Junta 
more  recently.  Custer  county's  first  newspaper  was  the  Rosita  Index,  started 
in  1875;  and  succeeded  by  the  Sierra  Journal  at  the  same  place;  the  Silver 
Cliff  Tribune;  the  Miner,  a  daily  and  weekly,  issued  in  1878  by  W.  L.  Stevens, 


THE  PRESS.  531 

and  the  Prospector,  a  daily,  owned  by  McKinney  and  Lacey.  Fremont  county 
has  the  Canon  City  Record,  founded  in  1875  by  H.  T.  Blake;  Canon  City 
Mercury;  the  Canon  City  Democrat;  the  Cold  Creek  Enterprise,  and  Cold 
Creek  Hawkeye.  Las  Animas  county  was  first  represented  in  1875  by  the 
Trinidad  Enterprise,  daily  and  weekly,  by  J.  M.  Rice,  1878,  and  by  the 
Review,  Advertiser,  and  News,  the  latter  a  daily  and  weekly,  started  by  Henry 
Sturgis  in  1878,  all  at  Trinidad.  Huerfano  county  had  the  La  Veta  Quill, 
and  a  newspaper  at  Walsenburg.  Saguache  county  has  the  Saguache  Chron 
icle,  founded  by  W.  B.  Felton  in  1874,  the  Saguache  Advance,  and  the 
Bonanza  Entei-prise.  La  Plata  county  is  represented  by  the  Southwest  at  Ani 
mas  City,  started  by  Engly  &  Reid  in  1879,  and  by  the  Herald  and  Democrat 
at  Durango.  Conejos  county  had  the  the  Alamosa  News,  started  by  M.  Curtiss 
in  1878,  the  Independent,  started  the  same  year  by  Hamm  &  Finley,  the  Gazette, 
and  later  the  Democrat.  San  Juan  county  added  the  Silverton  Herald,  and 
Democrat,  established  in  1882,  to  its  Pioneer  Miner.  Hiiisdale  county  had  a 
second  paper  at  Lake  City,  the  Mining  Register.  Dolores  county  had  but  one 
journal,  the  Rico  News.  Ouray  county  gained  the  Red  Mountain  Review. 
Mesa  county  had  the  Grand  Junction  News,  and  Grand  Junction  Democrat; 
Montrose  county  the  Messenger,  and  one  other  paper.  Delta  county  had  a 
paper  of  its  own.  In  Pitkin  county  were  the  Aspen  Times  and  Sun.  Gunni- 
son's  first  newspaper  was  the  Gunnison  News,  started  in  April  1880.  It  was 
followed  in  May  by  the  Review,  both  weekly  journals.  Soon  the  News  sus 
pended,  but  late  in  1881  another  weekly,  the  Press,  was  started.  In  the 
spring  of  1882  the  Review  issued  a  daily,  and  soon  the  two  papers  consolidated 
and  issued  the  daily  Review-Press,  Aug.  1st.  The  News  was  revived  in  the 
dpring  of  1882  as  the  News- Democrat.  The  Mining  Journal,  started  in  the 
autumn,  suspended  in  4  months.  The  Sun,  started  in  the  autumn  of  1883, 
survived  10  months.  The  county  still  had  left  7  newspapers,  besides  those 
in  Guimison  City;  namely,  the  Elk  Mountain  Piled,  at  Irwin,  established  in 
1880;  the  Crested  Butte  Gazette,  established  in  1880;  Pitkin  Independent,  1880; 
Pitkin  Mining  News,  1882;  Tomichi,  Herald,  1882;  Tin  Cup  Miner,  1880;  Tin 
Cup  Banner,  1880,  suspended  in  1882;  the  White  Pine  Cone,  1883;  and  Gothic 
Record.  In  Summit  co.  were  the  Breckenridge  Leader,  Breckem  idge  Journal, 
and  Dillon  Enterprise.  Park  county  published  the  Fair  Play  Flume,  the 
Alma  Bulletin,  and  the  Como  Headlight;  Grand  county,  the  Grand  Lake 
Enterprise;  Clear  Creek  county,  in  addition  to  its  papers  already  named,  the 
Silver  Flume  at  Georgetown,  and  at  Idaho  Springs  the  Advance,  the  Iris,  and 
Gazette.  Boulder  added  to  the  News-Courier  the  Herald,  a  daily  and  weekly. 
Lake  county,  rich  in  journalism,  had  at  Leadville  the  Eclipse,  started  by  G. 
F.  Wanless  in  1878;  the  Reveille*  founded  by  R.  S.  Allen  the  same  year,  daily 
and  weekly;  the  Leadville.  Chronicle,  a  daily,  founded  Jan.  29,  1879,  by  Davis, 
Arkins,  and  Burnell;  the  Herald,  a  daily,  started  by  R.  G.  Dill  in  Oct.  1879; 
the  Democrat,  a  daily,  founded  Jan.  1,  1880,  by  a  stock  company.  In  Oct. 
1883  C.  C.  Davis  purchased  the  Democrat,  and  changed  its  politics,  but  not 
?ts  name.  The  Times,  an  evening  daily,  was  started  in  1881  oy  a  stock  com 
pany.  Four  successive  weeklies  under  the  same  name — the  Monday  Morning 
News — have  come  into  existence,  to  perish  at  the  end  of  a  few  weeks,  except 
the  last.  The  Mining  Index  also  had  a  brief  existence.  The  LeaJI.et  also 
belonged  to  the  ephemeral  class  of  publications.  The  journals  in  existence 
in  1886  were  the  Chronicle,  Herald,  and  Democrat,  all  republican  in  politics, 
although  Lake  county  is  democratic.  The  typographical,  pictorial,  and  edi 
torial  features  of  these  journals  are  worthy  of  notice.  The  Chronicle,- Annual 
for  Jan.  1882  is  a  complete  representation  of  Leadville  and  the  mining  indus 
try,  and  also  the  scenic  attractions  of  the  county,  with  historical  and 
biographical  sketches,  presented  in  42  quarto  pages,  in  a  handsome  paper 
cover.  The  Weekly  Democrat  for  Jan.  1,  1881,  contains  20  six-column  pages 
of  matter  concerning  the  mines  of  Lake  county,  with  historical  and  other 
matter,  and  numerous  wood-cuts  illustrative  of  the  wonderful  growth  of  the 
then  4-year  old  city.  The  Rocky  Mountain  News  Illustrated  Almanac,  1882,  is 
a  highly  creditable  publication,  containing,  besides  much  information,  illus- 


532  FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT. 

trations  of  the  natural  history  of  the  state,  well  executed.  The  Denver 
journals,  and  the  numerous  well-printed  pamphlets  on  all  sorts  of  subjects, 
exhibit  the  progress  of  the  art  preservative  in  Colorado. 

In  connection  with  the  newspaper  history  of  the  country,  L.  R.  Freeman 
should  be  mentioned.  In  1850  he  took  the  first  printing  press  that  crossed 
the  Missouri  river  above  St  Louis  to  Fort  Kearney,  on  the  Platte.  With 
the  advance  of  the  Pacific  railroad,  he  pursued  his  way  westward,  publishing 
his  paper,  The  Frontier  Index,  at  Kearney,  North  Platte,  Julesburg,  Laramie, 
Bear  River,  and  Ogden.  In  1885  he  was  at  Yakima,  in  Washington,  working 
his  way  to  Puget  sound.  No  other  newspaper  in  the  United  States  has  so 
varied  a  history  as  the  Index. 

Among  the  authorities  drawn  upon  for  the  above  history  of  Colorado 
journalism  are  Pitkins  Political  Views,  MS.,  and  a  dictation  from  Roger  W. 
W.:>odbury  of  the  Denver  Daily  Times.  Woodbury  was  born  in  N.  H.  in 
183i,  and  came  to  Colorado  in  1866.  After  a  few  months  in  the  mines  he 
resumed  his  trade  of  compositor  on  the  Denver  Tribune,  but  was  soon  made 
local  editor,  and  then  managing  editor  and  part  owner.  He  sold  his  interest 
in  1871,  and  the  following  year  established  the  Daily  Times.  He  had  $20,- 
000  when  he  started,  but  retained  the  sole  ownership,  and  performed  all  the 
editorial  work  until  1883,  when  he  sold  it  for  $42,500.  He  was  appointed 
brig. -gen.  of  the  state  militia  in  1882,  and  served  one  term,  and  was  president 
of  the  Denver  chamber  of  commerce,  flyers'  Newspaper  Press  of  Colorado, 
M*5.,  is  an  invaluable  authority  from  1859  down.  Good  Times  in  Gunnison, 
MS.,  by  A.  B.  Johnson,  furnishes  the  history  of  flush  times  and  early  news 
papers  in  that  country.  Johnson  was  born  in  Iowa  in  1856,  and  graduated 
from  Simpson  university  in  1880.  He  was  principal  of  a  graded  school  in 
Seward,  Neb.,  fora  year,  and  then  came  to  Colorado.  He  was  for  a  few 
months  editor  of  the  Castle  Rock  Journal,  when  he  removed  to  Gunnison  City 
to  take  charge  of  the  Daily  Review  Press  in  the  autumn  of  1882.  M.  R. 
Mwres  Press  and  People  of  Colorado,  MS.,  is  another  excellent  authority  on 
newspaper  matters,  the  author  having  been  connected  with  half  a  dozen  jour 
nals  in  the  south  and  southwest  portion  of  the  state.  Moore  was  born  in 
Indians  in  1858,  and  came  to  Colorado  in  1875.  He  belongs  to  the  San  Juan 
country.  James  F.  Meagher,  in  his  Observations,  MS.,  on  Colorado,  also 
furnishes  some  newspaper  information.  He  came  to  Colorado  from  New 
York  city,  where  he  was  born  in  1841,  and  drove  a  six-yoke  team  of  oxen  up 
the  Platte  in  1864.  After  residing  in  different  parts  of  the  state  he  settled 
in  Salida. 

Among  other  manuscript  authorities  is  Carlyle  C.  Davis1  History  of  Colo 
rado.  Davis  was  born  at  Glenn's  Falls,  N.  Y.,  in  1846,  and  did  not  come  to 
Colorado  until  1878.  since  which  time  he  has  been  connected  with  journalism 
in  Leadville.  El  Pasi  County,  as  It  has  been  and  Is,  MS.,  contains  a  selec 
tion  of  extracts  from  different  journals  on  this  subject,  and  incidentally  on 
newspapers.  Byers'  Centennial  State,  MS.,  40,  has  some  information  on  the 
founding  of  county  papers.  So  has  Eaton's  Gunnison  Yesterday  and  To-day, 
MS.,  6,  and  Horn's  Scientific  Tour,  MS.,  5.  Different  publications  treating 
of  journalism,  to  which  reference  has  been  made,  are  FarreTs  Colorado,  the 
R)cky  Mountain  Gem,  66,  a  pamphlet  published  in  1868  in  Chicago  by  Ned. 
E.  Farrell,  containing  an  epitome  of  the  territorial  physical  history  and 
resources,  good  for  the  period:  IngersoWs  Knocking  around  the  Rockies,  10-11; 
Pabors  Colo  as  an  Agricultural  State,  783-7;  Balctis  Mines  and  Miners,  355; 
FossetfB  Colorado,  158-9;  Denver  Trifmne,  July  15,  1880;  U.  S.  H.  Misc.  Doc., 
47th  cong.  2d  sess.,  xiii.  pt  8,  pp.  209,  170-194;  Pettengill's  Newspaper  Direc 
tory,  183-4;  Corbels  Legis.  Manual,  39-43. 


CHAPTER  X. 

AGRICULTURE  AND  STOCK  RAISING. 
1861-1886. 

LAND  SURVEYS — ANALYSES  or  SOILS — ALTITUDES — IRRIGATION — IMPORTANCE 
OF  THE  SUBJECT — CONVENTION — LAWS  AND  REGULATIONS — A  MOST  PER 
FECT  SYSTEM — DITCHING — GREELEY  AND  THE  UNION  COLONY — LAND- 
INVESTMENT,  CANAL,  AND  IRRIGATING  COMPANIES — GRAIN-GROWING 
DISTRICTS — PRODUCTS — HORTICULTURAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETIES 
— GRANGES — FAILURE  OF  COOPERATIVE  COMMERCE — STATE  BOARD  OF 
AGRICULTURE  —  AGRICULTUTAL  COLLEGE  —  STOCK-RAISING  —  NATIVE 
GRASSES — INCORPORATED  CATTLE  COMPANIES — SHEEP  AND  HORSES. 

TURNING  from  metals  and  mines  to  the  agricultural 
and  other  interests  of  Colorado,  we  will  find  fresh 
congratulations  to  offer  the  occupants  of  this  favored 
land.  I  have  already  briefly  touched  upon  the  fact 
that  in  this  portion  of  the  elevated  regions  of  the 
mid-continent,  as  in  other  portions  which  were  wont 
to  be  represented  by  travellers  as  desert  countries, 
experiment  proved  that  moisture  only  was  required 
to  mantle  the  bare  earth  with  bloom.  Wherever 
that  was  present,  or  could  be  introduced  by  artificial 
means,  farming  was  likely  to  prove  remunerative. 
The  survey  of  the  public  lands  began  in  1861,1  the 
work  being  carried  on  first  in  the  Platte  valley,  where 
the  lands  along  the  Cache-la-Poudre,  Big  Thompson, 
Little  Thompson,  St  Vrain,  Boulder,  Ralston,  Clear 

1  The  first  surveyor-general  of  Colorado  was  Francis  M.  Case,  who  was 
appointed  soon  after  the  establishment  of  the  district  of  Colorado,  April  5, 
1861.  The  salary  at  that  time  was  $3,000  a  year;  under  the  act  of  June  15, 
1880,  it  was  reduced  to  §2,500.  BalcJis  Mine*,  Miners,  etc.,  569;  Byers'  Cen 
tennial  State,  MS.,  27;  U.  S.  Sen.  Jour.,  400,  37,  2;  U.  8.  Sen.  Doc.',  i.  no.  1, 
616,  464-5,  37,  2.  The  office  of  the  sur-gen.  was  opened  June  17,  1861,  the 
standard  meridian  passing  through  Pueblo,  and  about  18  miles  east  of  Denver, 
and  the  base  line  being  on  the  40th  parallel. 
I5b3) 


534  AGRICULTURE  AND  STOCK  RAISING-. 

creek,  Bear  creek,  and  Cherry  creek  branches  was 
nearly  all  taken  up  in  1862,  as  well  as  that  on  the 
Fontaine-qui-Bouille2  branch  of  the  Arkansas.  The 
first  three  years'  experience  taught  the  farmers  to 
depend  upon  artificial  irrigation  alone,  for  which 
reason  claims  were  nearly  all  bounded  on  one  side  by 
a  stream  coming  down  from  the  highlands  extending 
some  distance  upon  their  margins  to  furnish  the  facil 
ities  for  filling  the  necessary  ditches  with  water.  The 
surveyor-general  in  1866  estimated  the  quantity  of 
land  under  cultivation  to  be  100,000  acres,  and  that  one 
half  the  population  of  35,000  were  engaged  directly 
or  directly  in  agricultural  pursuits.  He  also  esti 
mated  the  area  of  arable  land  to  be  equal  to  4,000,- 
000  acres,  and  remarked  that  the  immigration  of 
permanent  well-to-do  settlers  kept  the  farming  inter 
est  up  to  the  wants  of  the  population.3  Of  the  con 
dition  of  the  farming  interest  at  this  period  I  have 
spoken  previously,  stating  that  in  1866,  for  the  first 
time,  the  agricultural  productions  began  to  exceed 
the  wants  of  the  population  of  Colorado,  and  to  offer 
a  surplus  in  the  markets  of  Montana,  and  at  the  gov 
ernment  posts.  In  1867  the  surveyor-general,  refer 
ring  to  his  predecessor's  views,  gives  it  as  his  opinion 
that  there  were  10,000,000  acres  of  cultivable  land  in 
the  territory,4  showing  how  the  idea  grew  of  the 
agricultural  capabilities  of  the  mountain  region  out  of 

2  The  report  of  the  sur-gen.  for  1862  speaks  of  the  Huerfano  and  Arkansas 
rivers  as  having  the  most  extensive  grain  growing  farms  east  of  the  moun 
tains.  On  the  Rio  Grande  also,  and  its  tributaries,  was  a  large  population, 
mostly  Mexican,  engaged  in  agricutural  and  pastoral  pursuits.  U.  S.  H.  Ex. 
Doc.,  ii  no.  i.,  p.  112,  37,  3.  According  to  Balclis  Mines  and  Miners,  570,  a 
local  land-office  was  established  at  Golden  City  June  2,  1862,  which  was 
removed  to  Denver;  one  at  Denver  Sept.  12,  1864;  one  at  Fairplay  Oct.  29, 
1867,  removed  to  Leadville  July  1879;  one  at  Central  City  Dec.  27,  1867;  one 
at  Pueblo  May  27,  1870;  one  at  Del  Norte  June  20,  1874;  and  one  at  Lake 
City  May  5,  1877.  According  to  DeCvursey's  Glenwood,  MS.,  2,  a  land-office 
was  established  at  Glenwood  in  1884.  Durango  has  also  a  local  land-office. 
These  several  offices  are  made  necessary  by  the  patenting  of  mining  claims 
since  the  act  of  July  1866. 

3Rept  of  John  Pierce,  in  U.  S.  Mess,  and  Doc.,  Int.  Dept,  1866-7,  2,  39, 
371. 

*W.  H.  Lessig,  in  Kept  Sec.  Int.,  1867-8,  iii.  40,  2.  In  the  following  year 
he  stated  the  '  common  product '  of  wheat  to  be  from  40  to  60  bushels  per 
acre, 


SOIL  AND  CLIMATE.  535 

which  Colorado  was  created.  The  report  of  the 
land  department  in  1870  estimated  the  agricultural 
productions  of  Colorado  at  $3,500,000,  while  the 
bullion  product  was  put  down  at  $4,000,000.  An 
abstract  made  in  1882  shows  that  in  the  ten  previous 
years  2,501,318.35  acres  had  been  purchased  for  cash 
or  located  with  warrants,5  besides  the  occupation  of  a 
large  unknown  quantity  of  unpurchased  public  lands 
by  herdsmen. 

The  soil  of  Colorado  varies  with  position.  Its  dis 
tinctive  characteristics  are  the  large  proportion  of 
potash,  the  form  in  which  the  phosphates  exist,  being 
easily  soluble  in  a  weak  acid;  the  low  percentage  of 
organic  matter  and  th^  high  proportion  of  nitrogen 
contained  in  the  organic  matter  ;  the  large  proportion 
of  lime,  and  the  generally  readily  available  form  of 
all  the  constituents.6  Climate  is  governed  by  alti 
tude,  and  there  are  infinite  modifications.7  In  the 

*  U.  S.  H,  Ex.  Doc.,  xix.  no.  72,  p.  146,  47,  2. 

6  Upland  clay   loam  contains:  Volatile  matter,    1.31;  matter  soluble  in 
strong    acid,    5  33;   insoluble,    93.36.      Adobe   soil,    volatile,    2.49;    soluble 
matter,   11.40;  insoluble,  86.11.     Platte  valley  soil,  volatile  matter,    10.10; 
soluble,  2.58;  insoluble,  87.32.     Sandy  clay  loam,  volatile  matter,  4.23;  sol 
uble,  3.98;  insoluble,  92.28.     The  volatile  matter  contains  nitrogen;  the  sol 
uble  lime,  magnesia,  potash,  iron-oxide,  alumnia,  carbon,  phosphoric,  acid, 
sulphuric  acid,  nitric  acid,  carbonic  acid,  chlorine,  soda,  etc.   Colorado  Soils, 
by  T.  Jamieson,  Aberdeen,  Scotland. 

7  William  E.  Pabor,  associate  editor  of  the  Colorado  Farmer,  who  has  pub 
lished  a  little  book,  on  Colorado  as  an  Agricultural  State,  quotes  from  a  state 
ment  concerning  the  soils  of  Utah,  that  they  are  not  likely  to  be  very  different 
from  those  of  Colorado,  and  then  gives  them  in  the  following  proportions: 
Black  loam,  7,200,  Sandy  loam  3,800,  loam  and  gravel  8,250,  loam  and  clay 
3,500,  loam  and  alkali  1,200,  clay  and  gravel  5,000,  clay  and  plaster  3,500, 
alkali,  iron,  and  sand  2,500,  sand,  alkali,  and  volcanic  ash  1,000.  p.  40.    But 
this  proportion  is  applicable  only  to  the  improved  lands,  and  not  to  the  whole 
area.     The   altitude  of  towns   and   cities   in  feet  is   as   follows:    A"lamosu, 
7,492;  Alma,  10,254;  Animas  City,  6,622;  Baker  Mine,   11,956;  Bakerville, 
9,753;    Black  Hawk,   7,875;    Boulder,  5,536;  Breckenridge,    9,674;    Canon, 
5,287;  Caribou,  9,905;  Central,  8,300;  Colorado  Springs,  6,023;  Conejos,  7,880; 
Del   Norte,    7,750;  Denver,    5,197;  El  Moro,    5,886;  Empire,  8,583;  Evans, 
4,745;  Fairplay,  9,964;  Fall  River,  7,719;  Fort  Collins,  4,815;  Fort  Garland. 
7,945;  Fort  Lupton,    5,027;  Fort  Lyon,   3,725;  Frisco,   9,500;  Georgetown, 
8,514;  Gold  Hill,  8,463;  Golden,  5,687;  Granite,  8,883;  Greeley,  4,779;  Gren 
ada,  3,434;  Gunnison,  7,743;  Hamilton,    9,743;  Hermosillo,  4,723;  Hot  Sul 
phur  Springs,  7,725;  Howardville,  9,527;  Idaho  Springs,  7,512;  Jamestown, 
7,123;  Jefferson,  9,862;  Kit  Carson,  4,307;  Kokomo,  10,200;  La  Junta,  4,137; 
Lake  City,  8,550;  Las  Animas,  3,952;  Leadville,   10,247;  Longmont,  4,957; 
Los   Pinos,    9,065;  Manitou,    6,297;    Marshall,   5,578;   Montezuma,    10,295; 
Nederland,   8,263;  Nevadaville,  8,800;    Oro,   10,704;   Ouray,   7,640;  Pagosa 
Springs,   7,108;  Present  Help  Mine,   on  Mt  Lincoln,   14,000;  Platteville, 


536  AGRICULTURE  AND  STOCK  RAISING. 

valley  of  the  Platte  the  soil  is  identical  with  that  of 
the  river-bottoms  of  the  Missouri,  while  the  uplands 
have  a  rich,  warm,  sandy  loam.  The  southern  val 
leys  are  more  sandy,  and,  of  course,  warmer  at  the 
same  elevation  than  the  northern.  The  river-bot 
toms  yield  bountiful  crops  wichout  irrigation,  and  the 
uplands  even  more  abundantly  with  it.  In  a  general 
sense  agriculture  in  Colorado  depends  upon  a  judi 
cious  use  of  water  supplied  to  the  thirsty  earth  by 
artificial  means ;  and  of  irrigation  I  will  give  some 
account  in  this  place.  As  early  as  1861  the  legisla 
ture  passed  an  act  providing  for  the  free  use  of  the 
water  of  any  stream  on  the  margin  of  a  land  claim  ; 
or  if  not  situated  upon  any  stream,  for  the  right  of 
way  of  a  ditch  through  the  laud  lying  between  it  and 
the  nearest  water.  The  ditch  should  not  be  larger 

o 

than  necessary,  nor  should  there  be  any  waste  of 
water;8  and  where  the  stream  was  not  large  enough 
to  supply  the  continuous  wants  of  the  entire  country 
dependent  upon  it,  a  justice  of  the  peace  should 
appoint  commissioners  to  apportion  the  water  equita 
bly,  to  settle  disputes,  and  assess  damages  where  they 
were  shown  to  occur.  The  right  to  use  a  water- 
wheel  or  other  machinery  for  raising  water  to  a 
required  level  was  granted  by  law,  and  other  privi 
leges  and  restrictions  enacted.'  This  law  was  amended 
from  time  to  time  as  a  knowledge  of  the  wants  of 
the  agriculturalists  suggested,  and  in  1872  irrigating 
ditches  were  exempted  from  taxation.  In  1876  a 

5,690;  North  Pueblo,  4,713;  South  Pueblo,  4,676;  Quartz  Hill,  9,300;  Rollins- 
ville,  8,323;  Rosita,  8,500;  Saguache,  7,723;  Saint  John,  10,807;  Salt  Works 
in  South  Park,  8,917;  Silverton,  9,400;  Steven's  Mine,  11,943;  Terrible  Mine, 
9,243;  Trinidad,  6,032;  Uncompahgre  Agency,  6,400;  White  River  Agency, 
6,491.  From  this  list  it  will  be  seen  that  only  two  towns  are  under  4,000  feet 
in  altitude;  9  are  over  4,000;  7  are  over  5,000;  6  are  over  6,000;  12  are  over 
7,000;  11  are  over  8,000;  8  are  over  9,000;  7  are  over  10,000;  2  are  over 
11,000,  and  1,  14,000.  Fossett's  Colorado,  14-15.  It  is  needless  to  remark  that 
only  mining  towns  exist  at  an  altitude  above  7,500  feet. 

8  Meline  remarks  in  1866,  in  Two  Thousand  Miles  on  Horseback,  88,  that 
the  ditches  were  dug  too  deep,  at  too  great  an  incline,  creating  a  current 
which  washed  out  and  deepened  the  water-way,  and  that  there  was  conse 
quently  a  waste  of  water.     Probably  experience  taught  the  owners  to  avoid 
these  errors. 

9  Session  Laws,  1861,  67-9. 


IRRIGATION.  537 

law  was  placed  on  the  statute  book  forbidding  any 
person  in  the  summer  season  to  run  through  an  irri 
gating  canal  any  greater  quantity  of  water  than  abso 
lutely  needful  for  domestic  purposes,  the  watering  of 
stock,  and  moistening  his  land.1*  Other  matters,  such 
as  priority  of  right  and  association  for  purposes  of 
irrigation,  came  up  and  were  discussed  and  settled  by 
statutes  from  time  to  time,  the  importance  of  the 
equal  distribution  of  water  growing  more  and  more 
apparent.  And  not  only  as  relating  to  lands  usually 
regarded  as  cultivable,  but  as  applied  to  a  large  extent 
of  country  known  as  arid  lands,  which  down  to  a 
recent  period  had  been  looked  upon  as  worthless. 

This  subject  had  engaged  the  attention  of  think 
ing  men  in  Colorado,  who  believed  that  the  whole  or 
much  of  the  great  wastes  in  the  several  states  and 
territories  west  of  the  Missouri  not  sufficiently 
watered  by  rainfall  might  be  redeemed  by  an  inter 
state  system  of  irrigation,  and  for  the  purpose  of  dis 
cussing  and  bringing  the  subject  before  the  people  a 
convention  of  trans-Missouri  states  was  held  at  Den 
ver  October  15,  1873,11  at  which  was  agitated  the 
question  of  the  interest  of  the  general  government  in 
assisting  to  recover  from  sterility  so  great  a  portion  of 
the  public  domain.  Little  resulted  from  the  conven 
tion,  except  the  enlargement  of  men's  ideas  in  the 
direction  of  scientific  agriculture.12 

In  1879  the  department  of  agriculture  appointed  a 
commissioner,  J,  Brisbin  Walker,  to  visit  Colorado  to 
take  observations  of  the  country  preliminary  to  mak 
ing  a  practical  test  of  the  value  of  artesian  wells  in 
furnishing  water  for  irrigation.1*  Government,  how- 

w  Colo  Gen.  Laws,  1877,  518;  Dow's  Tour  in  America,  103-14. 

11  The  convention  was  addressed  by  Gov.  Elbert,  through  whose  efforts 
chiefly  it  was  brought  together.     See  Speech  of  Elbert  bej'ore  the  Convention  of 
Trans- Missouri  States,  4-8. 

12  Report  on  the  Problems  of  Irrigation,  by  William  Ham  Hall,  state  engi 
neer  of  California,  dealing  with  the  social,  political,  and  legal  questions;  the 
physical,  practical,  and  technical  obstacles  to  be  overcome,  with   the   con 
struction,  operation,  and  maintenance  of  irrigation  works,  is  a  most  import 
ant  publication  exhaustive  of  a  subject  still  comparatively  novel  in  the  United 
States. 

13  Denver  Tribune,  Nov.  13  and  22,  1879. 


538  AGRICULTURE  AND  STOCK  RAISING. 

ever,  has  been  anticipated  in  the  application  of 
acquired  information  by  enterprising  companies,  which 
are  rapidly  redeeming  arid  lands,  and  filling  their 
coffers  at  the  same  time. 

The  first  canals  were  constructed  in  Weld  county, 
one  at  Greeley  by  the  Union  colony,14  and  another  at 
Evans,  both  taking  water  from  the  south  Platte,  and 
conducting  it  for  six  or  eight  miles  among  farms. 

In  1877  English  capitalists  organized  the  Colorado 
Mortgage  and  Investment  company,  which,  among 
other  things,  became  interested  in  irrigation,  organ 
izing  a  subordinate  branch  at  Fort  Collins  under  the 
name  of  Larimer  and  Weld  Irrigation  company, 
which  purchased  water  rights,  and  as  much  land  as 
could  be  obtained,  and  constructed  a  canal  over  fifty 
miles  in  length.  This  proved  a  profitable  investment. 
Water  rights  were  sold  for  $2,  and  later  for  $1.50,  an 
acre  ;  and  the  land,  obtained  at  government  or  rail 
road  prices,  brought  from  $13  to  $15  per  acre,  with  a 
perpetual  water  right.  The  High  Line  Irrigating 

14  This  canal,  Hayden  remarks,  has  too  great  a  fall,  the  current  being  so 
strong  that  it  is  with  difficulty  forded  by  teams.  The  Union  colony  was 
organized  in  New  York  on  the  23d  of  Dec.  1869,  with  59  members,  to  which 
many  others  were  soon  added.  It  was  a  direct  outgrowth  of  the  advertising 
which  the  N.  Y.  Trilwne  ga'Te  Colorado.  Horace  Greeley  was  its  prime 
mover  and  treasurer,  and  one  of  its  most  active  agents  was  N.  C.  Meeker, 
also  of  the  Tribune.  It  sent  out  a  locating  committee,  consisting  of  Meeker, 
H.  T.  West,  and  R.  A.  Cameron,  who,  after  looking  over  the  ground,  deter 
mined  upon  the  present  site  of  Greeley,  in  Weld  county.  They  purchased 
12,000  acres  from  the  Denver  Pacific  Railway  co.  and  others,  and  made 
arrangements  for  the  purchase  of  60,000  acres  of  government  and  50,000  acres 
railroad  land  within  three  years,  at  from  $3  to  $4  per  acre,  by  paying  interest 
from  the  date  of  contract.  Charters  were  obtained  for  irrigating-canals  cov 
ering  the  entire  area.  A  town  was  laid  off  at  the  delta  formed  by  the  Cach»- 
la-Poudre  and  Platte  rivers,  on  the  line  of  the  Denver  Pacific  R.  R.,  and 
subdivided  into  520  business  lots,  25  x  190  feet  in  size;  673  residence  lots, 
ranging  from  50  by  190  to  200  by  190;  and  277  lots  reserved  for  public  build 
ings,  schools,  churches,  etc.  The  adjacent  lands  were  divided  into  plats  of  from 
5  to  120  acres,  according  to  the  distance  from  the  town  centre,  and  each  mem 
ber  allowed  to  select  one,  under  his  certificate  of  membership.  A  public 
square  of  10  acres  was  reserved  in  the  middle  of  the  town,  artificial  lakes 
constructed,  trees  planted,  and  by  June  1870  water  was  flowing  through  all 
the  principal  streets  from  a  canal  fed  by  the  river.  In  1871  the  colony  con 
tained  350  buildings  of  all  descriptions,  17  stores,  3  lumber-yards,  3  black 
smith  and  wagon  shops,  a  newspaper  office,  and  livery -stable.  The  colony 
was  not  cooperative,  beyond  a  general  irrigating,  fencing,  and  public-build 
ings  fund  or  funds.  Byers' Centennial  State,  MS.,  39-40;  Saunders'  Through  the 
Light  Continent,  51-3,  London,  1879,  8vo,  409  p, 


IRRIGATION.  539 

canal  of  the  Plaits  Land  company,  another  foreign 
organization's  work,  is  a  still  longer  and  larger  canal 
to  irrigate  the  high  plains  east,  south-east,  and  north 
east  of  Denver,  by  making  a  wide  detour,  in  some 
places  constructing  tunnels,  and  in  others  flumes.  The 
cost  in  1884  had  reached  two  and  a  half  million  dol 
lars.  It  is  thirty-six  feet  wide  on  the  bottom,  and 
seven  feet  deep  for  the  first  thirty  miles,  after  which 
it  gradually  narrows  and  shallows.  It  is  intended  to 
water  300  square  miles  of  territory.  The  Northern 
Colorado  Irrigation  company,  which,  at  an  enormous 
outlay,  constructed  eighty  miles  of  a  main  line  of 
canal,  and  as  much  more  of  lateral  branches,  com 
pleted  its  work  in  1883  ;  and  immediately  commenced 
another  seventy  miles  in  length  and  sixty  feet  in 
width  at  the  bottom,  extending  from  about  Pueblo  to 
La  Junta,  in  the  neighboring  county  of  Bent,  and 
taking  water  from  the  Arkansas  river.  Still  another 
corporation  is  the  San  Luis  Park  Irrigating  company 
of  New  England  capitalists  whose  canals  will  irrigate 
500,000  acres.15  The  Larimer  and  Weld  company 
are  also  constructing  a  dam  on  the  north  Poudre, 
which  will  supply  water  to  land  a  thousand  feet  higher 
than  the  valley  of  the  stream.  Obviously  so  exten 
sive  a  system  of  irrigation,  involving  such  expendi 
ture,  and  affecting  so  many  rights  and  interests,  must 
become  the  subject  of  even  more  careful  legislation 
in  the  future  than  in  the  past.16 

The  undulations  of  the  plains  in  Colorado  make 
irrigation  and  cultivation  easy.  The  water  supplied 
at  the  upper  side  of  th-3  land  is  caused  to  flow  gently 
from  a  trench  or  furrow,  in  which  frequent  breaks  are 

15  It  is  estimated  that  65,000  gallons  annually  are  required  to  properly 
irrigate  one  acre.  Descriptive  America,  May  1884,  p.  6.  It  is  also  ascertained 
that  land  which  has  once  been  thoroughly  soaked,  except  where  very  porous 
and  gravelly,  requires  less  water  than  at  first,  and  often  becomes  so  wet  as 
to  require  drainage. 

16 1  find  in  Daw's  Tour  in  America,  Melbourne,  1884,  p.  113,  some  sugges 
tions  on  this  subject.  He  remarks  that,  '  For  want  of  such  laws  the  progress 
of  irrigation  in  California  is  seriously  impeded.'  Dow's  book  is  a  sensible 
record  of  observations  on  the  agriculture  and  resources  of  the  U.  S.,  neither 
fulsome  nor  grudging.  He  was  a  special  commissioner  of  the  Australasian' 


640  AGRICULTURE  AND  STOCK  RAISING. 

made  in  the  lower  rim,  slowly  moistening  the  surface 
of  a  field,  which  in  two  or  three  days  is  ready  for  the 
plough.  Cereals  require  to  be  watered  only  once  or 
twice  in  a  season.  Much  has  been  said  about  the 
amount  of  irrigable  land  in  Colorado,  which  has  been 
estimated  from  1,250,000  to  3,000,000  acres,  of  which 
in  1882  only  about  100,000  acres  were  in  use.17  In 
1889  it  was  estimated  that  there  were  at  least  6,000 
miles  of  main  irrigating  canals,  with  lateral  branches 
of  much  greater  length. 

The  principal  grain-producing  counties  of  Colorado 
at  the  present  are  five,  Arapahoe,  Boulder,  Jefferson, 
Larimer,  and  Weld,  although  with  the  progress  of 
canals  it  is  not  safe  to  claim  priority  for  any.  Doubt 
less  by  the  time  my  pages  are  in  print  some  of  the 
southern  counties  will  have  become  powerful  rivals  of 
the  northern  belt.  But  as  I  prefer  to  keep  to  the 
records  of  the  state  agriculturists  for  statements  here 
given,  what  is  unknown  is  left  to  conjecture.  The 
five  counties  here  mentioned  produced  in  1881,  980,- 
000  bushels  of  wheat,  and  66,000  bushels  of  corn.  In 
1882  four  of  the  same  counties  produced  1,158,820 
bushels  of  wheat,  and  186,000  bushes  of  corn.  The 
crops  of  barley,  oats,  potatoes,  hay,  alfalfa,  and  vege 
tables  were  in  proportion.  The  value  of  the  yield  of 
five  counties  in  1881  was  $1,771,750;  of  four  counties 
in  1882  it  was  $3,047,750.  The  increase  is  without 
question  due  to  the  greater  facilities  for  irrigation, 
which  in  1883  had  more  than  doubled  the  cultivable 
area  of  1882.18  The  total  value  of  all  the  crops  of  the 
state  in  1882  was  $8,947,500. 

17  Pabor,  in  Colorado  as  an  Agricultural  State,  58,  after  12  years  of  per 
sonal  observation,  publishes  answers  to  the  question,  Is  Colorado  an  agricul 
tural  state  ?  in  the  affirmative,  describing  the  various  farming  localities,  and 
giving  facts  regarding  the  culture  of  grains,  fruits,  and  vegetables,  with  an 
account  of  irrigation,  its  expense  to  the  individual,  etc. 

18 1  have  the  Agricultural  Statistics  of  the  State  of  Colorado,  pp.  16,  for  1883, 
before  me,  a  pamphlet  issued  by  the  state  board  of  agriculture.  From  its 
tabulated  report  I  gather  that  the  amount  of  land  in  the  whole  state  under 
irrigation  in  1883  was  416,594  acres;  the  number  of  acres  in  pasture,  1,367,- 
255;  in  oats,  33,684  acres,  yielding  925,029  bushels;  in  barley,  6, 179  acres, 
yielding  112,761  bushels;  in  rye,  1,628  acres,  yielding  20,343  bushels;  in  corn, 


FRUIT  GROWING.  541 

The  natural  fruits  of  a  country  cannot  be  relied 
upon  as  indications  of  what  the  land  will  produce 
under  cultivation.  Colorado  presented  to  the  first 
explorers  only  a  worthless  thorn-apple;  a  rare  but 
pleasant  flavored  plum;  small,  acid  gooseberries,  of 
little  value  ;  a  cherry  which  was  rather  palatable ; 
currants  of  black,  yellow,  and  red  varieties ;  with 
raspberries,  strawberries,  and  whortleberries  in  great 
abundance  Apples,  pears,  peaches,  and  grapes  were 
raised  in  the  gardens  of  the  Mexican  inhabitants  of 
San  Luis  park  before  the  settlement  by  Americans 
from  the  United  States  These  fruits  first  appeared 
amono-  the  farmers  on  the  Arkansas  Strawberries 

O 

began  to  be  cultivated  in  1865.  The  following  year 
they  brought  $3  per  quart.  About  the  same  time 
apples,  pears,  and  peaches  were  being  raised  from  seed 
in  the  Platte  valley,  and  grew  thriftily  at  first,  but 
died  afterwards  because  their  roots  had  penetrated 
below  the  soil  to  gravel  and  sand.  Small  fruits  were 
then  set  out,  and  flourished 19  where  the  soil  was  moist 
at  certain  seasons  of  the  year.  Experience  showed 
that  where  trees  were  irrigated  in  the  autumn  they 
were  able  to  resist  winter  killing,  which  was  caused 
not  by  cold,  but  by  the  drying  up  of  the  wood  by  the 
sunshine  of  <the  winter  season.  Upon  making  this 
discovery,  about  1873,  fruit  trees  began  again  to  be 
planted,  since  which  time  there  has  been  a  steady 
improvement  in  horticulture.28  Among  the  first  hor- 
ticulturalists  were  Joseph  Wolff  of  Boulder,  whose 
first  orchard  of  three  hundred  trees  was  killed  ;  J  W. 
Parker  of  the  Cache-la-Poudre  valley,  J.  S.  Flory 
of  St  Vrain  valley,  Anson  Rudd,  and  W.  A.  Helm  of 

21,763  acres,  yielding  356, 478  bushels;  in  buckwheat,  7,  yielding  154  bushels; 
in  wheat,  67,342  acres,  yielding  1,419,443  bushels.  A  few  acres  of  sorghum 
were  grown  in  1873  in  Boulder,  Bent,  Delta,  Fremont,  Larimer,  Montrose, 
Pueblo,  and  Weld  counties,  aggregating  67  acres,  and  yielding  2,366  gallons 
of  syrup.  GraybearcCs  Colorado,  55-7;  Galveston  News,  Dec.  1,  1874,  p.  3;  Los 
An<ides  Ev?,nin<i  Express,  Aug  4,  1884. 

19  flollisters  Mine*  of  Colorado,  424-5;  Denver  Mountain  Herald,  July  2, 
1869. 

«  Byers  Ceutennial  State,  MS.,  35. 


542  AGRICULTURE  AND  STOCK  RAISING, 

Canon  City,  and  Jesse  Frazier,  ten  miles  east  of 
Canon,  in  the  Arkansas  valley.  The  state  organized 
a  horticultural  society,  of  which  D.  S.  Grimes  was 
made  president,  and  the  legislature  of  1883  passed  an 
act  to  "  encourage  horticulture  and  forestry  in  Colo 
rado,  and  to  establish  a  state  bureau  of  horticulture,"2 
appropriating  $1,000  annually  toward  its  support. 
The  amount  of  land  in  orchards  in  1882  was  given  in 
at  2,500  acres,  and  the  value  of  the  fruit  at  $1,250,000. 
An  agricultural  society  was  organized  in  1863,  and  in 
1864  a  charter  was  obtained  from  the  legislature,  with 
an  appropriation  of  $500  to  be  expended  in  prizes, 
the  society  assuming  the  burden  of  erecting  the  build 
ings  and  purchasing  the  land  for  a  fair  ground.22 
Granges  were  established  in  1874  throughout  the 

O  O 

agricultural  portions  of  the  territory,  the  movement 
being  for  some  time  a  popular  one,  each  grange  hav 
ing  its  hall  for  holding  meetings.  In  Denver  the 
granges  had  a  commercial  establishment  and  a  flour 
ing  mill  on  the  principle  of  cooperative  societies,  but 
they  failed  for  want  of  cohesiveness. 

In  1877  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  was  estab 
lished,  and  at  the  same  session  an  act  was  passed  to 
provide  for  the  building  and  maintenance  of  the  agri 
cultural  college  of  Colorado,  the  real  property  of 
which  was  vested  in  the  above  board,  which  was 
given  control  of  the  college  and  farm,  and  of  all  appro 
priations  for  the  support  of  the  institution  ;  the  col 
lege  to  be  built  and  maintained  by  a  direct  tax  of  one 
tenth  of  one  mill  on  every  dollar  of  real  and  personal 
property  in  the  state.23  The  college  was  located  at 
Fort  Collins,  in  Larimer  county,  and  was  opened  in 
1879.  Scholarship  was  made  free  with  certain  limi- 

21  Colo  Session  Laws.  1883,  210.     For  statistics  I  have  consulted  Pabor's 
book,  Kept  of  State  Geologist,  1881-2,  and  Kept  of  the  State  Board  of  Agri 
culture,  1883. 

22  The  incorporators  were  J.  B.  Doyle,  R.  Stubbs,  S.  Cort,  Lewis  Jones, 
H.  E.  Esterday,  A.   0.  Patterson,  David  Gregory,  R.  Sopris,  W.  N.  Byers, 
Thomas  Gibson,  F.  H.  Judd,  J.  H.  Eames,  Celeden  Valdez  and  V.  Wellman. 
Colo  Session  Laws,  1864,  221;  Sopri*'  Settlement  of  Denver,  MS.,  13. 

23  For  the  acts  governing  these  boards,  see  Colo  Gen.  Laws,  1877,  pp.  88- 
90,  97-106;  Colo  Session  Laws,  1879,  6-7. 


STOCK  RAISING.  543 

tations  as  to  age  and  previous  requirements.  Grad 
uation  confers  the  degree  of  bachelor  of  science. 
Institutes  are  held  during  the  winter  at  different 
points  for  the  benefit  of  farmers  in  the  vicinity,  at 
which  valuable  papers  are  read  by  the  faculty,  who 
having  experimented  on  the  college  farm  are  able  to 
impart  the  result  of  their  investigation,  to  those  who 
have  less  time,  knowledge,  and  facilities  for  experi 
mental  work.24 

Reports  are  annually  published  by  the  state  board 
of  agriculture,  which,  with  the  several  agricultural 
journals  of  the  state,  place  Colorado  upon  an  equality 
with  the  older  agricultural  communities  in  point  of 
progressive  farming. 

Stock  raising  in  Colorado  has  attained  an  impor 
tance  second  only  to  mining,  the  estimated  total  value 
of  its  cattle,  sheep,  and  other  animals  in  1884  being 
$25,090,000.  I  have  given  so  particular  an  account 
of  cattle  raising  as  an  industry  in  my  History  of  Mon 
tana  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  repeat  it  here,  the  cus 
toms  and  laws  to  which  the  keeping  of  large  herds 
has  given  rise  being  substantially  the  same  in  both 
countries.  The  discovery  of  the  nutritive  quality  of 
the  grasses  of  the  Platte  valley  was  made  as  early  as 
1858,  when  A.  J.  Williams,  who  was  among  its  pio 
neers,  not  having  any  food  for  his  eighteen  oxen  dur 
ing  the  winter,  turned  them  out  upon  an  island  in  the 
Platte  near  old  Fort  Lupton  to  take  their  chances  of 
living,  or  of  dying  by  starvation.  To  his  surprise,  on 
visiting  the  island  in  the  spring  of  1859,  he  found 
them  alive,  sleek,  and  fat.  But  in  1847  St  Vrain  and 
Bent  had  driven  several  thousand  cattle  from  Texas 
and  New  Mexico  to  the  Arkansas  valley,  and  wintered 
them  near  Bent's  fort.  Subsequently  Maxwell  and 
others  established  cattle  ranches  on  the  streams  lead- 

2*The  faculty  consisted  in  1885  of  C.  L.  Ingersoll,  president,  prof,  logic 
and  pol.  economy;  A.  E.  Blount,  prof.  ag.  and  botany;  Charles  F.  Davis, 
B.  S.,  prof.  chem.  and  physics;  F.  H.  Williams,  prof,  pract.  mech.  and  draw 
ing.  Pabor,  Colo  as  an  Agricultural  State,  182. 


544  AGRICULTURE  AND  STOCK  RAISING. 

ing  out  of  the  Sierra  Mojada,  at  the  foot  of  the  Hua- 
jatollas,  and  on  the  upper  Las  Animas.  Around 
Canon  City  stock  raising  was  begun,  in  a  small  way, 
about  1862-3.  Beckwith  brought  the  first  large  herd 
into  Wet  Mountain  valley  from  Texas  in  1872.  Two 
herds  were  driven  across  the  divide  between  the 
Arkansas  and  South  Platte  before  1866,  when  Wil 
liams,  who  had  not  lost  sight  of  the  subject,  brought 
1.500  Mexican  cattle  into  Platte  valley,  since  which 
time  the  importation  has  never  ceased/0  although  for 
a  number  of  years  the  business  was  conducted  on  a 
small  scale,  compared  with  latter  investments.26 

The  principal  grasses  on  which  cattle  fatten  are  the 
gramma  and  bunch  species,  the  former  having  a  small 
seed  growing  on  one  side  at  a  right  angle  to  the  stalk. 

25 1  find  this  statement  in  an  extract  from  Out  West,  Sept.  1873,  in  The 
Discoverer  of  Pike's  Peak,  MS.  It  agrees  with  the  statement  in  Williams' 
biography,  in  Hist.  Denver,  627-9.  Sopris  mentions  as  the  first  importers  of 
cattle  from  Texas  John  W.  Allen,  and  Reed,  whose  first  name  seems  to  have 
been  Allen.  The  former  died  at  Denver  in  1881,  and  the  latter  returned  to 
Lexington,  Mo.,  in  1876.  Thomas  W.,  William,  Andrew  Wilson,  and  John 
Hitson  were  among  the  first  to  avail  themselves  of  the  opportunity  offered 
to  make  money  by  raising  cattle.  Settlement  of  Denver,  MS.,  16.  Byers  men 
tions  J.  W.  lliff.  Hist.  Colo,  MS.,  42.  Later  stock-men  were  H.  S.  Holly  & 
Co.,  Jones  Brothers,  Beatty  Brothers,  Lane  &  Murray,  Towers  &  Gudgell, 
Downen  Brothers,  H.  B.  Carter,  R.  M.  Moore,  and  others. 

26  According  to  Wolfe  Londoner,  Texas  cattle  were  imported  for  beef  only, 
and  fattened  on  the  grass  of  the  plains.  Colorado  Mining  Camps,  MS.,  10. 
This  dictation  consists  of  fifteen  pages  of  type-writing,  equal  to  30  page?  of 
this  volume.  Londoner  was  born  in  New  York  in  1835,  came  to  Cal.  in  1850, 
a  boy  in  a  sailing  vessel,  and  went  to  washing  dishes  for  $50  per  month. 
After  a  time  the  auctioneer,  Jessell,  gave  him  employment  at  $150  a  month. 
Returning  home  in  1855,  he  was  sent  to  Dubuque,  la,  to  take  charge  of  two 
stores  owned  by  his  father.  When  the  panic  of  1857  came  on  there  was  a  fail 
ure  for  the  Londoners,  who  removed  to  St  Louis.  In  the  course  of  events  Wolfe 
found  employment  with  A.  Hanauer,  later  of  Salt  Lake,  and  Dold,  who  sent 
him,  in  1860,  to  Colorado  to  erect  a  business-house  in  Denver,  and  afterward 
in  Canon  City,  where  they  put  him  in  charge  of  $50,000  worth  of  goods,  and 
the  finest  stone  building  in  the  territory.  The  Baker  exploring  party  for  San 
Juan  outfitted  at  this  store.  When  business  declined  in  Canon  City,  Lon 
doner  was  sent  to  California  gulch,  then  in  the  height  of  its  prosperity,  and 
when  that  camp  was  deserted,  in  1866.  he  went  to  Denver.  Being  now  pos 
sessed  of  means  of  his  own,  Londoner  engaged  in  merchandising  with  his 
brother,  and  made  money,  until  in  1884  his  sales  amounted  to  $1,000,000 
annually.  He  was  elected  county  commissioner  and  chairman  of  the  com 
mittee  on  finance,  which  devolved  upon  him  the  building  of  the  Denver  court 
house,  which  cost  $300,000,  the  land  on  which  it  stands  being  worth  $75,000 
more.  The  building  and  furniture  are  the  pride  of  Denver,  and  for  the  man 
ner  in  which  Londoner  discharged  his  trust,  the  board,  when  he  left  it,  *  drew 
up  a  resolution  which  was  good  enough  to  put  on  my  grave  when  I  die, '  says 
the  recipient  of  the  testimonial. 


CATTLE.  545 

When  not  irrigated,  it  is  only  a  few  inches  high,  but 
grows  to  two  feet  in  height  when  furnished  with 
water,  and  is  better  feed  than  any  native  grass  known. 
This  grows  near  the  mountains,  buffalo  grass  on  the 
plains,  and  bunch  grass  on  the  mountain  sides. 
Besides  these  three  there  were  exhibited  at  the  expo 
sition  in  Denver,  in  1884,  over  a  hundred  varieties  of 
native  grasses,  all  having  a  seed  on  the  side,  except 
the  bunch  grasses.27  Cattle  so  well  fed  will  live  a 
week  with  nothing  to  eat,  and  a  snowfall  seldom  lasts 
a  longer  time.  Should  the  snow  remain,  the  cattle 
stampede  to  the  Arkansas  valley ;  so  that,  with  the 
advantages  of  the  climate  and  the  sagacity  of  the 
animals,  the  owners  sustain  few  losses.  Still,  pru 
dence  will  more  and  more  dictate  the  saving  of  hay 

f  •       i  £          !•  &  J 

lor  winter  feeding. 

With  the  growth  of  the  business  of  cattle-raising 
there  came  the  formation  of  incorporated  companies, 
and  legislative  enactments.  Among  other  laws  which 
concern  the  branding,  herding,  protection  from  dis 
ease,  and  other  necessary  regulations,  is  a  statute 
authorizing  a  commissioner  to  attend  the  annual 
round-ups,  and  to  seize  and  sell  all  un branded  cattle 
for  the  benefit  of  the  common  school  fund.28  A  state 
board  of  inspectors  exists  by  law.  The  objectionable 
feature  of  the  stock  business  would  seem  to  be  the 
absolute  control  of  immense  tracts  of  country,  with 
the  springs  and  streams,  by  companies  or  individuals, 
as  for  example,  the  possession  of  many  thousands  of 
acres  of  rich  bottom  land,  and  forty  miles  of  water 
front  on  the  Arkansas  river,  by  one  man,  J.  W. 
Prowers.  The  Prairie  Cattle  company  have  over 
$3,000,000  invested  in  cattle,  and  control  many  miles 
of  water  front,  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  acres  of 
fenced  pasture,  in  Bent  county.  In  northern  Colo 
rado  the  stock  companies  are  chiefly  in  Weld  and 
Arapahoe  counties ;  south  of  the  divide  thev  are  for 

27  Stone's  General  View,  MS.,  9-10;  HoKisters  Mines  of  Colorado,  426-9. 
*8  Roller's  Colorado  Sketches,  MS.,  3;  Farrel's  Colo  as  It  is,  53-5, 


546  AGRICULTURE  AND  STOCK  RAISING. 

the  most  part  in  Bent,  Las  Animas,  Elbert,  and 
Pueblo.  There  are  two  stock  associations,  one  at  Den 
ver  29  and  the  other  at  Pueblo.  Each  holds  an  annual 
meeting30  for  the  discussion  of  subjects  connected 
with  its  interests.31  The  Colorado  Cattle  company 
secured  81,000  acres  near  Pueblo,  under  patent  from 
the  government,32  and  individual  owners  control  other 
large  tracts  in  this  portion  of  the  state,  requiring  a 
separate  organization.  The  whole  number  of  cattle 
in  Colorado  in  the  spring  of  1884  was  given  at  1,005,- 
OOO.33  The  number  of  sheep  in  the  state,  in  May  of 
that  year,  was  put  down  at  1,497,000.  Shepherding 
has  made  rapid  advancement  since  1871,  about  which 
time  sheep  began  to  be  imported  in  considerable  num- 

29  Joseph  L.  Bailey  was  an  active  organizer  of  the  Colorado  Cattle-growers' 
association,  with  headquarters  at  Denver,  and  for  two  years  its  president. 
He  was  from  Pa,  and  arrived  at  Cherry  creek  in  June  1859.     He  made  some 
money  working  for  the  Pike's  Peak  Express  co.,  with  which,  and  with  credit, 
he  started  in  a  meat  market,  clearing,  with  his  partner,  over  $30,000  in  18 
months.     There  being  no  banks  in  the  country,  the  money  was  deposited  in 
the  earth  under  their  shop,  and  was  stolen  by  their  book-keeper,  leaving 
them  bankrupt.     Bailey  then  took  offices  under  the  Denver  city  government 
as  street  commissioner  and  marshal;  and  was  deputy  provost-marshal  under 
Wanless,  and  deputy  U.  S.  marshal  under  A.  C.  Hunt.     He  was  also  in  the 
secret  service  of  the  treasury  department,   to  hunt  out  the  counterfeiters 
which  infested  the  territory  for  a  time.     He  was  deputy  sheriff  under  Sopris, 
Kent,  Wilson,   and  Cook  for  a  number  of  years,  and  was  twice  chosen  a 
member  of  the  city  council.     The  fire  department  of  Denver  owes  much  to 
his  exertions  during  two  years  while  he  was  chief.     He  organized  the  Fire 
men's  Officers'  association,  to  consult  upon  matters  pertaining  to  the  depart 
ment.     In  1865  he  established   Bull's  Head  corral,  the  rendezvous  of  the 
leading  stock  men  of  the  western  states. 

30  The  pres.  of  the  northern  association  in  1883  was  Jacob  Scherrer;  vice- 
pres.,  J.  F.  Brown;  sec.,  L.  R.  Tucker;  treas.,  J.  A.  Cooper;  ex.  committee, 
R.  G.  Webster,  W.  H.   H.   Cranmer,  Joseph  W.  Bowles,  H.  H.  Metcalf,  J. 
W.  Siiyder;  state  inspection  commissioners,  J.  W.  Prowers  of  Bent  co.,  J.  L. 
Brush  of  Weld,  Nelson  Hallock  of  Lake,  L.  R.  Tucker  of  Elbert,  and  George 
W.  Thompson,  Jr,  of  La  Plata.    Colo  Stock  Laics,  3,  a  compilation  according 
to  act  of  the  legislative  assembly  of  1883  of  all  the  acts  relating  to  stock,  is 
a  good  authority  on  stock  matters. 

31  Life  on  a  Ranch,  by  R.  Aldridge,  contains  an  account  of  cattle -raising 
in  Colorado,  Kansas,  and  Texas.     Hall's  Annual  Kept  Chamb.  Com.  contains 
statistics,  133-6.     E.  P.  Tenney's   Colo,  and  Howes  in  the  Neiv  West,   16-19, 

fives  a  condensed  account  of  the  grazing  interest;  also  Hayden,  Great  West, 
34-8,  and  Tlie  Grazing  Interest  and  the  Beef  Supply,  by  A.  T.  Babbitt,  MS., 
11,    a  dictation  from  the  manager  of  the  Standard  Cattle  company  of   Wy 
oming. 

32  Helena  Independent,  Aug.  14,  1879. 

33  These  figures  are  taken  from  a  list  of  county  productions  in  Descriptive 
America,  May  4,  1884,  p.  26;  but  a  circular  on  Live-stock  Movement,  issued  in 
1884.  by  Wood  brothers  of  Chicago    places  the  production  of  Colorado  at 
991,700  cattle,  and  1,260,000  sheep. 


SHEEP  AND  HORSES.  547 

bers.  There  was  at  first  active  hostility  between  the 
owners  of  neat  cattle  and  the  sheep  graziers,  because 
the  pastures  overrun  by  sheep  were  practically  de 
stroyed  for  cattle.  In  the  autumn  of  1873  the  own 
ers  of  flocks  in  Huerfano  county  complained  to  the 
governor  that  parties  had  been  attacked  and  killed, 
or  their  animals  scattered,  with  the  avowed  purpose 
of  driving  this  kind  of  stock  out  of  the  country.  But 
the  legislature  interposed  with  laws  for  the  protection 
of  all  stock-owners  equally,  and  sheep  raising  is  now 
the  third  industry  in  the  state,  if  it  is  separated  from 
cattle  raising  on  one  side,  and  agriculture  on  the 
other.  One-year-old  lambs  average  four  pounds, 
ewes  five  or  six,  and  rams  twelve  to  fifteen  pounds  of 
wool.  The  yearly  clip  exceeds  7,000,000  pounds, 
having  a  value  of  $1,500,000.  The  flocks  consist 
mainly  of  Mexican  sheep,  improved  by  the  introdu^- 
tion  of  thoroughbred  Merino  rams.  Money  invested 
in  sheep  by  care  and  good  fortune  could  be  doubled 
in  three  years ;  but  as  snow  storms  and  late,  cold, 
spring  rains  have  more  power  to  harm  sheep  than 
other  stock,  some  allowance  is  made,  in  calculating 
profits,  for  these  contingencies.34  Alfalfa  ,as  it  was 
found  to  be  superior  feed  for  sheep,  as  well  as  all  kinds 
of  stock,  began  to  be  cultivated  in  the  agricultural 
counties  with  success,  although  it  was  found  difficult 
of  introduction  without  irrigation.  Horses  were 
longer  in  becoming  so  much  objects  of  the  stockmen's 
care  as  in  Nevada  and  Montana,  requiring,  as  they 
do,  more  attention  than  cattle,  besides  being  more 
expensive.  In  the  whole  state  there  were  in  1886 
about  100,000  horses  and  mules,  and  25,000  other 
kinds  of  stock,  comprising  swine,  and  cashmere, 
angora,  and  common  goats. 

34Pabor,  Colo  as  an  Agricultural  State,  193-201;  Harper  s  Mag.,  193-210, 
Jan.  1880;  Denver  Rocky  Mountain  News,  Nov.  29,  1870;  Colorado  Condensed, 
42;  Denver  Tribune,  Oct.  10,  1884;  Proceedings  1st  Nat.  Conv.  Cattle-men,  12- 
13;  Tenth  Census,  vol.  3,  144;  Gunnison  Sun,  Jan.  5,  1884. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

DENVER  AND   ARAPAHOE  COUNTY. 
1859-1886. 

SURVEY — DENVER  LANDS — MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION — THE  QUESTION  or 
CAPITAL — POST-OFFICE  AND  ASSAY  OFFICE — RAILWAYS — TELEGRAPHS — 
STREET  RAILWAYS — PUBLIC  BUILDINGS — SCHOOLS  AND  CHURCHES— STYLE 
OF  ARCHITECTURE — WATER  SYSTEM  AND  DRAINAGE — MANUFACTURES — 
SMELTERS — CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE — EXPOSITION  GROUNDS  AND  BUILD 
INGS — BANKING — SOCIETY  AND  CULTURE — BIOGRAPHY. 

CONSIDERING  the  resources  of  the  state  to  be  first 
mining,  second  stock-raising,  and  third  agriculture,  a 
brief  history  of  each  of  the  counties  will  afford  an 
opportunity  to  speak  of  manufactures  where  they 
occur,  and  of  mineral  resources  not  yet  noted. 

Arapahoe,  first  alphabetically,  as  well  as  in  point 
of  time,  had  an  irregular  existence  before  the  organi 
zation  of  the  territory  of  Colorado,  as  the  reader  will 
remember.  In  1861  its  boundaries  were  defined  by 
survey,  its  area  being  4,860  square  miles  in  the  form 
of  a  parallelogram.  The  first  gold  discovery  was 
made  in  the  western  end  of  the  country,  but  these 
placers  were  soon  exhausted  and  no  new  ones  discov 
ered.  The  county  was  treeless  and  arid  except 
immediately  upon  the  streams,  of  which  it  had  a  good 
number,  and  its  prospects  in  1866,  viewed  from  almost 
any  standpoint,  were  not  flattering.  Two  things  have 
redeemed  Arapahoe  from  poverty,  first  the  prosperity 
of  Denver  as  the  metropolis,  and  later  the  redemption 
of  its  arid  lands  by  irrigation,  of  which  I  have  already 
spoken  The  value  of  its  live  stock  in  1884  was  $1,- 
540,000.  Of  its  agricultural  productions  in  the  past 

(548) 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  CITY.  549 

there  is  no  record,  but  that  there  will  be  none  in  the 
future  the  increasing  area  of  irrigated  land  renders 
improbable. 

Denver,  the  county  seat,  has  had  its  beginnings 
narrated.  It  was  incorporated  first  by  the  provisional 
legislature,  and  organized  a  city  government  Decem 
ber  19,  1859,  by  the  election  of  John  C.  Moore, 
mayor.  The  government  was  not,  however,  strong 
enough  to  prevent  a  conflict  of  lot  owners  and  lot 
junipers  the  following  summer,  which  had  nearly  ter 
minated  in  bloodshed,  the  secretary  of  the  town  com 
pany,  Whitsitt,  and  others  narrowly  escaping  being 
shot  by  the  irate  squatters.  A  committee  of  citizens 
maintained  order  until  congress,  in  May  1864,  passed 
an  act  for  their  relief,  by  extending  to  Denver  the 
operation  of  the  act  of  May  23,  1844,  and  authorizing 
the  probate  judge  of  Arapahoe  county  to  enter  at  the 
minimum  price,  in  trust  for  the  righful  occupants 
according  to  their  respective  interests,  section  33,  and 
the  west  half  of  section  34,  in  township  3,  south  of 
range  68,  west  of  the  6th  principal  meridian,  reserv 
ing  only  such  blocks  and  lots  for  government  purposes 
as  the  commissioner  of  the  general  land  office  should 
designate.1  Thus  was  the  question  of  titles  settled. 
In  the  meantime  there  had  been  a  change  of  govern 
ment,  and  Denver  was  re-incorporated  under  the  laws 
of  the  first  territorial  legislature,  November  7,  1861. 
The  first  mayor  was  Charles  A.  Cook,  the  first  board 
of  alderman  H.  J.  Brendlinger,  John  A.  Nye,  L. 
Mayer,  W  W.  Barlow,  J.  E.  Vawter,  and  L.  Buttrick. 
P.  P.  Wilcox  was  police  magistrate,  W.  M.  Keith 
city  marshal,  J.  Bright  Smith  city  clerk  and  attor 
ney,  E.  D.  Boyd  city  surveyor,  George  W.  Brown 
treasurer  and  collector.2  D.  D.  Palmer  street  com 
missioner,  and  George  E.  Thornton  chief  of  police.3 

lCono.  Globe,  1863-4,  app.  168;  U.  S.  Me*s.  awl  Doc.,  1856-66,  251-2. 

2  Brown  resigned  in  Dec. ,  and  Joseph  B.  Cass  was  elected. 

3  The  Charter  and  Ordinances  of  the  City  of  Denver,  with  amendments  from 
1861  to  1875,  compiled  by  Alfred  C.  Phelps,  Denver,  1S78,  contains  the  names 


550 


DENVER  AND  ARAPAHOE  COUNTY. 


The  city  authorities  had  for  a  few  years  the  same 
trouble  with  the  outlaw  class  which  every  border  town 
of  any  magnitude  has  had,  in  which  the  ordinary 
course  of  justice  was  sometimes  accelerated  by  the 
vigilants  of  society.  It  suffered  by  flood  and  fire,  as 
I  have  before  mentioned*  in  its  early  history. 


BGDDDDDDQDDlyDC 


afflDDDDDDDDDDD 


PLAN  OF  DENVER,  1862. 

It  was  a  question  with  the  early  settlers  of  Colo 
rado  whether  Denver  or  Canon  City  should  be  the 
metropolis  of  the  country.  All  depended  upon  the 
route  taken  by  the  principal  part  of  the  immigration 

of  the  several  boards  of  city  officers  during  that  period,  for  which  I  have  not 
room.  The  town  site  of  Denver  absorbed  Auraria,  and  touched  upon  the  site 
of  Highland,  later  North  Denver. 

4  The  fire  broke  out  April  19,  1863,  between  2  and  3  o'clock  in  the  morn 
ing.  In  spite  of  great  exertions,  the  business  portion  of  the  city  was  almost 
entirely  destroyed  in  a  few  hours.  Many  who  lost  everything  at  that  time 
were  later  among  the  solid  men  of  Denver;  but  many  more  never  recovered 
from  the  disaster. 


ROADS  AND  RAILROADS.  551 

and  freight.  In  1859-60  the  Platte  and  Arkansas 
routes  divided  the  travel.  Denver  was  south  of  the 
travelled  route  to  Utah,  Nevada,  and  California,  and 
was  supposed  by  its  rival  to  be  almost  hopelessly  iso 
lated.  But  fortune,  in  collusion  with  the  stage  com 
pany,  settled  that  matter.  The  Pike's  peak  company 
having  removed  its  line  from  the  Smoky  Hill  fork  of 
Kansas  river,  which  line  terminated  at  Denver  by  the 
route  since  followed  by  the  Kansas  Pacific  railway  to 
the  Platte  route,  was  itself  no  longer  on  the  main 
line,  but  was  forced  to  accept  a  branch  from  Jules- 
burg,  where  the  overland  mail  crossed  the  north  side 
of  the  Platte.  The  distance  saved  in  the  length  of 
the  line  to  San  Francisco  by  adopting  the  northern 
route  was  600  miles.  The  men  of  Denver  used  their 
influence  to  procure  a  survey  of  a  direct  route  from 
their  city  to  Salt  Lake,  and  in  1861  E.  L.  Berthoud 
was  employed  by  W.  H.  Russell  and  Ben  Holladay, 
interested  in  transportation,  to  examine  the  country 
west  of  Denver  for  such  a  route.  The  survey  demon 
strated  that  a  road  could  be  laid  down  White  river 
and  other  streams  which  would  shorten  the  distance 
from  the  Missouri  to  the  Pacific  250  miles.  But  the 
Platte  or  old  immigrant  route  continued  to  be  used 
until  the  railroad  era  succeeded  to  stage  lines,  and 
Denver,  although  left  aside,  was  still  nearer  to  the 
trans-continental  artery  than  any  other  town  in  Colo 
rado,  and  with  that  advantage  had  to  be  content.5 

Denver  next  secured  the  mint,  which  although  not 
a  mint,  but  only  a  United  States  assaying  office,  was 

5  The  first  postmaster  of  Auraria  was  Henry  Allen,  appointed  in  the  spring 
of  1859,  at  which  time  there  was  no  mail  route  created,  and  none  was  estab 
lished  before  the  autumn  of  1860.  Allen  soon  resigned,  and  Park  \V.  Mc- 
Clure  was  appointed,  the  first  who  had  any  office.  When  the  war  began  he 
joined  the  confederacy,  and  Samuel  S.  Curtis  was  appointed;  but  he  also  left 
the  place  to  take  a  commission  in  the  federal  army.  His  deputy  acted  as  post 
master  until  the  spring  of  1864,  when  William  N.  Byers  was  appointed,  who 
held  the  office  2i  years  before  resigning.  This  covers  the  pioneer  period. 
Byers  was  appointed  again  in  1 879.  Previous  to  the  U.  S.  appointments  the 
Central  Overland  California  and  Pike's  Peak  Express  company,  which  was 
the  Leavenworth  and  Pike's  Peak  Express  company  under  a  new  name,  had 
postmasters  of  its  own,  the  first  of  whom  was  Amos  Steck.  Byers1  Hist.  Colo, 
MS.,  27-8. 


552         DENVER  AND  ARAPAHOE  COUNTY. 

a  power,  besides  being  a  temptation,  the  first  embez 
zlement  of  importance  occurring  in  Denver  being 
perpetrated  by  the  pay  clerk,  who  absconded  with 
$37,000,  most  of  which  was  recovered,  together  with 
the  thief.  Defalcations  had  not  been  frequent  in 
the  history  of  Colorado,  and  this  one  stirred  pro 
foundly  the  moral  sense  of  its  people.  Denver  also 
succeeded  in  retaining  the  capital,  as  has  been  before 
stated,  against  several  attempts  to  locate  it  elsewhere. 
But  it  has  been  to  the  energy  with  which  the  public- 
spirited  men  of  Denver  have  labored  for  the  concen 
tration  of  railroads  at  this  point  that  the  continued 
ascendency  of  this  city  has  been  due.  Originally, 
and  when  Berthoud  surveyed  the  mail  route  to  Salt 
Lake,  it  was  expected  that  the  central  line  of  Pacific 
railroad  would  come  to  Denver;  but  its  engineers 
finding  a  more  feasible  route  north,  finally  passed  just 
within  the  line  of  the  territory,  injuring  rather  than 
benefittirig  it.  This  inspired  the  friends  of  Colorado, 
arid  particularly  the  leading  men  of  Denver,  with 
the  purpose  of  building  a  branch  road  to  the  Union 
Pacific  at  Cheyenne.  The  Kansas  Pacific  was  slowly 
making  its  way  westward,  and  was  likely  enough  at 
that  time  to  come  to  Pueblo,  the  most  formidable 
rival  of  Denver.  Whether  to  build  a  road  toward 
Cheyenne  or  Pueblo  was  for  a  time  a  moot  question.6 

6  As  early  as  1861  a  railroad  called  the  Colorado  Central  was  projected  to 
connect  Golden  with  Denver,  and  to  be  extended  to  the  other  raining  towns, 
which  road  was  chartered  in  1865.  In  1867  a  proposition  was  made  by  the 
Union  Pacific  to  assist  in  completing  a  branch  road  into  Colorado,  if  the 
grading  should  be  done  by  the  Coloradans.  The  first  meeting  to  consider 
this  proposition,  and  of  building  the  Colorado  Central,  was  called  July  10, 
1867,  at  Denver,  and  was  thinly  attended.  It  was  resolved,  however,  to  re 
quest  the  county  commissioners  to  order  an  election  for  the  purpose  of  voting 
on  the  proposition  to  issue  bonds  for  $200,000  in  aid  of  the  branch  road,  and 
such  an  election  was  ordered  for  the  6th  of  August.  In  the  interim  it  be 
came  known  that  the  managers  of  the  Colorado  Central  were  working  in  the 
interest  of  Golden  as  the  future  capital,  and  designed  taking  the  road  on  the 
north  and  west  side  of  the  Platte  instead  of  first  to  Denver,  a  movement  in 
which  they  were  supported  by  the  mountain  towns.  On  this  discovery  the 
commissioners  of  Arapahoe  county  so  changed  the  order  of  election  as  to  make 
the  issue  of  bonds  dependent  upon  the  road  being  constructed  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Platte.  The  vote  on  this  proposition  stood  1,160  for  to  157  against. 
But  the  Colorado  Central  company  in  September  declined  the  conditional 
bonds.  In  November  a  director  of  the  Kansas  Pacific  company,  James  Archer, 


RAILROADS.  553 

While  the  claims  of  Colorado  were  receiving  but 
scant  recognition  from  the  transcontinental  line,  Gen- 

visited  Denver,  and  made  it  known  that  only  by  the  contribution  of  $2,000,000 
iu  county  bonds  could  the  building  of  the  Kansas  Pacific  to  that  point  be  se 
cured.  As  this  proposal  was  not  to  be  entertained,  it  was  determined  to 
make  another  effort  to  secure  connection  with  the  Union  Pacific,  and  to  facili 
tate  negotiations  a  board  of  trade  was  organized  on  the  13th  of  November. 
On  the  following  day  George  Francis  Train  addressed  the  board,  and  steps 
were  taken  to  organize  a  railroad  company.  On  the  17th  and  18th  other 
meetings  were  held,  and  on  the  latter  day  the  Denver  Pacific  Railway  and 
Telegraph  company  was  organized,  with  a  capital  stock  of  $2,000,000,  and  a 
board  of  directors.  The  officers  elected  on  the  19th  were  B.  M.  Hughes, 
president;  Luther  Kountze,  vice-president;  D.  H.  Moffat,  Jr,  treasurer;  W. 
T.  Johnson,  secretary;  F.  M.  Case,  chief  engineer;  John  Pierce,  consulting 
engineer.  In  three  days  8300,000  had  been  subscribed,  and  an  attempt  was 
made  to  induce  the  Colorado  Central  to  accept  the  county  bonds  and  join 
force?,  but  without  success.  In  December  the  county  commissioners  issued  a 
call  for  another  special  election  in  Jan.  1868,  to  vote  upon  the  proposition  to 
issue  3500,000  in  bonds  to  aid  the  railroads,  for  which  the  county  was  to  re 
ceive  the  same  amount  in  stock.  The  vote  stood  1,259  in  favor  of  to  47 
against  the  issue  of  the  bonds,  and  soon  after  an  arrangement  was  entered 
into  with  the  Union  Pacific  by  which  that  company  agreed  to  complete  the 
road  whenever  it  should  be  ready  for  the  rails.  A  bill  was  introduced  in  con 
gress  early  in  the  session  of  1867-8  for  the  usual  land  grant  to  the  Denver 
Pacific;  but  before  any  action  was  taken,  the  Kansas  Pacific  road  agreed  to 
transfer  its  land  grant  between  Cheyenne  and  Denver  to  the  Denver  Pacific, 
and  the  bill  was  amended  to  grant  a  subsidy  in  bonds  to  the  latter  company, 
and  in  this  form  was  passed  in  the  senate  July  25,  1868.  Nothing  more  bind 
ing  than  a  verbal  agreement  had  been  passed  between  the  Union  and  Denver 
Pacific  companies,  when  in  March  1868  Gov.  Evans  and  Surveyor-gen.  Pierce, 
representing  the  latter,  met  the  directors  of  the  Union  Pacific  cc.  in  New  York 
and  reduced  to  writing  the  terms  finally  agreed  upon,  which  were,  on  the 
part  of  the  Denver  company,  that  the  road  should  be  graded  and  the  ties 
laid;  that  the  Denver  Central  and  Georgetown  Railroad  company  should  be 
organized;  and  that  application  should  be  made  for  a  grant  of  land  to  the 
Denver  Pacific  road.  A  line  having  been  decided  upon,  work  was  com 
menced  May  18,  1868,  in  the  presence  of  a  concourse  of  people.  At  the  end 
of  three  months  the  grading  had  been  completed  to  Evans,  half  the  distance, 
and  in  the  autumn  the  road-bed  was  completed  to  Cheyenne.  But  so  far 
the  Union  Pacific  company  made  no  movement  toward  completing  any  part 
of  the  road,  and,  indeed,  the  subsidy  bill  which  had  passed  the  senate  had 
failed  in  the  lower  house  of  congress,  all  of  which  delayed  progress.  On  the 
3d  of  March,  1869,  however,  another  bill  embodying  the  important  features 
of  the  former  one  was  passed,  and  became  a  law.  The  grading  and  ties  be 
ing  ready,  the  Union  Pacific  was  called  upon  to  fulfil  its  contract,  which  it 
did  not  do,  owing  to  financial  embarrassment.  About  this  time,  the  presi 
dent  of  the  Denver  Pacific  having  died,  Evans  was  elected  to  fill  that  posi 
tion,  and  he  proposed  to  the  Union  Pacific  to  sell  the  iron  to  the  Denver 
Pacific,  which  would  complete  its  own  road.  The  former  contract  was 
cancelled,  and  an  arrangement  entered  into  with  the  Kansas  Pacific  which 
took  a  certain  amount  of  the  stock  of  the  Denver  Pacific,  and  proceeded  with 
the  completion  of  the  road,  which  was  opened  to  Denver  June  22,  1 870,  the 
Georgetown  miners  contributing  the  silver  spike  which  was  used  at  the  in 
auguration  ceremonies,  when,  also,  the  corner-stone  of  the  depot  at  Denver 
was  laid,  with  imposing  rites,  masonic  and  civic.  Thus,  after  three  years  of 
unintermitted  effort,  Denver  established  itself  as  the  initial  railroad  point  in 
Colorado.  In  August  of  the  same  year  the  Kansas  Pacific  reached  Denver. 
The  Denver  Pacific  was  not  for  the  first  ten  years  financially  remunerative, 


554         DENVER  AND  ARAPAHOE  COUNTY. 

eral  William  J.  Palmer,  who,  while  helping  to  build 
the  Kansas  Pacific,  had  vainly  labored  for  its  exten 
sion  westward  by  way  of  the  grand  canon  of  the  Ar 
kansas,  conceived  the  idea  of  a  railway  which,  running 
southward  from  Denver  along  the  base  of  the  moun 
tains,  should  penetrate  them  by  branches  through 
each  available  canon  and  pass,  and  render  tributary 
the  mineral  wealth  which  they  contained.  It  was 
due  no  less  to  his  foresight  in  the  conception  of  this 
enterprise  than  to  the  ability  and  energy  which  he 
brought  to  bear  on  its  execution,  that  the  Denver 
and  Rio  Grande  railway  became  the  greatest  factor 
in  the  development  of  Colorado,  and  in  many  respects 
the  most  notable  of  North  American  railroads.  From 
1871,  when  construction  began,  to  1878,  337  miles  of 
road  were  built,  connecting  Denver  with  Canon  City 
and  the  adjacent  coal-fields,  with  the  extensive  beds 
of  coking  coal  at  El  Moro,  and  with  the  town  of  Ala- 
mosa  on  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte,  to  reach  which 
point  was  made  the  then  famous  crossing  of  the 
Sangre  de  Cristo  range  at  Veta  pass.  In  the  latter 
year  began  the  great  struggle  with  the  Atchison, 
Topeka,  and  Santa  Fe  for  the  possession  of  the 
grand  canon  of  the  Arkansas,  a  detailed  account  of 
which  is  elsewhere  given.  Emerging  victorious  from 
this  conflict  in  1880,  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  en 
tered  upon  a  career  of  great  prosperity,  building  dur 
ing  the  next  three  years  980  miles  of  mountain  road.7 

first  because  it  could  not  be  while  it  had  no  feeders  from  the  mining  towns, 
and  secondly  because  in  1877  the  Union  Pacific  company,  failing  to  get  con 
trol  of  it,  constructed  a  parallel  road  running  to  Golden,  and  absorbing  the 
Colorado  Central,  which  had  completed  its  road  to  Denver,  and  extended  to 
Georgetown,  with  branches  to  Black  Hawk  and  several  other  mining  towns. 
This  company  also,  in  1881,  completed  a  cut-off  from  Julesburg  to  Evans  on 
the  Denver  Pacific,  which  subsequently  came  under  its  control. 

The  achievements  of  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  railway  in  mountain 
climbing  and  canon  threading  entitle  it  to  its  appellation  of  the  '  scenic  line  of 
the  world.'     Five  times  it  crosses  the  main  ranges  of  the  Rocky  mountains, 
JIIK  following  elevations  above  the  sea:  Veta  pass,  9,392;  Cumbres, 

jY'olo%  nnessee  Pass'  10,41S;  Marshall  pass,  10.852;  and  Fremont  pass, 
11,, 5-8  feet.  To  gain  these  heights  a  grade  of  over  200  feet  was  necessary  for 
100  miles  of  the  route.  A  journey  over  these  passes  abounds  in  thrill 
ing  interest,  while  the  views  may  challenge  comparison  with  the  most  noted 
»i  Alpine  prospects.  Two  of  the  grandest  of  Rocky  mountain  canons,  the 


THE  DENVER  AND  RIO  GRANDE. 


555 


A  telegraph  line  was  established  from  Omaha  to 
Julesburg,  on  its  way  across  the  continent,  in  1861, 

grand  cafton  of  the  Arkansas  and  the  black  canon  of  the  Gunnison,  together 
with  a  score  of  lesser  ones,  are  traversed  by  this  wonderful  road.  An  idea 
of  its  great  general  height  above  the  sea  may  be  gained  from  the  fact  that 
about  400  miles,  or  one  fourth  of  its  entire  length,  lie  wholly  above  8,000 
feet  elevation.  In  1883,  Gen.  Palmer  resigned  the  presidency,  and  was  suc 
ceeded  by  Fred.  W.  Lovejoy.  Various  troubles,  principally  complications 
with  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  Western  railway  and  the  Colorado  Coal  and 
Iron  companies,  culminated  in  a  receivership  in  July  1884,  W.  S.  Jackson 
being  appointed  receiver.  Reorganization  was  effected  in  1886,  with  Jackson 
as  president.  Among  other  railways  directly  tributary  to  Denver  I  may 
mention  the  Denver,  South  Park,  and  Pacific,  which  had  its  organization  in 
Denver,  with  Gov.  John  Evans  at  its  head.  It  started  up  Platte  canon,  and  in 
1879-80  had  a  race  for  Leadville  with  the  D.  &  R.  G.,  in  which  it  was  beaten, 
gaining  trackage  privileges,  however,  over  its  rival's  line  from  Buena  Visca 


MAP  OF  THE  ALIGNMENT  OF  THE  DENVER  AND  Rio  GRANDE  R.  R.  AROUND 
DUMP  MOUNTAIN. 

to  the  'Carbonate  Camp.'  It  was  soon  afterward  sold  to  the  Union  Pacific, 
and  extended  by  way  of  Alpine  pass  across  the  snowy  range  to  the  Gunnison 
country,  and  also  through  the  ten- mile  region  to  Leadville.  It  comprises 
about  300  miles  of  road  with  steep  grades,  and  abounds  in  magnificent  scen 
ery.  The  Denver,  Utah,  and  Pacific  is  another  Denver  enterprise,  and  runs 
to  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Vrain  canon,  a  distance  of  44  miles.  The  Denver 
Circle  railway  was  organized  November  16,  1880,  with  W.  A.  H.  Loveland 
president.  The  design  was  to  surround  the  city,  and  induce  settlement  in 
the  environs,  making  it  convenient  for  manufacturers  and  stockmen  to  locate 
their  factories  and  yards  upon  the  line.  About  five  miles  of  narrow-gauge 
road  were  constructed.  Of  railroads  outside  of  Colorado,  yet  connected 
with  the  interstate  lines,  the  first,  after  the  Kansas  Pacific,  to  extend  a  long 
arm  to  Denver,  was  the  Burlington  and  Colorado,  the  extension  of  the  Bur 
lington  and  Missouri  river,  itself  a  part  of  the  great  Chicago,  Burlington,  and 
Ouincy  system,  by  which  Denver  was  first  given  an  unbroken  connection  with 
Chicago.  The  Burlington  reached  Denver  May  28,  1882.  The  Atchison, 
Topeka,  and  Santa  Fe  had  previously  been  built  to  Pueblo,  from  which 
point  it  reached  Denver  over  the  rails  of  the  D.  &  R.  G.  At  La  Junta  its 
main  California  line  diverged  southward,  and  passing  Trinidad  climbed 
Raton  pass  on  the  southern  border  of  the  state. 


556 


DENVER  AND  ARAPAHOE  COUNTY. 


by  the  Pacific  company,  the  contractors  being  Charles 
M.   Stebbins  and  Edward  Creighton.     A  proposition 

William  A.  H.  Loveland,  a  native  of  Mass.,  has  been  called  the  founder 
of  the  mountain  system  of  railroads.  He  served  in  the  Mexican  war,  and 
was  wounded  at  Chapultepec.  Was  in  Cal.  5  years,  and  finally  came  to 
Colorado  and  settled  in  Golden.  He  obtained  the  right  of  way  up  Clear 
Creek  canon  for  a  wagon  road,  which  he  built,  and  which  became  the  germ  of 
the  railroad.  He  was  also  interested  in  newspapers,  having  purchased  the 
Rocky  Mountain  Neivs  of  its  original  owners  in  1878,  and  was  afterward  in 
terested  in  the  management  of  the  Leadville  Democrat. 


RAILROADS  OF  COLORADO. 


Isaac  W.  Chatfield  was  a  contractor  on  the  Denver  and  South  Park, 
building  the  principal  portion  between  Denver  and  Littleton.  He  owned 
720  acres  in  the  Platte  valley,  near  Littleton,  and  also  engaged  in  selling 
groceries  at  Leadville  in  1879.  He  was  one  of  the  projectors  of  the  Ten- 


TELEGRAPH  LINES.  557 

was  made  to  the  citizens  of  Denver  to  construct  a 
branch  to  that  place  on  certain  conditions,  which  were 
rejected.  An  agency  was  then  established  for  for 
warding  messages  to  Julesburg,  a  distance  of  200 
miles,  by  the  daily  coach,  from  which  point  they  were 
forwarded  by  telegraph,  and  answers  received  in  the 
same  manner.  This  arrangement  lasted  for  two  years, 
the  business  being  so  important  that  in  the  spring  of 
1863  Creighton  made  another  proposition,  which  was 
accepted,  and  a  branch  to  Denver  completed  October 
1st.  A  branch  line  to  Central  was  soon  put  in  oper 
ation.  The  receipts  from  the  Denver  office,  B.  F. 
Woodward,  manager,  were  not  infrequently  $5,000  a 
month,  and  the  first  year's  net  income  was  more  than 
twice  the  cost  of  the  line.  This  line  reached  Denver 
from  Julesburg  by  a  cut-off  to  Fort  Morgan  and  via 
Living  springs,  which  was  adopted  by  the  stage-line 
from  the  Platte.  In  1865  the  Pacific  Telegraph 
company  was  merged  in  the  Western  Union  company, 
which  extended  a  line  from  Denver  to  Salt  Lake,  via 
Fort  Collins  and  Virginia  Dale,  abandoning  the  old 
route  via  Laramie,  making  Denver  the  repeating  sta 
tion  for  California  despatches.  In  1866  the  United 
States  and  Mexico  Telegraph  company  was  organized, 
mainly  in  Denver,  the  directors  being  D.  H.  Moffat, 
H.  M.  Porter,  F.  Z.  Salomon,  W.  N.  Byers,  S.  H. 
Elbert,  and  B.  F.  Woodward.  Porter  was  president. 
The  line  was  completed  to  Santa  Fe  in  1867,  but  the 
intention  to  continue  it  to  Mexico  was  frustrated  by 

mile,  Kokomo,  and  Breckenridge  railroad,  and  contracted  for  the  extension 
of  the  Eagle  river  branch  of  the  Rio  Grande,  through  Tennessee  pass.  See 
further,  Leadville  Democrat,  Jan.  1,  1881. 

For  railroad  matters  I  have  consulted  some  chapters  in  Hist.  Denver,  248- 
64;  HalVs  Annual  Report,  Chamb.  Com.,  1884,  13-10;  Descriptive  America, 
May  1884,  27;  Official  Railroad  Guide  of  Colorado;  Cony.  Globe,  1871-2,  1400; 
Leadville  Democrat,  Dec.  31,  1881;  Barneby's  Life  and  Labor  in  the  Far,  Far 
West,  2-3;  Denver  Tribune,  Dec.  12,  1879,  and  Nov.  18,  1880;  Evans'  Inter 
view,  MS.,  7;  Colorado  Gazetteer,  1871,  119-24;  Faithful's  Three  Visits,  149; 
Byers'  Hist.  Colo,  MS.,  22-6;  Leadville  Chronicle  Annl;  Graff's  Colo,  57-02, 
6(5-7,  76-8;  Stone's  Land  Grants,  MS.,  6-7;  Elbert,  Public  Hen  and  Measures, 
MS.,  7;  Brickie;/  and  Hartwell's  Southern  Colo,  61-7;  First  Annual  Rept  Den 
ver  Pacific  R.  R.;  Haydens  Great  lVe*t,  101;  Denver  Rocky  Mountain  News, 
May  20  and  Dec.  16,  1868,  Jan.  27,  18»>9.  and  Jan.  18,  21,  and  25,  June  22, 
and  Sept.  25,  1870;  Denrer  Tribune,  Nov.  28,  1879,  and  April  16  and  May 
29,  1880;  Report  State  Geolojist,  1881-2,  1-27. 


558         DENVER  AND  ARAPAHOE  COUNTY. 

the  disorders  in  that  country.  A  contract  was  made 
with  the  Denver  Pacific  Railway  company  to  extend 
the  line  to  Cheyenne  the  same  year,  and  in  1870  a 
controlling  interest  was  sold  to  the  Western  Union, 
of  which  Woodward  was  appointed  assistant  superin 
tendent.  This  company  soon  controlled  all  the  lines 
in  Colorado. 

The  first  street  railway  in  Denver  was  completed 
in  January  1872  by  a  company  incorporated  in  1867,8 
with  a  charter  for  thirty- five  years.  In  1871  a  Chi 
cago  company,  headed  by  L.  C.  Ellsworth,  purchased 
the  franchise  and  began  the  construction,  the  Champa 
street  line  being  the  first  section  operated,  extending 
from  27th  and  Champa  to  the  station  of  the  South 
park  railroad  in  west  Denver,  a  distance  of  two  miles. 
In  1873  the  north  Denver  branch  was  completed,  2^ 
miles.  In  1874  the  Broadway  branch  was  completed, 
1^  on  16th  street  and  Broadway,  and  a  mile  between 
23d  street  and  Park  avenue.  In  1876  1^  miles  addi 
tional  were  opened  on  Larimer  street,  from  16th 
toward  the  fair-grounds. 

The  area  of  incorporated  Denver  is  13^  square 
miles,  but  with  its  several  additions  it  is  nearly 
twenty-one  square  miles.  Its  population  is  125,000, 
or  something  more,  and  it  publishes  over  twenty  jour 
nals  of  all  kinds.  It  has  500  miles  of  irrigating 
ditches  within  city  limits,  and  300,000  shade  trees. 
Among  its  public  buildings  the  city-hall,  built  of 
stone,  cost  $190,000;  the  opera-house,  of  brick  and 
stone,  $850,000;  the  court-house,  of  stone,  $300,000; 
the  Union  Railway  station,  $450,000 ;  the  episcopal 
cathedral,  brick,  $100,000.  The  public  schools  of 
Denver  are  second  to  none  in  the  world.  As  a  rule, 
the  teachers  are  efficient,  and  in  the  boards  of  man 
agement  there  is  comparatively  little  of  the  igno 
rance,  stupidity,  and  rascality  too  often  found  in  such 

8 The  incorporators  were  Amos  Steck  pres.,  D.  A.  Cheever,  sec.,  Moses 
Hallett,  Wilson  Stinson,  David  J.  Martin,  Lewis  N.  Tappan,  Edward  C. 
Strode,  Robert  M.  Clark,  Alfred  H.  Miles,  Luther  Kountee,  Freeman  B, 
Crocker,  Cyrus  H.  McLaughlin,  J.  S.  Waters,  and  M.  M.  DeLane. 


EDUCATION.  559 

bodies  during  these  latter  days  of  progress  and  high 
enlightenment.  Twenty-one  school-houses  cost  $700,- 
000,  not  one-half  of  which  amount  went  into  the 
pockets  of  aldermen,  school-directors,  or  contractors. 
A  course  in  the  high  school  fits  the  graduate  for  enter 
ing  a  college  or  university.9  Private  and  denomina 
tional  schools  find  liberal  support.  Of  the  latter 

9O.  J.  Goldrick  was  the  pioneer  of  education  in  Colorado,  opening  a 
school  in  Denver  in  1859.  He  was  afterward  for  several  years  city  editor  of 
the  Rocky  Mountain  News,  canvasser,  and  correspondent.  From  Denver  he 
went  to  Salt  Lake,  where  he  was  managing  editor  of  the  Vidette.  The  Mor 
mons  not  liking  his  paper  gave  him  warning  to  leave,  and  he  returned  to  Den 
ver  in  1868,  where  he  published  a  paper  until  1882,  and  where  he  died.  Byers' 
Centennial  State,  MS.,  18.  In  1862  private  schools  were  opened  by  Miss 
Ring  and  Miss  Indiana  Sopris.  The  school  board  of  distno.  1,  of  Arapahoe 
co.,  was  organized  Oct.  23,  1862,  Amos  Steck  pres. ;  Lewis  N.  Tappan  sec.: 
Joseph  B.  Cass  treas.  Gove,  Education  in  Denver,  MS.,  1-6.  Goldrick  was 
elected  superintendent  of  schools  for  Arapahoe  co.  in  that  year,  and  organ 
ized  the  first  public  school,  for  which  provision  had  been  made  by  the  legis 
lature,  on  ground  in  the  rear  of  West  Liiidell  hotel,  A.  R.  Brown  being  the 
principal.  He  had  two  assistants  and  140  pupils.  Previous  to  1871  the  school 
fund  was  applied  only  to  the  support  of  teachers  and  other  current  expenses; 
but  in  that  year  a  movement  was  made  to  acquire  school  property.  Amos 
Sfceck  had,  in  1868,  presented  the  local  board  with  three  lots  on  Arapahoe 
street.  In  1870-71,  5  more  lots  were  purchased  in  the  same  block,  for  which 
83,500  was  paid.  In  1872  bonds  were  issued  for $75,000,  payable  10  per  cent 
in  5  years,  and  10  per  cent  annually  thereafter,  bearing  interest  at  one  per  cent 
monthly.  In  this  year  the  Arapahoe  school  building  was  completed.  It  was 
built  of  brick  and  stone,  three  stories  high,  containing  11  school-rooms  and  one 
class-room,  with  a  basement  fitted  up  for  the  residence  of  the  janitor,  the  whole 
heated  with  hot-air  furnaces,  and  well  ventilated  and  lighted.  The  entire  cost 
was  -$79,205.47.  In  1873-74  the  legislature  created  the  city  of  Denver  a  special 
school  district.  Four  of  the  wards,  the  2d,  3d,  4th,  and  5th,  availed  them 
selves  of  the  privileges  of  the  act.  From  1872  to  1871  the  Arapahoe  build 
ing  and  some  rooms  in  the  methodist  academy  (discontinued)  served  for 
school  purposes;  but  it  was  found  necessary  then  to  erect  another  building, 
which  was  placed  on  Stout  street,  and  cost  $24,089.19,  containing  8  rooms. 
Previous  to  the  opening  of  this  school,  F.  C.  Garbutt  had  been  superintend 
ent,  with  a  corps  of  17  teachers.  He  was  succeeded  in  1874  by  Aaron  Gove, 
a  man  of  high  attainments  and  remarkable  educational  and  executive  ability, 
who  employed  25  teachers,  and  who  established  the  9th,  or  first  high-school 
grade,  to  which  108  pupils  were  admitted.  Three  more  grades  completed 
the  course  in  the  high  school,  and  prepared  the  graduate  for  college.  The 
first  clas*!  graduated  in  1877.  H.  I.  Hale,  one  of  the  class,  passed  a  highly 
crelitable  examination  on  entering  West  Point  as  a  cadet.  In  1875  the 
schools  had  again  become  so  crowded  that  relief  was  obtained  by  renting, 
and  the  same  year  16  lots  were  purchased  on  Broadway,  on  which  the  third 
large  building  of  brick  and  stone  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  828,645.  But  so 
rapid  was  the  increase  of  growth  in  the  population  of  Denver  about  this  time, 
that  in  1876  it  became  necessary  to  rent  rooms  for  four  new  schools.  Addi 
tion  was  yearly  made  to  these  accommodations  until  1879.  when  10  lots  were 
purchased  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  city,  and  an  elegant  stone  building,  cost 
ing  $28,000  erected  thereon.  The  Broadway  school  was  also  enlarged,  and 
the  Arapahoe  school  relieved  by  renting;  the  number  of  pupils  in  all  the  pub 
lic  schools  having  reached  2,700. 


560         DENVER  AND  ARAPAHOE  COUNTY. 

there  are  several,  the  principal  of  which  belong  to  the 
catholics,  episcopalians,  and  methodists.  The  uni 
versity  of  Denver,  an  outgrowth  of  the  Colorado 
seminary,  established  by  the  methodists  in  1864,  is 
conducted  under  the  auspices  of  that  church,  though 
as  a  non-sectarian  institution.  In  character  and 
scholarship  it  compares  favorably  with  eastern  col 
leges.  There  are  fifty-four  religious  societies11  in 
Denver,  many  of  them  owning  elegant  and  valuable 
church  property. 

>  10Byers,  Centennial  State,  MS.,  30-1;  University  of  Denver. 

11  The  first  recorded  religious  services  in  Denver  took  place  in  1859,  when 
a  methodist  preacher,  named  Hammond,  began  holding  services  in  an  unfin 
ished  building  on  Larimer  street,  between  15th  and  16th  streets.  In  Jan. 
1860  the  venerable  J.  H.  Kehler,  an  episcopalian  minister,  held  services  in 
Goldrick's  school-house,  on  McGaa  (later  Holladay)  street.  Afterward  a 
room  was  secured  in  Ruter's  block,  and  an  episcopalian  church  organized. 
About  the  same  time  a  southern  methodist  church  was  organized  by  a  preacher 
named  Bradford,  and  a  small  brick  church  erected  at  the  corner  of  Arapahoe 
and  14th  streets.  This  was  the  first  church  edifice  erected  in  Denver,  and 
was  sold  to  the  episcopalians  in  1861,  when  Bradford  and  many  of  his  congre 
gation  went  to  the  assistance  of  the  southern  confederacy.  That  year  the 
missionary  bishop,  Talbot,  of  the  episcopalians,  visited  Denver,  and  before 
he  would  dedicate  the  church  required  it  to  be  free  of  debt;  $500  was  raised 
and  the  church  dedicated.  On  the  loth  of  Dec.,  1861,  A.  S.  Billingsley 
organized  the  First  Presbyterian  church  of  Denver,  under  instructions  from 
the  board  of  domestic  missions,  old  school,  which  held  its  services  at  Interna 
tional  hall,  on  Ferry  street,  in  west  Denver,  then  known  as  Auraria.  Of  the 
18  members,  11  were  women.  In  April  1862  Billiugsley  left,  and  A.  R.  Day 
succeeded  him  in  November,  who  seems  to  have  been  an  active  missionary, 
for  he  soon  secured  the  donation  of  a  lot  from  Maj.  John  S.  Fillmore,  pay 
master  U.  S.  A.,  on  15th  street,  between  Arapahoe  and  Lawrence.  Liberal 
contributions  were  made  by  citizens,  and  the  mission  board  gave  $600,  so  that 
in  1863  an  edifice  of  brick  was  begun,  37x65  feet,  ground  area,  which  was 
completed  in  1865,  when  Day  resigned,  and  J.  B.  McClure  of  111.  became  pas 
tor  after  several  months,  during  which  the  pulpit  was  vacant.  He  preached 
two  years,  when  again  the  church  was  left  without  a  pastor  until  1868,  when 
A.  Y.  Moore  of  Ind.  succeeded,  but  not  being  supported  by  the  mission  board, 
resigned  the  same  year.  The  church  then  negotiated  with  the  new  school 
board  to  be  taken  in  charge  and  connected  with  the  presbytery  of  Chicago,  a 
call  being  extended  to  E.  P.  Wells  to  preach  to  them.  On  the  20th  of  Nov., 
1868,  the  church  was  incorporated,  and  on  the  28th  Wells  was  installed  pas 
tor,  who  remained  in  charge  6  years.  In  1871  the  church  became  self-sup 
porting,  and  in  1874  adopted  the  name  of  Central  Presbyterian  Church.  By 
this  time  the  membership  had  outgrown  the  edifice,  and  in  May  1875  property 
was  purchased  at  the  corner  of  Champa  and  18th  streets  for  the  site  of  a  new 
church.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  Jan.  6,  1876,  and  the  building  so  far  com 
pleted  as  to  be  occupied  in  1878.  During  this  period,  Wells  having  resigned 
in  1875,  Willis  Lord  was  pastor  for  one  year,  when  ill  health  compelled  his 
resignation,  and  Dr  Reed  officiated  until  Dec.  1878,  when  his  death  occurred. 
The  edifice  for  which  they  labored  cost  $50,000,  and  had  a  membership  of 
between  400  and  500.  The  17th  (street  presbyterian  church  was  founded  by 
that  portion  of  the  parent  church  which  maintained  its  connection  with  the 
old-school  board,  and  solicited  the  ministrations  of  their  former  pastor,  Day, 
who  continued  with  them  until  April  1869,  when  he  went  to  preach  at  Boulder. 


RELIGION.  561 

The  material  for  substantial  building  being  conven 
ient,  the  prevailing  style  of  domestic  architecture  is 
good,  not  a  few  private  residences  costing  from 
$20,000  to  $100,000,  and  a  less  number  from  $45,000 

He  was  succeeded  by  C.  M.  Campbell,  who  preached  until  April  1870,  in 
which  year  the  Colorado  presbytery  was  organized.  In  Feb.  of  that  year  the 
name  was  changed  to  Westminster  church,  which  it  did  not  long  retain  before 
resuming  its  former  one.  In  July  1870  W.  Y.  Brown  became  pastor,  and  in 
1872,  after  several  years  of  meeting  in  rented  rooms  and  other  churches,  an 
edifice  of  brick,  in  the  Gothic  .style  of  architecture,  with  windows  of  stained 
glass,  presented  by  eastern  sunday-schools,  and  capable  of  seating  300  per 
sons,  was  completed  and  dedicated  March  10th.  The  cost  of  this  church  was 
$12,200.  In  1873  Brown  was  succeeded  in  the  pastorate  by  R.  T.  Sample, 
who,  in  1874,  withdrew,  and  was  followed  by  C.  H.  Hawley,  who,  in  187G, 
gave  way  to  I.  W.  Monfort,  and  he,  in  1877,  to  J.  H.  Kerr. 

The  Dutch  Reformed  church  began  with  the  organization  in  1871  of  a 
society  of  persons  of  this  belief,  who  held  meetings  every  Sunday.  In  the 
autumn  they  purchased  two  lots  on  the  corner  of  Lawrence  and  23d  streets 
for  $800.  In  the  following  April  a  church  organization  was  effected  by  Flo- 
rain  Spalti,  Casper  Gugolz,  John  U.  Gabathuler,  and  William  Nordloh.  The 
Ohio  synod  was  called  upon  to  extend  its  aid,  and  sent  J.  A.  Keller  to  report 
upon  the  prospect.  On  his  representation  the  board  of  missions  sent  F. 
Hatzmetz  to  preach.  A  church  edifice  was  commenced,  when  Hatzmetz 
returned  to  Ohio,  and  Keller  replaced  him,  the  church  being  completed  in 
1874.  It  was  constructed  of  brick  and  stone,  and  cost  $5,300.  The  member 
ship  of  this  church  was  small  in  proportion  to  English-speaking  congrega 
tions. 

The  first  rnethodist  preaching,  as  stated  above,  was  by  the  'church  south.' 
It  had  no  regular  organization  until  July  16,  1871,  when  A.  A.  Morrison 
became  its  pastor.  A  lot  was  purchased  on  Arapahoe  street,  and  a  clmrch 
erected.  Morrison  was  succeeded  in  1872  by  W.  H.  Warren;  in  1873  by  E. 
M.  Mann;  in  1874  by  W.  C.  Hearn;  in  1875  by  W.  G.  Miller;  in  1876  by 
William  Harris;  and  in  1877  by  W.  J.  Phillips.  In  1874  the  church  was 
admitted  to  the  conference  of  Colorado,  Wyoming,  and  Montana,  and  remain 
ing  until  1878,  when  the  Colorado  conference  was  formed.  In  1878-9  the 
church  was  enlarged,  handsomely  finished,  and  refurnished. 

Hammond,  the  first  missionary  of  the  methodist  church  in  Denver, 
returned  to  the  Kansas  conference,  was  reappointed  in  1860,  and  died  before 
starting.  J.  M.  Chivington  was  made  presiding  elder  of  the  district  of  Colo 
rado,  and,  there  being  no  preacher,  filled  the  Denver  pulpit  until  1861,  when 
he  ceased  to  war  against  irreligion  and  went  out  to  fight  southerners  as  major 
of  Gilpin's  1st  Col.  reg.  of  volunteers.  Upon  Chivington's  resignation,  a  Mr 
Dennis  preached  for  a  year,  and  the  3d  year  Oliver  Willard.  Meetings  had 
been  held  wherever  room  could  be  obtained — in  a  building  on  Larimer, 
between  12th  and  13th  streets,  in  the  second  story  of  the  court-house,  in  Henry 
C.  Brown's  carpenter-shop,  and  in  the  people's  theatre,  on  Larimer  street. 
The  first  methodist  conference  of  Colorado  was  held  at  Denver  in  1863,  Bishop 
Ames  presiding,  who  urged  the  members  present  to  erect  a  church,  offering 
to  give  $1,000  toward  it,  and  also  to  erect  a  seminary.  The  conference 
appointed  Willard  presiding  elder,  and  George  Richardson  preacher.  A  site 
for  a  church  was  selected  on  Lawrence  street,  and  the  corner-stone  laid  in 
1864.  The  seminary  being  first  completed,  was  used  as  a  meeting-house  until 
the  church  was  completed  in  1865,  and  William  M.  Smith  made  pastor  He 
was  succeeded  in  1866  by  B.  T.  Vincent;  in  1868  by  John  L.  Peck;  in  1870 
by  Thomas  R.  Slicer;  in  1872  by  himself;  in  1874  by  J.  R.  Eads;  and  in  1877 
by  Earl  Cranston.  In  1872,  the  membership  increasing  with  the  spread  of 
the  city,  a  branch  church  was  built  on  California  street.  The  following  year 
HIST.  NEV.  36 


562         DENVER  AND  ARAPAHOE  COUNTY. 

to  $500,000.  The  Holly  system  of  water  supply  was 
introduced  and  over  sixty  artesian  wells  bored,  some 
of  which  have  a  flow  of  100,000  gallons  a  day,  and 
it  was  in  contemplation  to  erect  a  reservoir  on  high 

a  German  methodist  church  was  erected  at  the  suggestion  of  Conrad  Frick, 
and  Mr  Reitz,  members  of  the  parent  organization.  It  was  constructed  of 
brick  and  stone,  and  cost  $14,000.  The  first  pastor  was  Philip  Kuhl,  also 
the  first  German  protestant  preacher  in  Colorado.  He  was  succeeded  by  J.  G. 
Leist  and  M.  Klaiber.  In  1874  St  James  methodist  church,  in  the  southern 
part  of  Denver,  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  $5,000.  In  1877  Ex-gov.  Evans 
erected  a  small  but  handsome  chapel  of  Morrison  stone,  in  the  south-western 
part  of  the  city,  which  was  intended  as  a  memorial  edifice  to  his  daughter 
Mrs  Elbert.  The  colored  methodists  of  Denver  completed  a  substantial 
brick  church  on  Stout  street  in  1879,  mainly  by  the  efforts  of  Seymour,  an 
enlightened  and  active  preacher. 

The  begnining  made  by  Kehler  of  the  episcopal  church  has  been  men 
tioned.  He  continued  to  hold  services  in  the  school-house,  until  during  war 
times  he  was  crowded  out  by  an  excited  public,  which  had  made  a  reading- 
roo.1  of  it  which  they  frequented  on  all  days  of  the  week.  He  then  removed 
to  a  building  owned  by  Byand,  a  vestryman,  on  the  site  of  the  American 
house,  and  thence  to  Appollo  hall,  a  log  house  in  the  rear  of  the  present  News 
office,  thence  to  where  Taylor's  museum  now  stands,  and  again  to  the  district 
court-room  at  the  corner  of  18th  and  Larimer  streets,  the  rector  having  his 
residence  in  the  upper  story  of  the  court-house.  Finally,  in  1861,  the  small 
brick  church  of  the  southern  methodists  was  purchased  and  rededicated  as  St 
John's  Episcopal  church,  and  the  congregation  found  a  home.  In  1862  Father 
Kehler,  being  chosen  chaplain  of  the  1st  Colorado  regiment,  followed  whither 
Chivington  had  gone,  remaining  with  the  regiment  during  its  term  of  service; 
nor  did  he  ever  return  to  church  duties,  being  well  advanced  in  years.  H. 
B.  Hitchings  was  the  2d  pastor  of  St  Johns,  and  remained  until  1869,  being 
succeeded  by  Bishop  Randall,  who  advocated  establishing  boys'  and  girls' 
schools.  Wolfe  hall,  a  girl's  school,  named  after  a  lady  patroness,  was  begun 
in  1867,  and  the  main  building  completed  in  1868.  It  was  enlarged  in  1873, 
and  again  in  1879,  and  cost  about  $50,000.  The  corner-stone  of  the  boys' 
school  was  laid  Sept.  23,  1868,  at  Golden.  This  building  was  named  Jarvis 
hall,  after  George  E.  Jarvis  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  who  gave  liberally  towards 
its  erection.  Before  it  was  completed  it  was  blown  to  pieces  in  a  tornado^ 
but  immediately  rebuilt.  A  theological  school  in  connection  with  Jarvis  hall, 
was  erected  in  1871-2  by  Nathan  Matthews  of  Boston,  and  called  Matthews 
hall,  and  which  was  formally  opened  Sept.  19,  1872.  Jarvis  made  a  second 
contribution  of  $10,000  to  be  invested  until  the  principal  reached  $20,000, 
when  the  interest  should  be  applied  to  the  education  of  young  men  for  the 
ministry.  In  April  1878  Jarvis  and  Matthews  halls  were  destroyed  by  fire. 
Randall,  to  whom  the  inception  of  these  educational  movements  was  due,  died 
in  1874,  beloved  and  regretted,  Randall,  Biog.,  MS.,  1-33,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Bishop  John  F.  Spaulding,  and  P.  Voorhees  Finch  became  rector  of  St 
John's,  who  was  succeeded  in  1879  by  H.Martyn  Hart,  of  England.  Randall 
was  a  man  of  great  self-sacrifice  and  abilities.  He  was  a  son  of  an  able  jurist 
of  R.  I.,  in  which  state  he  was  born  in  1809.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Brown 
university  and  of  the  theological  seminary  of  New  York.  Trinity  Reformed 
Episcopal  church,  was  organized  in  Denver,  Nov.  16,  1879,  by  Thompson  L. 
Smith,  J.  R.  Smith,  and  J.  W.  May,  wardens.  The  congregation  secured 
a  small  but  elegant  church  erected  by  Unitarians,  at  the  corner  of  California 
and  1 7th  streets.  The  first  vestrymen  were  Currie  T.  Frith,  J.  Johnson,  W. 
A.  Hardinbrook,  James  Creighton,  Samuel  Copping,  Thomas  L.  Wood,  and 
Lewis.  In  the  same  year  the  convocation  of  Wyoming  and  Colorado  was 
formed,  In  1875  Trinity  Memorial  chapel  was  erected.  In  1876  Emanuel 


WATER  SUPPLY  563 

ground,  and  make  the  water  from  artesian  wells  sup 
ply  the  city  in  the  future.  The  drainage  of  the  city 
is  good,  much  attention  being  given  to  promote  the 
healthfulness  of  the  metropolis  by  the  board  of 

chapel  in  West  Denver  was  built.  Connected  with  it  was  All  Saints'  mission 
of  North  Denver.  In  1879  Jarvis  hall  was  rebuilt  at  Denver.  The  episco 
pal  cathedral  erected  since  1879  is  a  beautiful  church,  costing  $100,000.  The 
value  of  episcopal  church  and  school  property  m  Denver  an  1886  was 
$250,000. 

The  baptists  sent  a  missionary,  Walter  McD.  Potter,  to  Denver  in  1862  to 
spy  out  the  ground,  and  in  the  following  year  appointed  him  missionary.  He 
held  his  first  meeting  Dec.  27,  1863,  having  a  congregation  of  14  persons. 
Little  advance  was  made  before  March  1864,  when  a  Sunday- schoorjwas  formed 
and  held  its  sessions  in  the  U.  S.  court-room,  on  Ferry  street.  On  May  2d, 
the  first  Baptist  church  of  Denver  was  organized,  the  members  being  Miss 
Lucy  K.  Potter,  Francis  Gallup,  Henry  B.  Leach,  Mesdames  A.  Voorhies,  L. 
Burdsall,  L.  Hall  A.  C.  Hall,  and  Miss  E.  Throughman.  The  flood  of  1864 
having  washed  away,  soon  afterward,  their  place  of  meeting,  they  next 
resorted  to  the  People's  theatre,  where  they  continued  to  meet  during  that 
year,  removing  to  a  school-house  on  Cherry  street  in  1865.  In  Dec.  Potter 
was  compelled  by  ill  health  to  cease  his  pastoral  labor,  and  soon  after  died. 
In  May  1866  Ira  D.  Clark  became  pastor  for  one  year,  preaching  in  the  U.  S. 
district  court-room  on  Larimer  street  until  Dec.  In  the  meantime  a  church 
had  been  commenced  at  the  corner  of  Curtis  and  16th  streets,  which,  in  an 
unfinished  state,  -was  used  for  a  lecture-room,  but  which  was  never  completed. 
In  May  1868  A.  M.  Averill  became  pastor  for  a  year,  after  which  the  church 
was  without  one  until  Nov.  1870,  when  Lewis  Raymond  succeeded  to  the 
charge  for  a  short  time,  followed  by  another  season  of  silence  in  the  pulpit, 
though  the  members  kept  up  their  organization.  In  1872  Winfield  Scott 
assumed  charge  of  the  church,  and  began  energetically  to  labor  for  the  erection 
of  a  suitable  edifice.  Francis  Gallup  having  received  some  lots  on  the  corner 
of  Curtis  and  18th  streets,  in  payment  for  some  favors  done  the  Baptist  home 
mission  in  the  matter  of  land  preempted  by  Potter,  and  bequeathed  to  the 
mission,  presented  these  lots  to  the  church,  and  on  this  site  was  erected  ir. 

1872  a  church  costing  altogether  §15,0^0.     In  1875  Scott  resigned,  and  was 
succeeded  by  T.  W.  Green  and  A.  J.  Frost  the  same  year,  and  by  F.  M.  Ellis 
in  1876.     In  1879  the  membership  was  330,  and  church  property  worth  $25,- 
000.     Since  that  time  a  large  and  handsome  church  has  been  erected  by  this 
denomination.     There  were  in  1866  two  colored  baptist  churches  in  the  city: 
Zion  church,  on  Arapahoe  street  near  20th,  and  Antioch  church,  at  the  cor 
ner  of  Wazee  and  23d  streets.     Samuel  Shepard  was  the  first  pastor  of 
Antioch  church.     Neither  were  so  well  off  financially  as  the  colored  metho- 
dist  church. 

Denver  had  no  congregational  organization  before  1865.  In  that  year 
Mrs  Richard  Soprisand  daughters,  Irene  and  Indiana,  Mrs  Davis,  Mrs  Zolles, 
D.  G.  Peabody,  E.  E.  Hart\vell,  Samuel  Davis,  and  Mr  Haywood  formed 
themselves  into  a  church.  Mr  Crawford  preached;  Mrs  Davis  was  organist 
at  their  meetings,  and  the  Misses  Sopris  sang  in  the  choir.  At  first  the  meet 
ings  were  held  in  the  U.  S.  district  court-rooms,  and  among  their  temporary 
preachers  were  Norman  McLeod,  and  Mr  Blanchard  of  Wheaton  college,  111. 
In  1868,  lots  were  purchased  on  the  corner  of  Curtis  and  15th  streets,  and  a 
church  edifice  erected  in  1869-70.  The  first  pastor  was  Thomas  E.  Bliss.  In 

1873  Bliss,  with  a  part  of  the  congregation  separated  from   this  church  and 
established  St  Paul's  church,  at  the  corner  of  Curtis  and  20th,  which  subse 
quently  became  presbyterian.    After  the  secession  of  Bliss,  Julien  M.  Sturde- 
vant,  Jr,  took  charge  for  4  years,  during  which  the  church  prospered.     He 
was  succeeded  by  Charles  C.  Salter,  who  preached  two  years,  and  by  S.  R. 
Dimmock.     A  congregational  chapel  was  built  at  the  corner  of  Larimer  and 


564         DENVER  AND  ARAPAHOE  COUNTY. 

health,  under  the  superintendence  of  the  state  board,12 
established  in  1877. 

Arapahoe  county,  and  more  particularly  Denver,  is 
the  largest  manufacturing  district  in  the  state.  The 
iron  and  brass  foundries  and  machine-works  turned 
out  in  1886  products  worth  $685,000;  the  flouring- 
mills  about  $1,738,000;  the  breweries  $938,000;  the 
wagon  and  carriage  shops  $113,000;  the  canneries 
$35,000;  the  clothing  manufactories  $790,000 ;  the 
furniture  factories  $195,000;  sash  and  blind  factories 
$280,000;  manufactories  of  iron  fences  $14,000;  of 
harness  and  saddles  $83,000,  besides  a  great  variety 
of  lesser  manufactures. 

The  total  product  of  Denver's  manufactures  in  1886 
was  $24,045,000,  of  which  $12,334,143  was  in  bullion 
produced  by  the  smelters,  of  whom  there  were  in  that 
year  three  large  and  several  smaller  ones.  Denver 

31st  streets  in  1879,  George  C.  Lamb  pastor.  The  parent  church  afterward 
erected  a  handsome  edifice.  These  are  all  the  early  protestant  churches  of 
Denver  standing  in  1886. 

The  catholics  were  the  first  to  erect  a  house  of  worship  here,  as  in  most 
new  towns  in  the  west.  When  fathers  Joseph  P.  Machebeuf  and  J.  R.  Rav- 
erdy  came  to  Denver  in  1860  they  set  themselves  to  work  to  finish  what  had 
been  begun,  and  soon  they  had  raised  subscriptions  enough  to  proceed  with 
the  work.  Theirs  was  the  first  bell,  and  the  first  pipe-organ.  This  early 
church  on  Stout  street  was  the  root  of  the  present  cathedral.  It  was  but  30 
by  50  feet  in  size  at  first.  A  small  house  was  added  for  the  bishop's  residence, 
which  in  1871  was  replaced  by  a  brick  residence.  The  following  year  the 
church  was  enlarged,  and  in  1873  it  had  grown  into  a  cathedral.  As  early  as 
1864  the  academy  of  St  Mary  was  established  on  Calif  ornia  street,  and  placed 
in  charge  of  three  sisters  of  the  order  of  Loretto  in  Ky.  The  buildings  were 
enlarged  from  time  to  time  until  they  presented  an  imposing  appearance,  and 
accommodated  many  pupils  and  teachers.  Branch  schools  have  been  planted 
in  other  towns  under  the  care  of  this  order.  There  was  in  1886  a  parish 
school  adjoining  the  cathedral.  A  catholic  hospital  was  opened  in  1872,  under 
the  care  of  the  sisters  of  charity.  It  was  situated  on  Park  avenue,  and  was  a 
substantial  brick  structure,  45x75  feet,  and  three  stories  high.  According  to 
their  usual  premeditated  plans  of  acquiring  valuable  property,  the  catholics 
of  Denver  and  Colorado  have  become  possessed  of  excellent  sites  in  this  and 
all  the  towns.  Denver  Hist.,  268-84;  Denver  Tribune,  Jan.  4,  1880;  Descriptive 
America,  May  1884,  p.  17;  Colo  Gazetteer,  1871,  p.  133-40;  Corbttt's  Directory 
of  Mines,  64-5;  Hart's  Boy-Education,  pp.  37-41;  Chivingtons  The.  Prospector, 
MS.,  3;  ffowbert'a  Ind.  Troubles,  MS.,  8;  Chwhintoiis  First  Colo  Re<jt,  MS.,  1. 
Another  manuscript  of  Chivington's,  TJie  Retrospective,  gives  also  a  slight 
sketch  of  the  M.  E.  church  in  the  beginnings. 

12  According  to  law,  the  county  commissioners  of  any  county  where  no 
other  board  exists  shall  constitute  a  board  of  health,  with  all  the  duties 
usually  pertaining  to  that  office.  Much  interesting  matter  may  be  found  in 
the  Rept  State  Board  of  Health,  1877  and  1879-80. 


INDUSTRIES.  5t>5 

is  the  leading  ore  market  of  the  state,  and  in  1886 
its  smelters  and  samplers  received  and  handled 
180,173  tons  of  gold  and  silver  bearing  ores.  The 
total  business  of  the  city  in  the  same  year,  exclusive 
of  real  estate  sales,  which  aggregated  $11,000,000, 
exceeded  $56,500,000. 

As  early  as  the  spring  of  1861  a  chamber  of  com 
merce  was  organized  at  Denver,  but  was  soon  after 
ward  abandoned.  In  1867  another  attempt  in  the 
same  direction  was  made  through  the  establishment 
of  a  board  of  trade,13  which,  on  account  of  some  de 
fect  in  its  general  constitution,  was  also  less  success 
ful  than  its  promoters  desired.  This  being  recognized, 
early  in  1854  some  of  its  principal  members  formed  a 
permanent  and  effective  organization,  with  which  the 
old  board  was  consolidated.  The  first  officers  of  this 
new  chamber  of  commerce  were  R.  W.  Woodbury, 
president;  M.  J.  McNamara  and  J.  F.  Mathews, 
vice-presidents;  Frank  Hall,  secretary;  and  Wil 
liam  D.  Todd,  treasurer.  Good  and  efficient  work 
has  from  the  first  been  done  by  this  organization  in 
directing  the  enterprise  of  Denver,  while  advancing 
and  protecting  its  business  interests.  Its  annual 
reports  are  models  of  statistical  compilation,  and  to 
them  I  am  much  indebted  for  the  facts  concerning 
the  business  growth  and  development  of  Denver  and 
the  state  at  large.  Under  the  auspices  of  the  then- 
existing  board  of  trade  was  established  the  national 
mining  and  industrial  exposition,  which  made  its 
first  exhibit  in  1882,14  erecting  a  group  of  buildings 
which  covered  seven  acres,  situated  in  the  midst  of 

13 1  find  in  Extracts  from  Early  Record's,  MS.,  7,  the  names  of  the  officers 
of  the  Denver  Board  of  Trade.  They  are  taken  from  a  pamphlet  published 
by  the  board,  entitled  Colorado.  John  W.  Smith  pres.,  William  N.  Clayton 
and  John  Pierce  vice-pres.,  Henry  C.  Leach  sec.,  Frank  Palmer  treas.,  Henry 
M.  Porter,  J.  S.  Brown,  V.  J.  Salomon,  D.  H.  Moffat,  Jr,  H.  H.  T.  Grill 
and  Joseph  E.  Bates  directors. 

14  The  board  of  commissioners  of  the  exposition,  appointed  by  the  board 
of  trade  in  1884,  consisted  of  W.  A.  H.  Loveland  pres.,  R.  W.  Woodbury 
vice-pres.,  A.  E.  Pierce  treas.,  Irwin  Mahon  sec.,  Joseph  C.  Wilson  supt  of 
space,  R.  G.  Webster,  B.  P.  Broshear,  B.  F.  Woodward,  and  E.  B.  Light. 


566         DENVER  AND  ARAPAHOE  COUNTY. 

a  tract  of  forty  acres.15  The  object  of  the  exposition 
was  primarily  to  draw  the  eyes  of  the  world  upon 
Colorado  and  Denver,  in  which  effort  the  enterprise 
was  successful,  the  mineral  museum,  containing  speci 
mens  from  every  mine  in  Colorado  and  many  camps 
in  the  adjacent  states,  being  of  itself  sufficient  to  entitle 
the  exposition  to  particular  notice.  The  design  con 
templated  an  annual  exhibit,  but  after  the  third  had 
been  held  in  1884  the  project  fell  to  the  ground  by 
reason  of  an  unfortunate  conflict  of  interests  among 
its  managers  and  supporters. 

At  the  first  session  of  the  forty-seventh  congress  a 
bill  was  passed  making  Denver  a  port  of  delivery  for 
dutiable  merchandise;16  and  another  bill  at  the  same 
session,  admitting  articles  to  the  Denver  exposition 
free  of  duty,  provided  that  none  of  these  articles 
should  be  sold  or  consumed  without  paying  revenue. 
A  bill  was  also  passed  making  provision  for  the  erec 
tion  of  a  government  building  in  Denver  for  the 
accommodation  of  the  United  States  district  and  cir- 


15  The  main  building  was  a  substantial  and  handsome  cruciform  struc 
ture  of  brick,  500  feet  long  by  310  in  width.     The  floor,  with  its  towers 
and  angles,  contained  nearly  100,000  square  feet  of  space,  and  the  galleries 
half  as  much  more.     The  exhibit  in  the  hall  of  arts  in  1882  was  estimated  to 
be  worth  $200,000.    The  departments  -which  offer  premiums  are,  first,  minerals 
and  metals,  and  their  products,  including  ores  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  lead, 
and  iron;  coal,  anthracite,  bituminous,  cannel,  and  lignite;  cabinets  of  min 
erals  of  all  kinds;  fire-clay,  manufactured;  porcelain  ware;  hydraulic  cement; 
lime,  brick,  etc.;  marble,   lithographic  stone,  soapstone,  gypsum,  precious 
stones,  native  chemicals;  bullion,  gold,  silver;  pig-lead,  pig-iron,  steel-rails; 
iron-rails,  nails,  bar-iron,  sheet-lead,  and  lead  pipe.     The  second  department 
comprises  73  kinds  of  machinery  used  in  mining  and  agriculture;  third  de 
partment,  18  kinds  of  vehicles;  fourth  department,  34  kinds  of  leather  goods 
and  leather,  and  8  kinds  of  furriers'  goods;  fifth  department,  miscellaneous 
manufactures,  comprising  93  articles.     The  sixth  department  included  horses 
of  10  classes;  the  seventh,  cattle,  in  13  classes;  the  eighth,  sheep,  in  5  classes; 
the  ninth,  swine,  in  7  classes;  the  tenth,  poultry;  the  eleventh,  grain,  vege 
tables,  and  miscellaneous  farm  products;  the  twelfth,  fruits;  the  thirteenth, 
dairy  products,  and  domestic  or  pantry  articles;  the  fourteenth,  apiarian 
products;  after  which  followed  the  art  and  floral  departments,  attached  to 
which,  as  a  sign  of  progress,  there  was  also  considerable  interest.     Except  in 
San  Francisco,  which  has  the  advantage  of  being  a  seaport  town,  no  other 
city  of  the  United  States,  at  the  age  of  little  more  than  twenty  years,  has 
been  able  to  make  a  similar  exhibit.   Catalogue  National  Mining  and  Indus 
trial  Exposition,  1884. 

16  U.  8.  Stat.,  13,  47th  cong.,  1st  sess.;  IT.  S.  ff.  Jour.,  217,  590,  659, 
720,  730,  753,  47th  cong.,  1st  sess. 


BANKING.  567 

cuit  courts,  post-office,  land-office,  and  other  federal 
offices,  the  cost  not  to  exceed  $300,000. 

Banking  has  always  been  a  profitable  business  in 
Denver.  There  is  no  usury  law,  borrower  and  lender 
fixing  such  rates  of  interest  as  they  agree  upon.  In 
times  of  excitement  three  per  cent  a  month  might 
be  asked  and  given.  Twelve  per  cent  per  annum  was 
the  usual  bank  rate  in  1886,  but  real  estate  loans 
could  be  had  for  eight  or  ten  per  cent.  The  first 
bank  building  of  any  pretensions  was  a  part  of 
National  block,  on  the  corner  of  15th  and  Blake 
streets,  and  was  occupied  by  the  First  National  bank, 
organized  by  Jerome  B.  Chaffee,  and  of  which  he 
was  president  until  1880.17  Various  banking  institu 
tions  which,  calling  themselves  savings  banks,  seques 
tering  the  savings  of  the  people  to  their  own  uses, 
rose  and  flourished  for  a  time.  In  1885  there  were 
six  banks  in. Denver,  five  of  which  were  national,  their 
combined  capital  amounting  to  $1,708,000;  deposits 
$8,060,000;  cash  and  exchange  $3,963,000;  loans 
and  over-drafts  $4,634,000.1S 

Until  the  erection  of  the  Tabor  opera-house  in 
1880  Denver  had  nothing  at  all  elegant  in  the  way 
of  a  theatre.19  It  had  then  one  unsurpassed  in  any 

17  The  business  was  purchased  from  Clark  &  Co.,  private  banker.  George 
T.  Clark  was  cashier  in  1865,  and  was  elected  mayor  the  same  year.  D.  H. 
Moflat,  Jr,  became  cashier  in  1866.  Hist.  Denver,  213. 

18 Descriptive  America,  May,  1884.  In  1881  David  H.  Moffat,  Jr,  was 
president  of  the  First  National  bank,  Samuel  N.  Wood  cashier;  of  the  City 
National  bank  William  Earth  was  president,  John  B.  Hanna  cashier;  of  the 
Colorado  National  bank  Charles  B.  Kountze  was  president,  William  B.  Berger 
cashier;  of  the  German  National  Bank  George  Tritch  was  president,  W.  J. 
Jenkins  cashier;  of  the  Merchants'  National  bank  Henry  R.  Wolcott  was 
president,  Samuel  N.  Wood  cashier.  Compt.  of  Currency  Kept,  1881-2,  709- 
1 1.  The  State  National  bank  took  the  place  of  the  Merchants'  bank.  The 
Union  bank  completes  the  list. 

19  Apollo  theater,  erected  in  October,  1859,  by  Charles  R.  ^Thorne,  was 
situated  on  Larimei  street,  between  14th  and  15th  streets.     Thome  had  a 
travelling  company  on  the  plains,  which  was  giving  entertainments  at  mili 
tary  posts— at  Leavenworth,  Kearny,  and  Laramie,  and  thence  he  cam 
Denver.     Platte  Valley  theater,  at  the  corner  of  16th  and  Lawrence  s 
was  the  next.     It  was  opened  in  1860.     Both  were  burned.     Then      ,  was 
a  buildino-  erected  by  the  Governor's  Guards  as  an  armory  building,  at  1 
intersection   of  Curtis  and   15th  streets.     It  was  called  Governors  b 
hall,  and  was   used  until   Sept.,  1880,  when  the  Tabor   opera-house  was 


568         DENVER  AND  ARAPAHOE  COUNTY. 

of  the  states  for  tasteful  decoration  and  comfort,  the 
designs  being  entirely  original  and  suitable.  In  1882 
the  academy  of  music  was  completed. 

It  seems  tautological  to  remark,  after  recounting 
what  the  people  of  Denver  have  accomplished  in  less 
than  a  third  of  a  lifetime,  that  they  are  as  a  people 
above  the  average  in  intellectual  force  and  superiority 
of  culture.  How  much  is  due  to  the  stimulating 
influences  of  their  high  and  dry  climate  it  would  be  a 
nice  point  to  determine,  seeing  that  there  is  a  sliding 
scale  of  altitudes  in  Colorado,  and  that  everywhere 
in  the  state  prevails  great  mental  and  physical  activ 
ity.  That  there  was  a  good  class  of  settlers  to  begin 
with  is  undoubted,  and  upon  this  tree  has  been  grafted 
all  the  choicest  fruits  of  an  age  of  progress.20  Yet 

opened.  There  is  still  a  small  theater  opposite  this  called  the  Walhalla. 
Byers  Hist.  Colo,  MS.,  73-4.  Turner  hall,  on  Holladay  street,  is  the  Ger 
man  temple  of  art,  and  a  commodious  one. 

20  Free- masonry  was  active  in  1858-9,  when  members  of  the  order  met 
informally  in  a  cabin  of  Auraria,  that  they  might  know  and  assist  each  other. 
They  had  in  1881  10  lodges,  representing  every  degree,  and  for  many  years 
had  met  at  the  corner  of  Holladay  and  loth  streets.  The  Knights  of  Pythias 
had  3  lodges.  The  Odd  Fellows  had  9  lodges,  and  a  hall  on  Lawrence  street. 
The  Good  Templars  had  two  lodges,  and  there  were  two  of  the  Red  Cross. 
There  were  twelve  benevolent  societies  of  various  names,  and  18  other  organi 
zations,  such  as  medical  and  historical  societies,  and  industrial  and  other 
associations.  Croffutt,  Grip-sack  Guide,  32;  Tram.  Med.  Soc.,  1883.  There 
were  37  hotels  and  public  boarding-houses  in  1884.  The  St  James,  Windsor, 
New  Albany,  American,  and  Inter-Ocean,  can  each  shelter  and  feed  600 

fuests;  the  Alvord,  Lindell,  and  New  Markham,  each  200;  the  New  York, 
50;  and  the  Brunswick  and  Charpiot's,  100  each.  Catalogue  National  Mining 
and  Industrial  Exposition,  15.  There  were,  besides,  60  restaurants,  47  bak 
eries,  6  breweries,  6  flouring-mills.  The  quality  of  the  flour  made  in  Denver  is 
excellent,  and  since  the  first  shipment  in  1874  to  the  east,  has  been  in  demand 
in  Boston,  New  York,  Buffalo,  and  Chicago,  and  also  Richmond,  Va.  Dept 
of  Agriculture,,  1872,  449.  The  names  of  the  principal  mills  are  the  Hunga 
rian,  Crescent,  Davis,  and  White  Rock.  Wheat  is  brought  here  from  Utah 
to  be  made  into  flour.  The  first  millers  had  difficulty  in  separating  the  bran, 
but  the  true  process  was  discovered  by  Luther  A.  Cole  of  Watertown,  Wis., 
who  engaged  in  milling  here  in  1870.  The  secret  was  in  moistening  the  hull 
before  grinding  the  wheat,  which  prevented  crumbling,  and  enabled  him  to 
part  the  bran  from  the  flour.  It  was  done  by  a  system  of  spraying  before 
the  wheat  went  to  the  hopper.  Byers'  Centennial  State,  MS.,  21.  The  Denver 
City  Steam  Heating  company  was  incorporated  Dec.  15,  1879,  to  supply  steam 
by  the  Holly  system,  or  any  other,  to  factories,  shops,  stores,  public  or  pri 
vate  buildings,  for  mechanical  or  heating  purposes.  Steam  was  turned  on 
Nov.  5,  1880,  and  was  found  to  be  a  saving  in  many  ways.  The  company's 
capital  was  $500,000.  Among  the  incorporators  were  the  pioneers  E.  F.  Hal- 
lack,  J.  W.  Smith,  and  George  Tritch.  There  was  a  movement  made  to  or 
ganize  a  fire  department  July  15,  1862,  but  the  difficulty  of  procuring  machines 
stood  in  the  way  for  a  time,  during  which  several  fires  occurred.  Hook  and 


SOCIETY.  569 

Denver  has  not  been  without  its  vices,  its  vicious  class, 
or  its  unpleasant  episodes.21  Gambling  has  been  from 
the  first  a  prominent  evil.  The  city  council  in  1861 
prohibited  three-card  monte,  but  no  other  games. 
The  territorial  legislature  in  1864  passed  an  act  pro 
hibiting  gambling-houses,  and  making  it  the  duty  of 
sheriffs  and  constables  to  arrest  the  keepers  and 
destroy  the  furniture  of  such  places.  But  the  next 
legislature  yielded  to  the  arguments  of  those  who 
lived  off  the  gain  of  games  of  chance ;  and  after  enact 
ing  that  no  person  known  to  be  a  professional  gambler 
or  keeper  of  a  gambling-house  should  be  eligible  as  a 
juror,  repealed  so  much  of  the  former  act  as  affected 
Denver,  and  permitted  that  city  to  control  this  mat- 
Ladder  Company  No.  1,  organized  in  March,  1866,  was  for  several  years  the 
only  fire  company  in  the  city.  Its  first  officers  were  George  W.  McClure, 
foreman;  Frank  W.  Cram,  asst  foreman;  C.  C.  Davis,  2d  asst;  H.  L.  Rock 
well,  3d  asst;  Hyat  Hussey,  treasurer.  A  truck  and  apparatus  was  ordered 
from  Cincinnati,  and  arrived  in  the  autumn  across  the  plains.  A  brick  build 
ing  24  by  60  was  erected  on  a  lot  purchased  by  the  city  council,  the  same 
occupied  later  by  Central  station,  which  was  then  called  Pioneer  station. 
No  other  company  was  organized  until  the  spring  of  1872,  when  the  James 
Archer  Hose  company  was  organized,  named  after  the  president  of  the  Den 
ver  Water  company,  and  located  on  Curtis  street.  Soon  after  the  Joseph  E. 
Bates  Fire  and  Hose  company  was  organized,  named  in  acknowledgment  of 
the  aid  rendered  the  department  by  Bates.  In  July  of  the  same  year  the 
Woodie  Fisher  Hose  Company  No.  1  also  organized,  named  after  a  member 
of  the  Hook  and  Ladder  Company  No.  1,  killed  in  attempting  to  stop  a  run 
away  team.  In  March,  1874,  the  Denver  Hook  and  Ladder  company  was 
formed,  having  their  station  at  the  corner  of  Curtis  and  26th  streets.  Tabor 
Hose  Company  No.  5  was  organized  and  stationed  on  15th  street,  north  Den 
ver.  It  was  named  in  honor  of  Lieut-gov.  Tabor.  Of  military  companies 
Denver  had  three  in  1880.  The  Governor's  Guard  organized  in  April,  1872, 
the  Chaffee  Light  Artillery  in  January,  1878,  and  the  Mitchell  Guards,  an 
independent  Irish  company,  which  was  formed  in  1873.  The  National  Guard 
was  created  by  the  legislature  of  1879,  and  supported  by  a  direct  tax.  Den 
ver  had  to  make  application  to  congress  to  be  permitted  to  purchase  land  for 
cemetery  purposes.  Cong.  Globe,  1871-2,  pp.  2206,  2949,  3313,  3338,  3682. 
There  were  three  burial  places,  the  latest  and  only  one  to  which  much  atten 
tion  has  been  given  up  to  1886  being  Riverside  cemetery,  three  miles  down 
the  Platte,  which  has  a  beautiful  site. 

21  On  Sunday,  the  last  day  of  October,  1880,  there  was  a  riot  in  Denver, 
the  object  of  which  was  to  affect  the  presidential  election,  and  prevent  the 
usual  republican  majority.  The  disturbance  began  with  the  interference  of 
a  few  of  our  drunken  Irish  patriots  in  a  game  of  pool  played  between  a  white 
man  and  a  Chinaman  at  a  public  resort  on  Wazee  street.  Having  forced  the 
Chinese  to  defend  themselves,  they  then  treated  them  as  the  offending  party, 
assailed  them  without  mercy,  driving  them  into  hiding,  hanging  one  of  them 
to  a  lamp-post,  and  destroying  their  property.  The  mob  increasing,  a  Com 
mittee  of  Control,  consisting  of  500  citizens,  was  formed;  the  city  council 
gave  the  chief  of  police  authority  to  muster  a  special  force  of  100  to  patrol 


570         DENVER  AND  ARAPAHOE  COUNTY. 

ter  by  its  own  ordinances.22  The  revised  ordinances 
of  Denver,  passed  in  1881,  prohibit  both  gambling 
games  and  houses  of  ill-fame,  the  law-makers  appar 
ently  forgetting  that  these  excrescences  of  society 
have  existed  from  time  immemorial,  and  probably  will 
continue  till  the  millennial  day;  also,  that  it  is  the 
people  who  make  the  gamblers  and  prostitutes,  and 
not  they  who  make  the  people.  The  urban  popula 
tion  of  Arapahoe  county  is  nearly  all  in  and  about 
Denver.  Littleton,  twelve  miles  south,  is  consid 
ered  as  a  suburb.  Porter's  sulpho-chalybeate  spring, 
in  the  outskirts  of  the  city,  is  also  a  popular  resort.23 

the  streets  and  guard  the  polls  on  Monday,  and  the  fire  department  was  kept 
in  readiness  all  day  to  fly  at  the  tap  of  the  bell.  Every  saloon  was  closed, 
and  the  city  guarded  at  every  point.  A  number  of  the  rioters,  having  been 
arrested  and  sent  to  jail,  were  promptly  bailed  out  by  Ex-delegate  Patter 
son's  hench-men,  and  allowed  to  vote.  The  district  attorney  had  a  part  of 
them  rearrested  on  a  charge  of  murder,  and  so  the  struggle  went  on  all  day; 
but  the  law-and-order  men  triumphed,  and  the  election  was  finally  as  quiet 
as  the  faces  of  the  guardians  of  the  peace  were  stern  and  set  with  determin 
ation.  Denver  Tribune,  Nov.  2,  1880. 

22  The  city  attorney  elected  in  1883  was  Mason  B.  Carpenter,  a  native  of 
Vt.,  born  in  1845.  He  served  two  years  in  the  union  army  when  between  16 
and  eighteen  years  of  age,  being  mustered  out  as  acting  sergeant-major.  He 
graduated  at  the  university  of  Vermont,  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to 
practice  at  St  Albans;  was  official  reporter  of  the  house  of  representatives  in 
1867,  and  secretary  of  the  senate  from  1869  to  1873.  In  1874  he  married 
Fannie  M.  Braiiiard,  and  removed  to  Colorado  in  1875.  He  was  elected  from 
Arapahoe,  to  the  house  of  representatives  in  1881,  and  a  member  of  the  sen 
ate  in  1884.  The  History  of  Denver,  from  which  I  have  frequently  quoted, 
is  a  quarto  volume  of  652  pages.  Its  authorship  is  mixed,  and  the  greater 
portion  anonymous,  but  bears  evidence  of  having  been  the  performance  of 
local  writers  well  acquainted  with  their  topics.  It  contains  articles  on  a 
great  variety  of  subjects,  and  many  biographical  sketches.  It  is  on  the  same 
plan  as  Clear  Creek  and  Boulder  Valley  History  and  the  History  of  Arkansas 
Valley.  Other  authorities  consulted  are  First  Annual  Report  of  Denver 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  by  Frank  Hall,  containing  tables,  etc.,  showing  gen 
eral  condition  of  the  state;  Porters  West  Census  of  1880;  Colorado  Notes, 
MS.;  Graffs  Colorado;  Pitkin's  Political  Views,  MS.;  Dixons  New  America, 
as  seen  through  English  eyes  in  1866;  McKenney's  Business  Directory,  1882-3; 
Melines  Two  T/iousand  Miles  on  Horseback;  Faithful's  Three  Visits  to  America; 
Leading  Industries  of  the  West,  August,  1883;  Williams'  Pacific  Tourist  and 
Guide;  Denver  Rocky  Mountain  News,  June  6,  1870;  Denver  Tribune- Republi 
can,  Oct.  10,  1884;  Early  Days  in  Denver,  by  John  C.  Moore.  He  was  born 
in  Tenn.  in  1835,  and  came  to  Colorado  in  1859.  He  describes  Denver  and 
also  Pueblo  in  the  early  days.  Sopris1  Settlement  of  Denver,  MS.,  is  another 
excellent  authority  treating  of  first  things. 

23  Argo  is  the  seat  of  Hill's  reduction  works.  Other  settlements  in  1886 
were  Bear  Creek  Junction,  Bennett,  Bird,  Big  Timber,  Box  Elder,  Brighton, 
Burnham,  Byers,  Cherry  Creek,  Deer  Trail,  Henderson  Isle,  Hughes,  Gravel 
Switch,  Island  Station,  Jersey,  Junction,  Kiowa,  Living  Spring,  Magnolia, 
Melvin,  Petersburg,  Platte  Summit,  Pooler's  Rancho,  Poverty  Flat,  Rattle- 


BIOGRAPHY.  571 

snake,  Reduction  Works,  Schuyler,  Vasquez,  and  Watkins.  One  of  the  pio 
neers  of  Arapahoe  county  whose  name  is  found  in  the  public  prints  is  Caleb 
B.  Clements,  who  came  to  Colorado  in  1859,  and  was  from  the  first  identified 
with  Denver,  an  addition  to  which  bears  his  name.  He  was  receiver  of  the 
land  office  when  Chilcott  was  register.  He  died  March  24,  1880.  Denver 
Tribune,  March  25,  1880. 

C.  J.  Gross,  who  also  came  in  1859,  was  born  in  Vt  in  1821.  He  was  en 
gaged  in  business  in  Fond  du  Lac,  Wis.,  for  several  years,  and  helped  to  lay 
out  the  town  of  Boulder  in  Colorado,  after  which  he  settled  in  Denver,  and 
was  elected  from  Arapahoe  co.  to  the  legislature  in  1866.  He  formed  the 
Baltimore  Mining  company,  one  of  the  most  substantial  in  the  state,  and 
owned  1,500  acres  south-east  of  Denver.  He  married,  in  1841,  a  daughter 
of  H.  T.  Shepherd  of  N.  Y.,  who  died  at  Boulder  in  1864.  The  following 
year  he  married  Harriet  Beecher  of  New  Haven,  Ct. 

David  A.  Cheever  was  a  midshipman  in  the  U.  S.  navy  in  1842.  At 
the  close  of  the  Mexican  war  he  resigned,  and  also  came  to  Cal.  in  1849,  but 
returned  to  Wis.  in  1854,  and  from  there  migrated  to  Colorado  in  1859,  en 
gaging  in  real  estate  business.  He  was  elected  to  the  lower  house  of  the 
legislature  in  1864,  county  commissioner  in  1873,  and  was  postmaster  in 
1875-6. 

Cyrus  H.  McLaughlin,  born  in  Pa  in  1827,  and  by  trade  a  printer,  came 
from  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  to  Colorado  iu  1859  as  a  messenger  for  Jones 
and  Cartwright'a  express,  and  to  learn  the  truth  of  the  reports  concerning 
gold  discoveries.  On  returning  to  Leavenworth  he  carried  $40,000  worth  of 
the  precious  dust.  In  1860  he  removed  to  Denver  and  worked  on  the  News 
for  a  time;  then  tried  agriculture  and  cattle  raising,  but  the  flood  of  1864  so 
damaged  his  farm  that  he  gave  it  up  and  took  a  situation  in  the  quarter 
master's  department,  which  he  held  for  two  years.  In  1867  he  was  elected 
to  the  legislature,  which  met  at  Golden,  and  used  his  influence  to  remove  the 
capital  to  Denver.  In  1868  he  was  reflected  and  chosen  speaker.  He  was 
afterward  receiver  in  the  land  office,  clerk  in  the  post  office,  and  alderman. 
The  rule  of  the  Pioneer  Association  is  that  those  who  arrived  before  1860 
may  become  members.  layers'  Centennial  State,  MS.,  38.  Among  these  were 
William  Z.  Cozzens,  deputy-sheriff  of  Arapahoe  district  in  I860;  David  K. 
Wall,  member  of  the  provisional  legislature;  T.  P.  Boyd,  associate  justice 
of  the  supreme  court;  N.  J.  Curtis,  W.  F.  Holman;  Charles  C.  Post,  member 
of  constitutional  convention  of  1859;  Nelson  Sargent,  who  was  in  charge  of 
the  first  express  line  across  the  plains,  known  as  the  Leavenworth  and  Pike's 
Peak  Express  company,  as  before  mentioned;  Philo  M.  Weston,  built  the 
first  house  in  Granite;  John  Rothrock,  built  the  'eleven  cabins,'  16  miles 
below  Denver,  on  the  Platte,  in  1858,  and  was  one  of  the  discoverers  of  Gold 
Run,  in  Boulder  co.;  Joseph  M.  Brown,  miner  and  cattle  raiser,  built 
Brown's  bridge  over  the  Platte,  elected  county  commissioner  in  1863  for  3 
terms;  Samuel  VV.  Brown,  miner,  merchant,  farmer;  Samuel  Brantner,  farm 
er;  his  daughter  was  the  first  child  of  the  settlers  of  Arapahoe,  born  four 
miles  from  Denver;  Caleb  S.  Burdsall,  miner,  smelter,  surgeon  of  the  3d 
Colo  reg.,  discovered  the  soda  lakes  near  Morrison,  named  after  him;  Joseph 
W.  Bowles,  miner,  sheriff  of  Nevada  mining  district  in  1860-1,  farmer  near 
Littleton,  twice  elected  county  commissioner;  Hiram  J.  Brendlinger,  tobacco 
merchant,  member  of  the  city  council  1861-3,  mayor  in  1864,  member  of  the 
legislature  1865;  John  W.  Cline,  miner,  farmer;  Henry  Crow,  miner,  organ 
ized  the  City  National  bank  in  1870  and  was  president  six  years,  afterward 
in  stock  raising  and  mining;  A.  B.  Daniels,  vice-president  of  Denver  and 
New  Orleans  railroad,  died  April  9,  1881;  Daniel  J.  Fulton,  miner,  farmer; 
George  C.  Griffin,  farmer  and  stock  raiser;  G.  W.  Hazzard,  miner,  farmer, 
banker,  stock  grower,  owned  20,000  acres  of  pasture  lands,  died  Feb.  9,  1878, 
leaving  a  wife  and  four  children;  Alfred  H.  Miles,  farmer;  John  McBroom, 
farmer,  elected  to  the  state  legislature  in  1876;  John  Milheim,  banker  and 
capitalist;  John  H.  Morrison,  lumber  merchant,  miller,  collector  of  internal 
revenue,  agriculturist,  died  July  21,  1876;  Jasper  P.  Sears,  merchant  with 


572         DENVER  AND  ARAPAHOE  COUNTY. 

C.  A.  Cook,  banker,  government  contractor,  and  real  estate  dealer;  Thomas 
Skerritt,  miner,  farmer;  L.  A.  Williams,  lumber  manufacturer,  farmer, 
stock  raiser. 

Hiram  J.  Brendlinger,  a  native  of  Pa,  came  with  a  stock  of  cigars  to  Den 
ver  in  1859,  opening  a  store  on  Blake  street  in  a  log  cabin  in  June  1859.  In 
1861  he  erected  a  two-story  frame  building,  which  was  burned  in  April  1863. 
Six  months  previous  he  had  erected  a  brick  warehouse,  in  which  a  large  part 
of  his  stock  was  saved,  with  which  he  started  business  again,  with  a  branch 
at  Central  City.  In  1864  he  established  a  branch  at  \7"irginia,  Montana,  in 
1866  at  Cheyenne,  in  Wyoming,  and  in  1877  at  Deadwood,  in  Dakota.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  city  council,  mayor,  and  member  of  the  legislature. 

Daniel  Witter,  born  in  Intl. ,  became  a  miner  in  Tarryall  district,  South 
park,  where  he  worked  in  1859-60,  and  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  house 
from  his  district  the  following  year.  In.  1862  he  was  appointed  postmaster 
at  Hamilton,  and  soon  after  asst  int.  rev.  collector  and  afterward  was  re 
ceiver  in  the  land  office,  dealer  in  real  estate  and  stock  raiser.  He  origin 
ated  the  Denver  Safe  Deposit  and  Savings  bank,  of  which  he  was  treasurer 
until  1877.  He  was  vice-president  of  the  Denver  Water  company  from  its 
organization  for  many  years. 

David  H.  Moffat  was  born  in  N.  Y.  in  1839,  and  came  to  Colorado  in 
1860.  He  started  a  book  and  stationery  business  at  Denver,  in  company 
with  C.  C.  Woolworth,  which  became  large  and  profitable,  and  from  which 
he  retired  at  the  end  of  six  years  to  take  the  position  of  cashier  of  the  1st 
National  bank  of  Denver,  of  which  he  was  elected  president  in  1880,  and 
which  owes  much  to  his  administrative  ability.  He  was  elected  to  the  presi 
dency  of  the  D.  &  R.  G.  R.  in  1887,  and  has  been  prominently  connected 
with  all  the  leading  railroad  enterprises  since  1869,  when  he  with  Gov.  Evans 
built  the  Denver  Pacific  to  Cheyenne.  He  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the 
syndicate  which  built  the  D.  &  S.  P.  R.  R.,  and  helped  to  build  the  D.  & 
N.  0.  R.  R.  He  is  also  interested  in  mines  in  nearly  every  county  in  Colo 
rado,  and  justly  ranks  as  one  of  the  mining  kings  of  the  centennial  state.  He 
paid  Tabor  §1,600,000  for  his  interest  in  the  Little  Pittsburg  at  Leadville, 
even  then  making  money  out  of  the  investment.  His  residence  in  Denver 
cost  over  $80,000.  N.  Y.  Financier,  Oct.  17,  1885;  Mofat's  Sketch  on  Bank 
ing,  MS. 

Bela  M.  Hughes,  a  native  of  Nicholas  co.,  Ky,  was  born  in  1817,  and  re 
moved  to  Clay  co.,  Mo.,  in  1834.  He  studied  for  the  law,  and  was  admitted 
to  practice  in  1841,  and  in  1845  was  appointed  receiver  of  public  moneys  for 
his  district,  which  position  he  held  four  years,  when  he  removed  to  St  Joseph, 
where  he  remained  until  he  came  to  Colorado  in  1861,  as  president  of  the 
Overland  Mail  company,  which  office  he  filled  for  two  years,  and  for  six  years 
afterward  that  of  solicitor  of  the  same  company.  In  1869  he  began  the  gen 
eral  practice  of  law  in  Denver.  He  was  democratic  candidate  for  governor 
in  1876,  though  not  elected. 

Frederick  Jones  Bancroft,  M.  D.,  born  May  25,  1834,  at  Enfield,  Conn. 
On  the  paternal  side  he  came  from  the  Bancrofts  and  Heaths  of  Conn.,  an. I 
oa  the  meternal  side  from  the  Bissells  and  Walcotts,  prominent  New  England 
families.  He  was  educated  at  Westfield  academy,  Mass.,  and  Charlotteville 
seminary,  N.  Y.,  and  studied  medicine  in  the  medical  department  of  the 
university  of  Buffalo,  graduating  in  1861.  His  first  practice  was  in  Penn. 
Then  he  entered  the  army,  and  after  the  war  attended  lectures  in  Phil.,  re 
moving  to  Colorado  in  1866,  and  practised  medicine  in  Denver,  where  he  be 
came  medical  referee  for  several  insurance  companies,  and  surgeon  of  three 
different  railroad  companies,  as  well  as  member  of  the  Denver  Medical  so 
ciety,  of  which  he  was  president  in  1868,  of  the  Colorado  Medical  association, 
and  American  Medical  association,  and  president  of  the  state  board  of 
health.  He  was  also  an  early  and  active  member  of  the  Colorado  Historical 
society,  and  has  been  an  officer  in  many  societies,  particularly  educational, 
and  is  authority  upon  such  topics.  He  married  a  daughter  of  George  A. 
Jarvis,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


BIOGRAPHY.  573 

James  Moynahan  was  born  in  Wayne  co.,  Mich.,  in  1842.  He  entered 
the  army  as  a  private  in  1802,  remaining  in  it  through  the  war,  being  twice 
wounded,  and  made  a  captain  in  1803.  In  I860  he  married  Mary  Moynahan, 
or  Detroit,  and  set  out  for  Colorado  with  an  ox -team,  leaving  his  wife,  who 
followed  him  in  1807.  He  resided  in  Park  co.  until  1884  when  he  removed 
to  Denver  to  educate  his  children.  In  merchandising,  mining,  and  stock 
raising,  he  fast  accumulated  property.  He  was  elected  to  the  state  senate  in 
1870,  and  again  in  1882. 

Charles  Hallack,  born  in  N.  Y.  in  1828,  came  to  Colorado  in  1807  from 
Kansas,  and  settled  in  Denver  in  the  business  of  a  lumber  dealer.  In  1884 
he  was  elected  president  of  the  State  National  bank,  of  which  he  was  one  of 
the  organizers. 

Job  A.  Cooper,  born  in  111.  in  1843,  removed  to  Denver  in  1872,  where  he 
practised  law  for  four  years,  and  was  elected  vice-president  of  the  German 
bank.  In  1877  the  bank  was  reorganized  under  the  name  of  the  German 
National  Bank,  when  he  was  electetl  cashier.  In  1877  he  purchased  300  head 
of  cattle,  on  a  range  near  the  Neb.  state  line,  but  sold  them  and  bought  15,000 
acres  of  land  in  Weld  co.,  on  which  he  had  in  1880-7,  500  head  of  cattle.  He 
was  president  of  the  Colorado  Cattle-grower's  association,  a  wealthy  organi 
zation. 

D.  H.  Dougan,  born  in  Niles,  Mich.,  in  1845,  removed  to  Ind.  at  the  age 
of  15  years,  and  became  a  clerk  in  a  bank  at  Richmond,  studying  medicine  in 
his  leisure  hours.  He  subsequently  studied  at  Rush  medical  college,  Chicago, 
and  at  Bellevue  hospital,  New  York,  graduating  in  1874,  and  coming  to  Colo 
rado  the  following  year.  He  resided  in  several  parts  of  the  state  temporarily 
until  1878  when  he  went  to  Leadville,  where  he  became  mayor  in  1881  and 
1882.  He  was  the  first  president  of  Carbonate  bank,  and  remained  a  director 
while  living  in  Denver. 

John  C.  Stallcup,  born  in  Ohio  in  1841,  came  to  Colorado  for  the  benefit 
of  his  health  in  1877,  and  remained.  He  was  nominee  of  the  democratic  party 
for  state  senator  in  1878,  and  was  again  nominated  for  attorney-general  of 
the  state  in  1880.  He  was  elected  city-attorney  of  Denver  in  1881,  and  was 
retained  as  city  counsel  afterwards  in  cases  then  pending.  In  1884  he  sold 
most  of  his  city  property,  and  invested  in  land  in  Arapahoe  co.,  17  miles 
from  Denver,  which  was  being  stocked  with  cattle. 

Stephen  H.  Standart,  born  in  Ohio  in  1833,  and  brought  up  on  a  farm, 
came  to  Colorado  in  1879  to  engage  in  cattle-raising.  He  started  in  business 
with  1,200  head,  about  GO  miles  from  Denver.  He  was  one  of  the  organ 
izers  of  the  Western  Live  stock  co.  in  1880,  and  of  the  American  Cattle  com 
pany  in  1883,  of  400  members,  the  two  companies  owning  over  20,000  head 
la  1885. 

For  congressional  and  legislative  references  I  have  found  matter  in  Pac. 
7?.  R.  Rept,  i.  17-19;  U.  S.  Sen.  Jour.,  808,  38th  cong.,  1st  sess.;  U.  S.  H. 
Jour.,  241,  38th  cong.,  2d  sess.;  Zabriskies  Land  Laws,  sup.  1877,  49;  Hoi- 
lister's  Alines  of  Colo,  292-4;  Cong.  Globe,  1804-5,  310,  753,  1404;  U.  S.  H. 
Ex.  Doc.,  i.,  p.  152,  40th  cong.,  1st  sess.,  vol.  10,  pt  2,  184,  227;  46th  cong., 
3d  sess..  and  xxv.,  pt  1,  446;  40th  cong.,  2d  sess.;  U.  S.  H.  Misc.  Doc.,  xiii., 
pt  4,  p.' 50-9,  124-31,  40th  cong.,  2d  sess.;  U.  S.  Ex.  Doc.,  xxv.,  304,  47th 
cong.,  2d  sess.;  Gen.  Laws  Colo,  1805,  108-11,  117-18,  127,  132,  135,  141, 
142;  Id.,  1877,  180-94,  738;  Sen.  Jour.  Colo,  1881,  029-30;  Charter  and  Ordi 
nances  of  City  of  Denver,  287-309;  Corporations,  Rev.  Statutes,  1883. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

1859-1886. 

BENT  COUNTY— INDUSTRIES,  TOWNS,  AND  PEOPLE — BOULDER  COUNTY — 
EARLY  SETTLERS— QUARTZ  MINING — COAL  AND  IRON— CHAFFEE  COUNTY 
— DISCOVERIES  AND  DEVELOPMENT — CLEAR  CREEK  COUNTY — EARLIEST 
SMELTING — STAMP  MILLS— CONEJOS  COUNTY — COSTILLA — CUSTER — MEN 
AND  TOWNS— MINING— DELTA,  DOLORES,  DOUGLAS,  EAGLE,  ELBERT,  EL 
PASO,  AND  FREMONT  COUNTIES— THE  GREAT  RAILROAD  WAR — CANON 
CITY  AND  ITS  INSTITUTIONS. 

BENT  county,  separated  from  Arapahoe  by  Elbert 
county,  lies  on  both  sides  of  the  Arkansas  river,  and 
occupies  the  country  of  which  Bent's  fort  was  in 
ante-mining  days  the  seat  of  such  civilization  as  was 
found  on  the  east  slope  of  the  Rocky  mountains.  It 
was  organized  in  1870,  and  named  after  the  Bent  fam 
ily.  It  occupies  an  extent  of  territory  larger  than 
the  state  of  Massachusetts,  but  is  comparatively  unin 
habited,  being  almost  entirely  appropriated  to  the 
uses  of  the  great  cattle  companies  and  owners,  a  sin 
gle  one  of  whom  owns  forty  miles  fronting  on  the 
river.1  Boggsville  was  the  first  county  seat,  which 
later  was  west  Las  Animas,  the  rendezvous  of  cattle 
owners  and  purchasers.  East  Las  Animas,  a  few 
miles  below,  is  another  similar  point.  Both  are  on 
the  railroad.  La  Junta,  at  the  junction  of  the  Pueblo 
branch,  is  a  prosperous  town.  Besides  these  there 

1 J.  W.  Powers,  before  mentioned.     He  came  to  Colorado  in  1858  a  poor 
young  man,  made  his  first  money  cutting  the  native  grasses  for  hay,  and  sell 
ing  it  to  the  government  at  Fort  Lyon.     He  finally  became  a  merchant  and 
banker,  and  owner  of  20,000  cattle, 
(574) 


BENT  AND  BOULDER.  575 

are  few  worthy  of  note.3  The  Arkansas  valley  is 
adapted  to  agriculture,  but  the  population  of  about 
2,000  is  devoted  to  the  grazing  interest  to  the  exclu 
sion  of  farming.  The  county  of  Greenwood  was  cre 
ated  at  the  same  time  that  Bent  was  established,  and 
occupied  a  part  of  its  present  territory,  with  Kit  Car 
son  for  the  county  seat ;  but  it  was  abolished  in  1874, 
and  the  present  boundaries  decreed,  at  which  time 
the  county  of  Elbert  was  set  off. 

Boulder,  one  of  the  original  seventeen  counties 
established  by  the  first  legislative  body  of  Colorado 
territory,  contains  794  square  miles,  and  combines 
mining  with  agriculture  in  a  proportion  which  ren 
ders  it  a  peculiarly  favored  section  of  the  state.  It 
was  first  settled  by  a  portion  of  a  train  which  arrived 
in  1858  by  the  Platte  route,  which  on  coming  to  the 
confluence  of  the  St  Vrain,  determined  to  take  a 
course  directly  leading  to  the  mountains.  Among 
them  were  Thomas  Aikins  and  son,  S.  J.  Aikins,  a 
nephew,  A.  A.  Brookfield  and  wife,  Charles  Clouser, 
Yount,  Moore,  Dickens,  Daniel  Gordon  and  brother, 
Theodore  Squires,  Thomas  Lorton,  Wheelock  broth 
ers,  and  John  Rothrock.  They  pitched  their  tents 
on  the  17th  of  October  at  Red  rock,  at  the  mouth  of 
Boulder  canon.  They  were  joined  by  others  in  the 
course  of  the  autumn.  On  the  15th  of  January, 
1859,  the  first  gold  was  discovered  at  Gold  Run  by  a 
party  consisting  of  Charles  Clouser,  John  Rothrock, 
I.  S.  Bull,  William  Huey,  W.  W.  Jones,  James 
Aikins,  and  David  Wooley.  Out  of  this  gulch  was 
taken  by  the  hand-rocker  that  season  $100,000.  The 
second  discovery,  on  south  Boulder,  was  the  Dead- 
wood  diggings,  by  B.  F.  Langley,  about  the  last  of 

8  Alkali,  Apishapa  Station,  Arapahoe,  Benton,  Bent's  Fort,  Blackwoll,  Cad- 
doa,  Carlton,  Catlin,  Cheyenne  Wells,  Dowlings,  First  View,  Fort  Lyon, 
Granada,  Hilton,  Holley,  Iron  Springs,  King's  Ferry,  Kiowa  Springs,  Kit 
Carson,  Main  Rancho,  Meadows,  Monotony,  Nine-mile  Bottom,  Point  of 
Rocks,  Prowers,  Red  Rock,  Robinson,  Rocky  Ford,  Rush  Creek,  Salt 
Springs,  Sand  Creek,  The  Meadows,  Tuttle's,  Well  No.  1,  and  Wild  Horse, 
are  the  settlements  in  Bent  co, 


576  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

January ;  and  the  third  at  Gold  Hill,3  in  February. 
Soon  after  David  Horsfal  discovered  his  famous 
mine. 

In  February  the  town  of  Boulder  was  laid  off,  ten 
miles  from  the  gold  diggings,  by  H.  Chiles,  Alfred 
A.  Brookfield  being  president  of  the  town  company.4 
The  first  seventy  houses  on  Pearl  street  were  of  logs. 
It  soon  had  a  population  of  2,000,  which  so  exalted 
the  expectations  of  its  shareholders  that  they  turned 
away  customers  by  their  high  prices.  Efforts  were 
made  by  bridging  the  Platte,  and  by  other  means,  to 
draw  immigration  to  that  point,  but  without  marked 
success.5 

3  Some  of  the  pioneers  of  Gold  Hill  were  P.  M.  Housel  and  wife,  George 
W.  Chambers  and  wife,  Charles  Dabney  and  wife,  Charles  F.  Holly,  Miles 
Jain,  John  Wigginton,  William  Fellows,  James  Smith,  E.  H.  N.  Patterson, 
W.  G.  Pell,  James  A.  Carr,  W.  A.  Corson,  Henry  Green,  L.  M.  McCaslin, 
and  family,  Richard  Blore,  John  Mahoney,  Cary  Culver,  Hiram  Buck,  George 
Zweck,  Alph.  Cushman,  Mrs  Samuel  Hays,  William  and  John  Brerly  and 
families.  The  first  child  born  in  Gold  Hill  was  Mamie  McCaslin,  who  be 
came  Mrs  J.  C.  Conlehan  of  Boulder. 

4 Brookfield  was  born  in  Morristown,  N.  J.,  in  1830.  His  father  was  a 
merchant,  and  he  was  his  partner.  He  was  afterward  mayor  of  Nebraska 
City.  He  came  to  Colorado  in  1858.  Henry  Wilson  Chiles  was  born  in  Va 
in  1828,  and  came  to  Colo  from  Neb.  in  1858.  He  served  in  the  civil  war, 
and  returned  to  Colo  at  its  close. 

5 Some  of  the  men  of  Boulder  were:  Thomas  A.  Aiken,  born  in  Md,  1808. 
He  came  to  Colorado  in  1858,  and  settled  four  miles  from  Boulder  City.  He 
died  in  1878. 

Samuel  J.  Aikins,  born  in  111.  in  1835,  came  to  Colorado  in  1858,  and 
settled  on  a  farm  on  Dry  creek,  fi ve  miles  e.  from  Boulder  City.  A.J.  Macky, 
who  erected  the  first  frame  house  in  Boulder,  was  born  in  N.  Y.  in  1834. 
He  came  to  Colorado  in  1859,  in  company  with  Hiram  Buck.  He  mined, 
worked  at  his  trade  of  carpentry,  and  kept  a  meat  market  in  company  with 
Buck.  He  erected  the  first  brick  house  in  Boulder,  and  the  first  building 
with  an  iron  front.  He  was  postmaster,  county  treasurer,  justice  of  the 
peace,  member  of  the  school  board,  clerk  of  the  dist  court,  and  deputy  int. 
rev.  collector.  For  eight  years  he  held  the  office  of  sec.  Boulder  County  In 
dustrial  association.  In  1872  he  was  elected  town  clerk  and  treasurer, 
which  office  he  retained  for  about  ten  years.  He  at  one  time  kept  the  Boul 
der  house.  In  1865,  in  company  with  Daniel  Pound  and  others,  he  con 
structed  the  Black  Hawk  and  Central  City  wagon  road,  and  the  following 
year  built  the  Caribou  and  Central  City  road.  He  was  influential  in  secur 
ing  the  state  university  for  Boulder,  and  aided  all  worthy  enterprises. 

Alpheus  Wright,  born  in  N.  \.  and  educated  for  the  law,  came  to  Colo 
rado  in  1859.  He  was  a  member  of  the  legislature  in  1865,  and  was  elected 
county  attorney.  He  made  a  comfortable  fortune  at  mining  operations. 

Samuel  Arbuthnot  was  born  in  Pittsburg  in  1836,  and  came  to  Colorado 
in  1859.  He  mined  at  Gold  Hill,  at  Hussell  gulch,  and  in  California  gulch. 
In  1863  he  settled  on  a  farm  on  Left  Hand  creek,  Boulder  co.,  and  helped  to 
organize  the  Left  Hand  Ditch  company,  of  which  he  has  been  president.  He 
was  also  clerk  of  the  school  board. 


BOULDER.  577 

About  this  time  men  went  wild  over  quartz,  until 
they  found,  upon  protracted  trial,  that  they  could  not 
extract  the  gold  I  have  already  spoken  of  that  era, 
and  its  effect  on  the  country.  Then  they  were  driven 
to  other  pursuits,  especially  farming  Boulder  organ 
ized  the  first  county  agricultural  society  in  1867. 
Grist-mills  were  erected,  and  a  farming  community 
grew  up  at  the  confluence  of  the  north  and  south 
Boulder  creeks,  with  a  thriving  centre  called  Val- 
mont.6  Boulder  became  the  grain-milling  as  well  as 
grain-growing  country7  of  the  territory.  In  time, 
also,  its  mines  were  developed,  until  its  annual  pro 
duction  of  the  precious  metals  reached  half  a  million, 

George  F.  Chase  was  one  of  the  Central  City  and  Boulder  valley  toll- 
road  builders,  county  commissioner,  town  trustee,  farmer,  and  stock  raiser. 
George  W.  Chambers  was  a  miner,  farmer,  county  commissioner,  and  justice 
of  the  peace.  Andrew  Douty  erected  on  South  Boulder  creek  the  first  grist 
mill  completed  in  Colorado.  He  also  built  a  mill  at  Red  Rock,  near  Boulder 
City,  in  1866.  In  1 867  he  erected  the  first  flouring  mills  at  St  Louis,  in  Lar 
imer  co.,  where  he  died  in  1874.  Douty  was  from  Pa. 

Tarbox  &  Donnelly  erected  the  first  saw  mill  in  Boulder  in  1860,  using  the 
water  power  at  the  mouth  of  the  canon.  J.  P.  Lee  built  the  second  the 
same  season  a  few  miles  from  Gold  Hill;  Tourtalotte  and  Squires  a  third  in 
Boulder  City  in  1862.  Samuel  Copeland  erected  the  first  steam  saw  mill  in 
Four-mile  canon  in  1863. 

Edward  W.  Henderson  was  the  purchaser  of  the  Gregory  mine,  and  had 
many  vicissitudes  of  fortune.  He  was  connected  with  the  Western  Smelting 
company,  in  charge  of  affairs;  was  treasurer  of  Gilpin  co. ;  and  receiver  of 
the  U.  S.  land  office  at  Central  City  1873-9. 

T.  J.  Graham  brought  the  3-stamp  mill  in  1859  which  was  set  up  011  Left 
Hand  creek,  near  Gold  Hill.  He  continued  to  reside  at  Boulder. 

Other  men  of  Boulder  in  early  times  were  William  Arbuthnot,  miner  and 
farmer;  August  Burk,  baker  and  farmer;  Norman  R.  Howard,  miner  and 
farmer;  Thomas  J.  Jones,  mirier,  merchant,  and  farmer,  built  the  large  hotel 
at  Gold  Dirt  in  1860;  Henry  B.  Ludlow,  miner  and  farmer;  Hold  en  R.  El- 
dred,  freighter  and  merchant;  William  Baker,  farmer;  Thomas  Brainard, 
freighter  and  farmer;  John  Reese,  carpenter,  miner,  and  farmer,  elected 
assessor  of  Boulder  co.  in  1871;  Jay  Sternberg,  miller  and  proprietor  of  the 
Boulder  City  flouring  mills;  William  R.  Howell,  twice  elected  sheriff  of 
Boulder  co. 

6  The  first  cheese  factory  was  established  at  Valmont.     This  town  was 
laid  off  by  A.  P.  Allen,  his  sons,  G.  S.  andW.  H.  Allen,  and  his  son-in-law, 
Holden    Eldred.     Near  Valmont  were  settled,  with  their  families,    W.   B. 
Howell,  once  sheriff,  now  a  large  land  owner,  John  Rothrock,  Henry  Buck, 
P.  A.  Lyner,  William  A.  Davidson,   H.  B.   Ludlow,  J.  J.  Beasley,  projector 
and  builder  of  the  Beasley  irrigating  canal;  Jeremiah  Leggett,  Edgar  Saw- 
dey,  Hiram  Prince,  E.  Leeds,  J.  C.  Bailey,  Stephen  H.  Green,  and  George 
C.  Green,  his  son. 

7  A.  and   J.    W.    Smith  of  Denver,  erected  a  grist-mill  at  White  Rock 
Cliffs,  on   Boulder  creek,  six  miles  from  the  mountains;  P.  M.  Housel  and 
John  D.  Baker  built  one  near  Valmont.     Housel  was  twice  elected  county 
judge, 

HIST.  NEV.    37 


578  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

chiefly  in  silver,  arid  the  assessable  valuation  of  the 
county  is  considerably  over  four  and  a  half  millions.8 
The  coal  production  of  the  county  in  1883  was 
45,500  tons.9  Iron  is  one  of  the  valuable  productions 
of  this  county  ;10  and  also  stone  for  building  pur 
poses,  and  lime  manufacture.  Boulder  county  in 
1870  received  the  addition  to  its  early  population  of 
a  company  of  persons  organized  in  Chicago,  mder 
the  name  of  the  Chicago-Colorado  colony,  of  which 
Robert  Collyer  was  president,  C.  N.  Pratt  secretary, 
and  William  Bross  treasurer.  With  so  much  ability 
at  the  head  it  should  have  made  itself  a  history.  The 
land,  selected  by  W.  N.  Byers,  consisted  of  60,000 

8  The  principal  mining  districts  of  Boulder  are  Caribou,  in  which  are  sit 
uated  the  well-known   mines   of   Native  Silver,  Seven-Thirty,    Ten-Forty, 
Poorman,  Sherman,  No  Name,  and   the   Caribou,  which   shipped    in    1881 
$227,982.88  in  silver  bricks.     Ward  district  contained  the  Ni  Wot,  Nelson, 
Stoughton,  Celestial,  Humboldt,  and  Morning  Star,  free-milling  gold  mines. 
In  Central  district  were  the  smuggler,  John  Jay,  Last  Chance,  Longfellow, 
and  Golden  Age.     The  Gold  Hill,  Grand  Island,  Sunshine,  Sugar  Loaf,  and 
Magnolia   districts  had  good  mines,  which  up  to  1886  worked  up  to  their 
greatest  point  of  productiveness.     Placer  mines  were  neglected.  Smith's  Rept 
on  Development  of  Colorado,  1881-2,  30,  being  the  annual  report  of  the  state 
geologist.     There  were,  in  f!880,  9  mills,  running  185  stamps,   at  work  in 
Boulder  county.  Fossett,  Colorado,  260. 

9  The  coal  of  Boulder  county  is  a  free-burning  lignite,  of  jet  black  color  and 
high  lustre.     Coal  was  first  developed  here  in  1860.    In  1864  Joseph  W.  Mar 
shall,  one  of  the  owners,  after  whom  the  coal-mining  town  of  Marshall  was 
named,  William  L.  Lee,  Mylo  Lee,  and  A.  G.  Langford  erected  a  small  blast 
furnace  at  this  place,  and  made  200  tons  of  pig-iron  from  the  red  hematite  ores 
which  abound  in  the  locality.     The  Marshall  mine  was  worked  for  several 
years  on  a  small  scale;  but  when  the  Golden,  Boulder,  and  Caribou  railroad 
was  completed,  in  1878,  the  output  immediately  increased  to  50,000  tons 
annually.    Tice's  Over  the  Plains,  86-7;  Rocky  Mountain  News,  May  6,  1868; 
Clear  Creek  and  Boulder  Val.  Hist.,  421.     Louisville  is  another  coal-mining 
town  on  the  Colorado  Central  railroad,  12  miles  from  Boulder.     C.  C.  Welch 
of  Golden  conceived  the  idea  of  boring  for  coal  at  this  place,  where  it  is  found 
200  feet  below  the  surface.     I  he  town  was  named  after  Louis  Niwatany,  a 
Polander,  who  had  charge  of  the  explorations.     This  mine  was  sold  to  Jay 
Gould,  of  the  Union  Pacific  R.  R.,  in  1879,  with  all  its  equipments,    Louisville 
has  a  population  of  about  600.     Among  the  permanent  settlers  in  Coal  Creek 
valley  are  the  pioneer  'families  of  David  Kerr,  Robert  Niver,  W.  C.  Hake, 
first  president  of  the  South  Boulder  and  Coal  Creek  Ditch  company,  G.  W. 
Eggleston,  A.  M.  Wylam,  and  James  Minks.     Niver,  who  is  a  well-to-do 
farmer,  was  the  projector  of  the  South  Boulder  and  Coal  Creek  Ditch  com 
pany,  of  which  he  was  superintendent  and  stockholder,  the  benefit  of  which 
to  the  valley  has  been  great. 

10  The  Davidson  Coal  and  Iron  Mining  company  was  incorporated  in  1873, 
with  a  capital  stock  of  $160,000,  organized  by  William  A.  Davidson,  Jona 
than  S.  Smith,   George  W.   Smiley,   Charles   B.   Kountze,  and   William  B. 
Berger.     The  company  owned  8,000  acres  on  the  line  of  the  Colorado  Central 
railroad,  8  miles  from  Boulder. 


BOULDER.  679 

acres  in  the  valleys  of  Boulder,  St  Vrain,11  Left  Hand, 
and  Little  Thompson  creeks,  including  foot-hill  lands 
with  timber,  building  stone,  water,  iron,  and  coal  con 
venient  to  railroad  transportation.  A  location  was 
chosen  for  a  town  about  thirty  miles  due  east  from 
Long's  peak,  the  view  of  which  gave  it  the  name  of 
Longmont.  The  founders  of  the  colony  did  not  find 
it  an  Arcadia,  but  taking  it  all  in  all,  it  proved  a  good 
investment.  The  town,  which  was  incorporated  in 
1873,  had  in  1886  1,800  inhabitants,  excellent  schools, 
local  journals,  several  churches,  important  agricul 
tural  and  milling  interests,  and  a  railroad  connecting 
it  with  the  Erie  and  Canfield12  coal  banks,  and  was 
on  the  line  of  the  Colorado  Central  railroad. 

Boulder  City,  the  county  seat  of  Boulder  county, 
was  incorporated  in  November  187 1,13  and  had  in 
1886  a  population  of  6,000,  railroad  communication 
with  Denver  u  and  the  other  principal  towns  of  north 
ern  Colorado  and  the  main  line  of  the  Union  Pacific, 
sampling  and  smelting- works,  and  flouring  mills,16 

11  In  St  Vrain  valley  still  reside  some  of  the  settlers  of  1859,  namely: 
Ooffman,  Peunock,  Allen,  Hamlin,  Affalter,  Peck,  Isaac  Runyon,  B.  F. 
Franklin,  John  C.  Carter,  Lyman  Smead,  David  Taylor,  Harrison  Goodwin, 
Perry  White,  Richard  Blore,  Weese  brothers;  Thomas  McClain,  C.  C.  True, 
George  W.  Webster,  Fred,  George  C.,  and  Lawson  Beckwith,  Alf.  and  Wash. 
Cashman,  John  Hagar,  Powell,  Ripley.  Mason,  Manners,  and  Dickson.. 

l'*  Canfield  is  another  coal-mining  town  on  the  Denver  and  Boulder  Valley 
railroad,  12  miles  from  Boulder.  There  were  three  mines,  two  owned  by  the 
Star  Consolidated  Coal-mining  company,  and  another,  opened  in  1879,  called 
the  Jackson. 

13 Its  mayors  have  been  Janice  Ellison,  James  P.  Maxwell,  Charles  G. 
Van  Fleet,  and  John  A.  Ellet.  Maxwell  was  born  inWis.  in  1839,  and  came 
to  Colorado  in  1860,  settling  first  in  Gilpin  co.  at  mining  and  lumber  dealing. 
He  removed  to  Boulder  in  1872,  and  engaged  in  farming  and  stock-raising. 
He  was  elected  to  the  territorial  legislature  in  1872  and  1874,  to  the  state 
general  assembly  in  1876  as  senator,  and  in  1878  was  chosen  president  of  the 
senate  pro  tern.  He  was  also  elected  co.  treas.  in  1880.  Charles  C.  Brace, 
elected  in  1885,  came  to  Colorado  in  1876  from  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  where 
he  was  born  in  1849.  He  studied  medicine  in  the  Hahnemann  medical  col 
lege  of  Chicago,  coming  direct  to  Boulder  after  graduating.  He  was  chosen 
president  of  the  Colorado  State  Homeopathic  Medical  society. 

14  While  the  population  was  only  a  few  hundred  the  citizens  subscribed 
$45,000  to  secure  a  branch  from  the  Denver  and  Boulder  Valley  R.  R.     Be 
fore  it  was  completed  the  Colorado  Central  had  reached  them. 

15  The  sampling-works  were  erected  by  N.  P.  Hill,  manager  of  the  Boston 
and  Colorado  Smelting  co.,  the  smelting-works  by  J.  H.  Boyd,  in  1874.    The 
Boulder  City  flouring- mill  was  erected  in  1872  by  Jay  and  D.  K.  Sternberg; 
the  Colorado  state  mill  in  1877  by  Mrs  E.  B.  Yount. 


580  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

which  purchased  most  of  the  wheat  grown  in  the 
county.  The  business  of  the  town  and  vicinity  sup 
ported  several  banks.16  It  had  a  good  system  of 
water- works,  erected  in  1874  at  a  cost  of  $50,000,  a 
fire  department  organized  in  1875,  excellent  public 
schools,17  newspapers,churches,18  various  benevolent  so 
cieties,  a  public  library,19  and  the  state  university.  This 
last  distinction  was  obtained  from  the  legislature  of  1861 
and  the  corner-stone  laid  September'l7,  1875.  The  pre 
paratory  and  normal  departments  were  opened  in  1877, 
since  which  period  it  has  increased  and  prospered.2* 
There  are  few  towns  of  importance  in  the  county.21 

16  The  Boulder  bank  was  established  in   1871  by  George  C.  Corning  of 
Ohio;  discontinued  in  1877.     The  National  State  bank  was  founded  in  1874 
by  Charles  G-.  and  W.  A.  Buckingham  of  Ohio,  but  did  not  take  the  present 
name  until  1877.     The  First  National  bank  of  Boulder  was  opened  in  1877  by 
Louis  Cheney. 

17  Boulder  built  the  first  school-house  in  Colorado  in  1860,  costing  $1,200. 
It  was  occupied  until  1872,  when  a  large  public  school  edifice  was  erected, 
costing  $15,000,  and  the  graded  system  was  adopted.     Since  that  period  ad- 
ditipns  have  been  made  as  required. 

18 The  churches  of  Boulder  were  founded  as  follows:  methodist  in  1860, 
by  Jacob  Adriance;  congregational  in  1864,  by  William  Crawford;  presby- 
terian  in  1872,  by  J.  E.  Anderson;  protestant  episcopal,  1873,  by  Henry 
Baum;  reformed  episcopal,  1874,  by  James  C.  Pratt;  catholic,  1876,  by  A.  J. 
Abel;  baptist,  1872,  by  J.  G.  Maver.  After  these  came  the  Christian  and 
adventist  churches,  liberalists,  and  spiritualists. 

19  The  library  was  founded  by  Charles  G.  Buckingham. 

20  Robert  Culver  and  Charles  F.  Holly  were  active  in  influencing  the  loca 
tion.     The  first  board  appointed  consisted  of  D.  P.  Walling,  J.  Feld,  A.  O. 
Patterson,  A.  A.  Bradford,  William  Gilpin,  Edwin  Scudder,  C.  Dominguez, 
Bryon   M.    Sanford,  William  Hammind,   J.   B.    Chaffee,   B.  F.  Hall,  Amos 
Steck,  Jesse  M.  Barela,  G.  F.  Crocker,  J.  S.  Jones,  and  M.  Goss.  Colo,  Sess. 
Laws,  1861,  144-8.     The  first  meeting  of  the  board  was  held  in  Jan.  1870, 
when  it  was  duly  organized.    The  citizens  had  donated  61  acres  of  land,  valued 
at  $10,000,  but  there  was  as  yet  no  cash  found  available.     Application  was 
made  to  the  legislature,  which  not  until  1874  appropriated  $15,000,  condi 
tional  upon  an  equal  amount  being  subscribed  in  Boulder,  and  $16,656.66 
being  raised,  the  contract  was  immediately  let  to  McPhee  and  Keiting  of 
Denver.     A  second  appropriation  by  the  legislature  was  sufficient  to  furnish 
and  start  the  institution.     Provision  was  made  for  the  permanent  support  of 
the  university  by  the  annual  assessment  of  one  fifth  of  one  mill  on  the  valu 
ation  of  the  state,  and  also  for  the  election  of  regents  by  vote  of  the  state. 
The  first  board  elected  were  L.  W.  Dolloff  and  Junius  Berkley  of  Boulder, 
George  Tritch  and  F.  J.  Ebert  of  Denver,  W.  H.  Van  Geisen  of  Del  Norte, 
and  C.  Valdez  of  Conejos.     They  chose  Joseph  A.  Sewall  president  of  the 
university.     The  regular  collegiate  course  began  in  1878,  and  in  1880  there 
were  121  pupils  in  attendance.     The  college  edifice  was  placed  on  high  ground 
overlooking  the  city,  and  surrounded  by  well  cultivated  and  ornamented 
grounds.     It  was  built  of  brick,  three  stories  high,  and  surmounted  by  an  ob 
servatory.     The  library,  furnishing,  and  finishing  were  all  that  could  be  ex 
pected  of  a  university  school  while  in  its  infancy,  and  shows  that  Boulder 
has  done  well  in  selecting  this  one  of  the  state  institutions  for  its  own. 

al  The  towns  and  settlements  of  Boulder  county  not  mentioned  are  Altona, 


CHAFFEE.  581 

Chaffee  county  was  created  out  of  the  southern 
portion  of  Lake  in  February  1879.22  Its  area  is 
about  1,189  square  miles,  situated  between  the  Mus- 
quito  range  and  Arkansas  hills  on  the  east,  and  the 
great  divide  on  the  west.  It  is  peculiarly  a  mining 
region.  The  districts  of  as  yet  comparatively  unde 
veloped  Chalk  creek,  one  of  the  earliest  discoveries 
on  the  east  side  of  the  range,  Granite,23  Monarch, 
south  Arkansas,  Cottonwood,  and  Hope  are  the 
most  extensively  developed.  The  discoveries  atLead- 
ville,  and  conse  uent  railroad  building,  were  the  first 
causes  of  the  re  ent  developments  in  Chaffee  county, 
as  they  were  of  ts  organization.  The  Monarch  dis 
trict,  lying  twenty-six  miles  west  from  the  town  of 
Salida,  contains  some  of  the  most  remarkable  mines 
in  Colorado.  Thev  are  lead  carbonates  orargentifer- 

«/  O 

ous  galena  ores,  and  yield  from  20  to  1,500  ounces  of 
silver,  and  forty  to  sixty  per  cent  of  lead  to  the  ton.24 

Balarat,  Blue  Bird,  Brownsville,  Burlington,  Camp  Tellurium,  Cardinal,  Cove 
Creek,  Crisman,  Davidson,  Eagle  Rock,  Erie,  Four-mile  Creek,  Highland, 
Jamestown,  Jim  Creek,  Lakeside,  Langford,  Left  Hand,  Logan  Mine,  Mag 
nolia,  Marshall,  Mitchell,  Modoc,  Nederland,  Nerkirk  Mill,  Ni  Wot,  North 
Boulder,  Orodelfan,  Osborn,  Pella,  Pleasant  Valley,  Queen  City  Mills,  Rock- 
ville,  Salina,  Springdale,  Sugar  Loaf,  Sumnerville,  Sunbeam  Gulch,  Sunny- 
side,  Sunshine,  Tellermin,  Ward  District,  White  Peak,  Williamsburg. 
Charles  Dabney  settled  in  Boulder  in  1860  at  mining  and  blacksmithing.  He 
was  postmaster  in  1861-2,  justice  of  the  peace,  and  in  1863  county  commis 


sioner.  In  1878  he  engaged  in  mining  and  brokerage,  and  added  real  estate 
and  lumbering.  John  J.  Ellingham,  miner,  cattle-dealer,  and  owner  of  a 
quartz-mill,  settled  same  year.  Also  William  H.  Dickens,  farmer;  and  Por 
ter  T.  Hinman,  son  of  Anson  Hinman,  Alleghany  co.,  N.  Y.,  of  which  he 
was  judge.  He  resided  in  Ohio  and  Iowa  before  coming  to  Colorado,  and  was 
assistant  in  the  U.  S.  land  office  at  Des  Moines.  He  secured  a  farm  of  320 
acres  on  Left  Hand  creek. 

22  It  was  first  allowed  to  retain  the  name  of  Lake,  that  portion  of  the  ori 
ginal  organization  north  of  it,  and  containing  Leadville,  being  named  Carbon 
ate.     But  the  Leadville  people  protested — they  were  permitted  to  retain  their 
county  name  of  Lake,  Carbonate  was  abandoned,  and  the  new  organization 
was  called  after  a  favorite  senator.   Colo  Sess.  Laivs,  1879,  4. 

23  Stephen  B.  Kellogg,  a  pioneer  of  1859,  and  who  was  one  of  the  discov 
erers  of  Chalk  Creek  mines  in  1860,  was  born  in  Vt  in  1816.     He  had  been  in 
South  America  and  Cal.  before  coming  to  Colorado.     He  changed  his  resi 
dence  often  afterward,  but  without  leaving  the  state.     He  was  a  member  of 
the  provisional  legislature,  has  been  police  justice,  and  has  held  several  other 
official  positions.  Arkansas  Vol.  Hist.,  520.     Of  Granite  and  its  early  history 
I  have  already  spoken. 

24  The  large-paying  mines  of  Monarch  district  were  Madonna,  Silent  Friend, 
Wilson,  Oshkosh,  Fair  Play,  Monarch,  Eclipse,  Rainbow,  Little  Gem,  Den 
ver,  Wonder,  Michigan,  and  Silver  King.  Descriptive  America,  May  4,  1884. 
In  Chalk  Creek  district  the  Murphy  mine  yielded  50  or  more  tons  of  ore  daily 


682  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

The  Madonna  mine,  discovered  by  the  Boon  broth 
ers,  had  cut  300  feet,  in  May  1884,  through  solid  ore 
of  this  description  without  finding  the  end  of  the 
deposit.  Other  districts  contain  copper  and  silver, 
some  gold  and  silver,  and  some  free-milling  gold.  The 
bullion  product  of  the  county  in  1883  was  about 
$300,000,  nearly  half  of  which  was  in  gold. 

The  Calumet  iron  mine,  the  most  valuable  in  the 
state,  was  a  deposit  of  magnetic  and  hematite  ore  con 
taining  between  seventy  and  eighty  per  cent  pure 
iron.  Ten  car-loads  daily  were  taken  by  railroad  to 
Pueblo,  where  it  was  smelted  and  manufactured  by 
the  Colorado  Coal  and  Iron  company,  who  owned  it. 
The  other  mineral  resources  of  the  county  are  numer 
ous.  Poncho  hot  springs  and  Wellsville  hot  springs" 
are  extensively  known  for  their  medicinal  qualities. 
Charcoal-burning  is  an  important  industry,  being 
made  from  the  pinion  which  covers  the  foot-hills. 
Lime,  also  made  in  large  quantities,  is  used  as  a  flux 
at  the  smelting  works  of  Leadville  and  Pueblo, 
twenty-six  car-loads  daily  going  to  those  places.26 
Marble  is  also  quarried  near  Salida,  black,  white,  and 
colored,  of  excellent  quality,  and  granite  as  fine  as 
that  of  New  England.  Coal  deposits  just  being 
opened  in  1885  promised  well.  Agriculture,  while 

worth  $60  per  ton,  net  value.  The  Columbus,  in  the  South  Arkansas  district, 
was  one  of  the  largest  silver  mines  in  the  state,  and  yielded  100  ounces  to  the 
ton.  These  are  only  named  as  samples  of  the  best  mines  in  the  county.  The 
Hortense  mine,  on  Mt  Princeton,  though  of  low  grade  ore,  was  one  of  the  best 
developed  and  most  productive. 

25  Poncho  Hot  springs  are  6  miles  south  we     from  Salida.     They  are  13  in 
number.    Alongside  of  them  are  cold  springs.          '"hur  and  soda  predominate, 
although  it  is  said  that  60  different  mineral  wate*-   are  flowing  constantly  from 
these  fountains,  with  wonderful  curative  qualities.     At  Cottonwood  creek, 
north  of  Salida,  are  similar  springs.   Horn's  Rept  on  Mineral  Springs  of  Colo, 
in  State  Board  of  Health  Rept,  for  1876,  p.  62. 

26  These  statements  are  furnished  by  W.  W.  Roller  of  Salida,  who  has 
contributed  his  Colorado  Sketches,  MS.,  to  my  library.     He  was  born  at  Tona- 
wanda,  Erie  co.,  N.  Y.,  in  1842,  and  came  to  Colorado  in  1877.    After  spend 
ing  two  years  at  Colorado  Springs  as  a  furniture-dealer,  he  removed  to  Salida 
and  went  into  the  more  remunerative  business  of  cattle-dealing.     Roller  ^s 
supplemented  by  E.  H.   Webb's  Salida  and  its  Surroundings,  MS.,  which  deals 
more  particularly  with  the  town.     Webb  was  born  in  N.  Y.  in  1844.     H 

ursuits,  but 
lere  in  1880, 


came  to  Cleora,  Colorado,  in   1878  to  engage  in  mercantile  pursuits,  but  re 
moved  to  Salida  when  it  was  founded,  and  opened  business  the 


the  pioneer  merchant. 


CHAFFEE.  583 

still  unrecognized  as  of  importance,  exists  and  in 
creases,  the  soil  being  rich  and  warm  in  the  valleys." 
The  great  San  Luis  valley  in  the  adjacent  county  of 
Saguache  furnished  in  1886  a  convenient  grazing 
ground  for  cattle. 

27  In  1863,  when  Chaffee  was  part  of  Lake  county,  Frank  Mayol  took 
land  claim  8  miles  north  of  Buena  Vista,  where  he  raised  potatoes  at  50  c. 
per  pound,  realizing  $5,000  from  5  acres.  He  soon  accumulated  a  fortune. 
George  Leonhardy  leased  the  farm  in  1871,  and  purchased  it  the  following 
year,  paying  $3,750.  He  also  opened  a  'cut-off'  into  South  park,  which  became 
the  mail  route.  A  post-office  was  established  at  his  place  called  Riverside. 
Leonhardy  added  to  his  land  from  time  to  time,  and  being  engaged  in  other 
business  became  wealthy.  In  1864  Andrew  Bard  and  Frank  Loan  took  up 
land  near  where  Buena  Vista  now  stands,  which  they  watered  from  Cotton- 
wood  creek,  and  which  produced  large  crops  of  hay  and  vegetables,  all  of  which 
found  a  ready  market.  The  next  settlers  were  Benj.  Schwander,  William 
Bale,  afterward  sheriff,  John  McPherson,  and  J.  E.  Gonell,  who  took  claims 
on  the  creek,  and  in  1865  Cottonwood  was  made  an  election  precinct,  and 
Bale,  Bard,  and  Gonell  were  appointed  judges  of  election.  The  same  year 
Galatia  Sprague,  R.  Mat.  Johnson,  Matthew  Rule,  and  John  Gilliland  settled 
at  Brown  creek,  where  the  agricultural  and  mining  town  of  Brownsville  grew 
up.  Gilliland,  John  Weldon,  and  G.  M.  Huntzicker  were  appointed  judges 
or  election  in  that  precinct,  which  extended  from  Chalk  creek  to  the  south 
end  of  the  county.  In  1866  John  Burnett,  with  Nat.  Rich  and  others,  settled 
near  the  present  town  of  Poncho  Springs.  Soon  another  election  precinct  was 
declared,  embracing  the  county  south  of  Sand  creek,  and  Burnett,  Rich,  and 
W.  Christison  were  appointed  judges  of  election.  At  the  election  this  year 
the  county  seat  was  removed  from  Oro  to  Dayton,  near  the  upper  Twin  lake. 
Leonhardy,  Bale,  and  Peter  Caruth  were  county  commissioners.  At  their 
first  meeting  in  Dayton  the  Trout  creek  road  was  declared  a  public  highway, 
and  the  following  year  a  road  was  opened  from  the  summit  of  the  divide  at 
Poncho  pass  to  the  Arkansas  river  above  Trout  creek,  via  the  claim  of 
George  Hendricks  and  Brown  creek.  This  gave  communication  between  the 
north  and  south  portions  of  the  county,  and  \vras  a  difficult  piece  of  work,  aa 
the  road  passed  through  the  narrow  denies  of  the  Arkansas  river.  Granite 
was  made  an  election  precinct  hi  1867.  In  1868  R.  B.  Newitt  took  a  claim  on 
the  divide,  since  known  as  Chubb 's  rancho,  which  became  the  centre  of  a  min 
ing  camp,  and  Charles  Nachtrieb  erected  a  grist-mill  on  Chalk  creek,  which 
was  proof  of  the  grain  capabilities  of  this  region,  although  when  transportation 
from  Denver  and  other  business  centres  became  easier,  wheat-raising  was 
abandoned  for  other  cereals.  In  1868  Granite  was  made  the  county  seat,  and 
continued  such  until  after  the  separation  of  the  northern  portion  from  what 
became  Chaffee.  Cache  creek,  where  placer  mining  had  been  carried  on  since 
1860,  300  persons  being  gathered  at  that  camp  previous  to  the  rise  of  Granite, 
became  again  in  1865  active,  the  claims  having  been  purchased  by  a  company 
with  means  to  work  them  by  hydraulic  process.  The  company  obtained  gov 
ernment  patents  to  1,100  acres  of  placer  ground,  from  which  they  have  taken 
over  $1,000,000.  Lost  Canon  placer  mines,  owned  by  J.  C.  Hughes,  were 
discovered  in  1860,  and  lie  in  the  mountains  of  that  name  at  an  elevation  of 
from  11,009  to  12,000  feet.  Red  Mountain  district,  on  the  head  waters  of 
Lake  creek,  was  discovered  in  1864,  and  created  a  great  excitement,  the 
mineral  belt  being  very  extensive,  although  the  ore  was  f  a  low  grade.  It 
took  its  name  from  the  color  given  to  the  quartz  by  the  decomposition  of  the 
sulphurets  of  iron.  Other  richer  districts  soon  drew  away  the  mining  popu 
lation.  La  Plata  district,  discovered  in  1867,  embraced  the  country  on  the 
head  waters  of  Clear  creek,  and  all  the  territory  between  the  Arkansas  river 
and  the  heights  along  the  stream.  Finding  less  gold  than  lead  and  other 


584  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

Salida,  that  is  to  say  junction,  twenty-eight  miles 
south  of  Buena  Vista,  was  laid  out  in  May  1880  by 
Ex-governor  Hunt,  who  owned  the  land,  and  was  at 
that  time  connected  with  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande 
railroad.28  When  it  was  three  months  old  it  had  1,000 
inhabitants.  It  was  for  a  short  time  the  terminus  of 
the  railroad,  which  was  being  extended  to  Leadville, 
and  was  the  shipping-point  of  freight  and  passengers 
for  the  Gunnison  country,  arid  points  beyond.  With 
the  completion  of  the  road  to  these  points  much  of 

metals  for  which  they  were  not  searching,  the  district  was  abandoned  by  its 
discoverers.  In  1860  a  revival  of  interest  took  place,  the  town  of  Vicksburg 
was  laid  off  on  Clear  creek  at  the  entrance  to  the  canon,  and  several  farms 
located.  Cottoiiwood  district,  on  Cottonwood  creek,  is  a  silver-producing 
region  of  more  recent  development,  with  some  rich  mines  on  the  north-east 
side  of  Mt  Princeton,  and  on  Jones  and  Fox  mountains.  Trout  creek  dis 
trict  was  discovered  after  the  Leadville  mines,  and  includes  Chubb 's  settle 
ment  before  mentioned.  It  contains  both  gold  and  silver  mines.  Buena  Vista, 
the  county-seat,  founded  by  the  Buena  Vista  Land  company,  at  the  junction 
of  the  Railroads,  is  on  Cottonwood  creek,  six  miles  east  of  Mt  Princeton,  in 
the  midst  of  a  plain  surrounded  by  lofty  peaks,  and  having  a  finely  tempered 
climate.  The  company  has  made  many  improvements  in  the  way  of  parks 
and  irrigating  ditches,  and  has  donated  land  for  school  purposes.  The  town 
was  incorporated  in  1879.  The  population  in  1884  was  3,000.  There  were 
good  schools,  several  churches,  and  two  newspapers,  with  a  considerable  and 
growing  business.  Cleora  was  founded  in  the  interest  of  the  Atchison,  To- 
peka,  and  Santa  Fe  railroad,  when  it  was  expected  that  this  road  would  have 
secured  the  right  of  way  through  the  Grand  canon  of  the  Arkansas  river, 
which  was  finally  granted  to  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  company.  Having 
refused  any  patronage  to  the  bantling  of  its  rival,  the  latter  company  laid  out 
the  town  of  Salida,  two  miles  above  Cleora,  to  which  the  inhabitants  and 
business  of  the  abandoned  town  immediately  removed.  Smith,  in  his  State 
ment,  MS.,  says:  'When  Cleora  was  deserted,  two  brothers  called  Raglin 
went  to  Oriental,  where  they  discovered  a  mine,  near  where  Villa  Grove 
now  is ...  Fletcher  Taylor  went  to  Bonanza,  in  Saguache  co.  Dr  Brien  went 
to  the  Monarch  district. .  .Judge  Hawkins  built  a  hotel  (at  Cleora)  which 
prospered  until  the  town  was  abandoned.  .  .In  1879  Capt.  Blake  was  one 
of  the  prominent  merchants  in  Cleora.  There  were  three  lumber  yards 
in  Cleora,  one  belonging  to  Allen  &  Mack,  who  afterward  moved  to  Salida.' 

'&  Miss  Millie  Ohmertz,  in  her  Female  Pioneering,  MS. ,  states  that  she 
went  to  the  Arkansas  valley,  6  miles  above  Salida,  in  1878,  and  for  three 
years  lived  on  a  farm;  but  in  1881  moved  to  Salida  to  take  charge  of  Gov. 
Hunt's  real  estate,  he  having  left  the  Rio  Grande  company  to  undertake  the 
development  of  extensive  coal  mines  near  Laredo  in  Texas,  and  to  assist  in 
the  Mexican  National  railroad  enterprise.  In  1884  George  Sackett,  from 
Ohio,  came  to  Salida  and  invested  in  real  estate  in  and  about  the  town,  all  of 
which  he  placed  in  Miss  Ohmertz'  hands  as  his  agent.  She  is  also  manager 
of  the  landed  interest  of  several  Denver  owners. 

J.  W.  O'Connor,  county  physician  of  Chaffee  co.,  was  born  in  111.  in  1852, 
and  educated  at  the  Rush  medical  college,  Chicago,  graduating  in  1879.  He 
came  immediately  to  Denver,  where  he  was  appointed  resident  physician  of 
the  Arapahoe  co.  hospital.  In  1880  he  removed  to  Chaffee  co.,  and  the  fol 
lowing  year  was  appointed  surgeon  of  the  railway.  He  superintended  the 
construction  of  the  railroad  hospital  at  Salida. 


CHAFFEE. 


585 


the  business  of  the  place  was  removed,  and  its  growth 
was  thenceforth  slower.  The  railroad  company  in 
1886  had  extensive  buildings  and  works  ;  the  town 
was  well  watered,  and  had  a  bank,  an  opera-house, 
churches,  schools,  good  hotels,  a  public  reading-room, 


SALIDA  AND  VICINITY. 


pleasant  drives,  and  was  generally  prosperous,  being 
in  the  centre  not  only  of  rich  mining  districts,  but  of 
a  good  farming  region,  which  was  being  rapidly  set- 
tied.2' 


Ohmertz'  Female  Pioneering,  MS.,  2,  it  is  said  that  a  large  oat-meal 
mill  would  be  erected  in  1865  by  M.  Sackett,  and  that  a  large  smelter  was 
talked  of  by  other  capitalists.  A  coal  mine,  6  miles  below  Salida,  owned  by 
Davis,  Carstarphan,  and  Craig  Brothers,  was  about  to  be  opened.  J.  H.  Stead, 


58C  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

Clear  reek  county,  not  large,  but  important,  was 
the  scene  of  some  of  the  earliest  mining  discoveries 
after  the  slight  indications  of  Cherry  creek,  and  one 
of  the  original  seventeen  counties  organized  by  the 
first  legislature.  The  early  history  of  this  portion  of 
Colorado  has  been  quite  fully  given.3'  Its  name  was 
taken  from  the  creek  which  flows  through  it,  the  high 
lands  along  which  for  thirty-seven  miles  are  filled 
with  veins  of  silver.  Another  silver  belt  extends 
from  Idaho  springs  up  Chicago  creek  to  Argentine 

born  in  Albany,  N.  Y.,  in  1827,  came  to  Colorado  from  Chicago  in  1880, 
locating  at  Maysville,  and  remaining  there  for  4  years,  when  he  removed  to 
Salida.  He  was  engaged  in  mining  and  merchandising.  In  a  manuscript  by 
him  entitled  Town-building  are  the  following  notes  on  Chaff ee  co.  and  Salida; 
'  Near  Salida  is  the  Sedalia  copper  mine,  producing  silver  and  copper,  a  very 
valuable  mine.  In  Chalk  creek  district,  15  miles  from  Salida,  is  the  Mary 
Murphy  mine,  valued  at  $3,000,000,  besides  several  others  of  prospective 
great  value. '  On  Monarch  hill  he  mentions  the  Monarch,  the  Madonna,  pro 
ducing  100  tons  per  day,  owned  by  the  Pueblo  and  Colorado  Mining  and 
Smelting  company  at  Pueblo,  the  Magenta,  the  Eclipse,  Paymaster,  Silent 
Friend,  Robert  Wilson,  Fairplay,  and  Lexington.  He  represents  the  Arkan 
sas  valley  between  Salida  and  Maysville  as  being  a  fine  agricultural  region, 
with  many  valuable  farms  growing  all  kinds  of  grain,  apples,  and  small  fruits, 
while  the  mesas  or  table-lands  north  of  them  are  also  productive  along  the 
streams,  which  means  that  they  only  need  irrigation  to  become  fertile.  See 
also  Frank  Earles  Salida,  Us  Mineral,  Agricultural,  Manufacturing,  Railroad, 
Resources,  Location,  Society,  Climate,  Business,  etc.,  a  pamphlet  containing 
a  map  and  a  directory:  Colorado,  The,  Press  and  People,  MS.,  a  dictation 
taken  from  M.  R.  Moore,  postmaster  of  Salida  in  1884.  Moore  was  born  in 
Indiana,  in  1846,  and  came  to  Colo  from  Kansas  in  1875,  locating  himself  in 
San  Juan  co.,  whence  he  removed  to  Salida  in  1880.  He  published  a  number 
of  newspapers  which  will  be  mentioned  elsewhere,  and  established  the 
Mountain  Mail  at  Salida.  L.  W.  Craig  came  to  Salida  in  1880  and  engaged 
in  merchandising  for  five  years.  In  1885  he  sold  out  and  opened  a  private 
bank,  known  as  the  Continental  Divide  bank.  He  had  previously  made  a 
fortune  in  the  cattle  business  in  Montana,  and  was  owner  in  some  Colorado 
mines.  There  were  several  other  aspiring  new  towns  in  Chaffee  county,  in 
1886,  all  owing  their  existence  primarily  to  mining,  but  gradually  develop 
ing  other  resources  of  the  conntry.  These  were  Alpine,  Arborville,  Ameri- 
cus,  Arkansas,  Columbus,  Chaffee,  Carmel,  Cascade,  Centreville,  Chalk  Mills, 
Cove  Rock,  Crees  Camp,  Crazy  Camp,  Divide,  Foose's  Camp,  Forrest  City, 
Free  Gold,  Garfield,  Green  Gulch,  Hancock,  Herring's  Park,  Helena,  Hor- 
tense,  Junction  City,  Knoxville,  Kraft,  Lake  Fork,  McGee,  Mahonville, 
Mears,  Midway,  Nathrop,  North  Fork,  Pine  Creek,  Sharano,  Silverdale, 
Spaulding,  St  Elmo,  Taylor  Gulch,  Trout  Creek,  Wellsville,  Winfield.  The 
population  of  the  county  in  1884  was  10,000. 

30  0.  E.  Lehow  was  discoverer  of  the  Spanish  bar  diggings,  and  sold  his 
mine  for  $4,000,  receiving  his  pay  in  cattle  and  horses  with  which  he  began 
stock-farming  on  Cherry  creek.  In  1860  he  located  with  his  brother,  C. 
L.  Lehow,  a  rancho  atPlatte  canon  where  he  resided  until  1870,  securing  in 
the  mean  time  1,600  acres  in  San  Luis  valley,  which  he  fenced  and  stocked 
with  cattle.  Then  he  became  a  resident  of  Denver,  with  an  interest  in  mines 
»t  Silver  Cliff,  in  Custer  county. 


CLEAR  CREEK.  587 

pass.  The  principal  gold  district  was  immediately 
surrounding  Empire,  in  the  vicinity  of  which  there 
were  also  some  rich  silver  mines.  Clear  Creek  count  j 
was  the  scene  of  the  first  successful  milling  and 
smelting  of  silver  ores,  as  well  as  of  the  manufacture 
of  the  first  silver  brick  by  Garrett,  Martine,  &  Co.31 

31  Among  the  stamp-mills  so  freely  introduced  from  I860  to  18(»4  was  the 
What  Cheer  mill  at  Georgetown,  arranged  at  first  for  the  crushing  and  amal 
gamating  of  auriferous  quartz.  When  it  was  ascertained  that  no  supply  of 
free-milling  ores  were  to  be  found  in  that  district,  the  mill  was  leased  to 
Garrett,  Martine  &  Co.  for  5  years,  who  introduced  Bruckner  cylinders  for 
roasting  and  revolving  barrels  for  amalgamating  silver  ores.  In  spite  of  the 
many  difficulties  to  be  overcome,  this  firm  saved  80  to  85  per  cent  of  the  silver 
treated.  This  was  in  1867.  In  1868  they  sold  to  Huepeden  &  Co.,  but  the 
superintendent,  embezzling  the  funds  of  the  firm.  Palmer  &  Nichols  next 
came  into  possession  of  the  mill,  and  failed.  In  1873  the  Pelican  company 
purchased  the  property,  and  having  renovated  and  added  to  its  machinery, 
made  several  thousand  bars  of  silver  from  the  ores  of  the  Pelican  mine.  In. 
1877  the  mill  was  leased  to  Ballou,  Napheys  &  Co.,  who  operated  it  for  10 
months  at  a  loss,  after  which  it  was  used  as  sampling-works  by  the  Boston 
and  Colorado  Smelting  co.  The  next  experiment,  by  Prof.  Frank  Dibdin  of 
the  International  Mining  co.,  began  in  1868,  at  East  Argentine,  8  miles  from 
Georgetown,  and  has  already  been  spoken  of.  This  mill  ran  for  4  years  on 
the  company's  ore,  mixed  with  the  lighter  ore  from  the  Belmont  and  Harris 
mines,  under  the  superintendence  of  P.  McCann.  At  the  same  time  the  Baker 
Silver  Mining  co.,  Joseph  W.  Watson,  superintendent,  erected  a  mill  at  West 
Argentine,  which  was  destroyed  by  fire.  Meanwhile,  J.  Oscar  Stewart,  of 
Georgetown,  was  experimenting  with  a  small  reverberatory  furnace,  and  two 
amalgamating  pans,  erected  in  1867,  and  achieved  sufficient  success  to  induce 
eastern  capitalists  to  furnish  money  to  erect  a  $100,000  mill,  which  was  mod 
eled  after  his  experimental  works.  But  the  ores  that  could  be  reduced  soon 
became  scarce,  and  while  he  had  thousands  of  tons  of  tailings  on  the  dump, 
containing  40  ounces  of  silver  each,  he  could  not  extract  thia  without  loss. 
Next  the  Arey  and  Stetefeldt  furnaces  were  tried,  which  gave  too  little  time 
for  thorough  roasting,  then  a  smelting  furnace  for  getting  rid  of  the  lead,  and 
many  variations  and  adaptations  of  the  reverberatory  furnace,  and  of  the 
Hunt  &  Douglas  leaching  process,  but  all  in  vain.  In  the  meantime  the  mill 
was  twice  burned,  and  a  total  failure  was  the  result.  In  1870-71  a  mill  was 
erected  at  Masonville,  4  miles  below  Idaho  springs,  which  also  failed  after  a 
short  time.  A  mill  was  started  in  1872  at  Georgetown  by  Judd  &  Crosby, 
who  soon  abandoned  the  attempt  at  making  it  pay.  J.  V.  Farwell  purchased 
it,  took  down  the  patent  furnaces,  and  placed  in  their  stead  Bruckner  cylin 
ders  and  amalgamating  pans,  which,  under  the  management  of  S.  J.  Learned, 
saved  a  high  percentage  of  the  ores  treated.  The  Clear  Creek  company,  by 
using  a  modification  of  the  Hunt,  Douglas,  &  Stewart  leaching  process,  made  a 
successful  specialty  of  treating  low-grade  ores.  In  this  costly  school  was  the 
knowledge  acquired  which  was  to  benefit  the  future  miner. 

Among  the  early  experiments  was  that  of  smelting  for  lead.  The  first 
effort  was  made  by  Bowman  &  Co.,  negroes  from  Missouri,  who  knew  some 
thing  about  lead-mining  in  that  state,  and  thoughttoput  their  knowledge  t:> 
practical  use.  They  erected  a  small  smelter  a  mile  above  Georgetown,  on 
Leavenworth  fork.  It  consisted  of  a  rude  water-wheel,  a  bellows,  and  a  10- 
foot  stack.  It  was  charged  a  few  times  with  antimonial  galena  from  their 
mine,  the  Argentine,  but  this  class  of  ore  soon  gave  out,  and  their  smelter 
became  worthless.  Caleb  S.  Stowel  tried  the  Scotch  hearth  with  no  better 
results.  In  1867  the  Georgetown  Smelting  company  erected  a  lead  smelter 


588  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

Although  the  county  had  produced  between  1864  and 
1884  bullion  to  the  amount  of  $28,447,400,  few  of 

with  a  large  stack,  and  the  most  approved  roasters,  which  produced  a  few 
bars  of  base  bullion,  and  suspended.  The  Brown  Silver  Mining  company, 
which  owned  two  productive  mines,  the  Brown  and  Coin,  also  erected,  about 
the  same  time,  a  mill  and  smelting-works  at  Brownsville.  By  the  aid  of 
galena,  iron  pyrites,  and  fluxes  secured  from  other  districts,  the  company 
were  enabled  to  keep  their  mill  going  for  a  year,  when  it  was  closed.  In  the 
course  of  their  experiments  they  shipped  a  large  amount  of  silver  to  Phil., 
one  mass  weighing  1,800  pounds.  Subsequently  the  mill  was  leased  to  three 
different  parties,  each  of  which  realized  a  profit  from  working  over  the  refuse 
slag.  Lead-smelting  in  Clear  Creek  co.  has  been  abandoned,  the  galena  ores 
being  sent  to  Golden  or  Pueblo  in  Colorado,  or  to  Omaha,  Chicago,  St  Louis, 
Wyandotte,  Pittsburgh,  or  Newark  for  reduction.  Richard  Pearce,  Samuel 
Wann,  and  Hiram  Williams  attempted  the  smelting  of  gold  and  silver  ores 
with  the  same  results  as  above,  the  refractory  nature  of  the  silver  ores  pre 
venting  their  success.  But  what  can  be  done  in  other  places  can  certainly  be 
done  here  as  well,  when  the  facilities  are  provided.  The  first  concentrating 
mill  was  introduced  in  1870  by  the  Washington  Mining  association  which  had 
first  tried  smelting  unsuccessfully.  The  Krom  machines  for  dry  concen 
tration  were  tried,  but  the  mill  was  burned  before  a  fair  test  was  made.  The 
Clear  Creek  co.  had  in  1886  a  fifty -ton  mill  which  used  Krom's  improved 
dry  concentrators  with  profit,  on  low-grade  ores.  Rude  Cornish  hand-jigs 
and  buddies  had  been  in  use  from  the  discovery  of  silver;  but  George  Teel 
first  systematized  their  working  in  1873,  when,  as  sup't  of  the  Terrible  mine, 
he  induced  the  company  to  erect  a  25-ton  mill  using  the  Hartz  jigs,  settling- 
tanks,  and  slime-tables.  Teel,  Foster,  and  Eddy  erected  the  Silver  Plume  mill 
in  1875,  which  finally  failed  and  was  sold  to  Franklin  Ballou.  W.  W.  Rose 
&  Co.,  in  1875,  built  a  concentrating  mill  to  reduce  the  ores  of  the  New  Boston 
mine  on  Democrat  mountain,  which  failed  on  account  of  poor  ore.  John 
Collom,  after  10  years  of  experimenting,  had  a  mill  built  from  'designs 
of  his  own,  at  Idaho.  The  Dunderberg  co.  erected  at  their  mine,  in  1878-9, 
a  concentratmg-mill  of  40  tons  capacity,  with  5  Hartz  jigs,  and  improved 
machinery;  and  A.  P.  Stevens  erected  a  20-ton  mill  at  Lawson.  Several 
inventions  have  been  introduced  from  time  to  time,  but  none  that  have  been 
able  to  save  all  the  silver,  and  some  of  which  have  failed  entirely.  The 
Freeland  Mining  co.  erected  at  Idaho  springs,  in  1879,  the  best  appointed 
concentrating- mill  in  the  state  at  that  time,  with  a  capacity  of  115  tons  daily. 
It  used  12  Hartz  jigs  for  separating  the  worthless  rock  from  the  ore,  and  a 
rotary  circular  buddle  for  dividing  the  latter  into  pure  ore,  seconds,  and  tail 
ings,  and  saved  by  means  of  a  second  stamp-mill  all  that  the  rock  contained; 
but  the  ore  of  their  mine  ran  two  thirds  gold  to  one  third  of  copper,  silver, 
iron,  sulphur,  and  arsenic.  Then  there  were  the  Farwell  reduction-works, 
and  Pelican  reduction-works  at  Georgetown;  the  Colorado  United  Mining 
company,  the  Hukill  company  of  Spanish  Bar,  the  Miles  company  of  Idaho, 
wet  concentrating-mills;  the  Sunshine  of  Idaho,  the  Pioneer,  Knickerbocker, 
and  Bay  State  of  Empire,  raw  gold  ore  amalgamators.  The  ore-sampling, 
buying,  and  shipping  firms  were:  at  Georgetown,  Rocky  Mountain  mill, 
Matthews,  Morris  &  Co.,  established  in  1876,  burned,  and  rebuilt  in  1877; 
Washington  mill,  Olmstead  &  Ballou,  1872;  G.  W.  Hall  &  Co.,  1871-2;  Clear 
Creek  company,  1876;  J.  B.  Church,  1874;  P.  McCann,  Georgetown  and 
Lawson,  1877-8;  Silver  Plume,  Ballou  &  Co.,  1875;  Harry  Montgomery, 
Idaho  Springs,  1876.  The  number  of  men  directly  employed  in  mining, 
milling,  and  handling  ore  in  Clear  Creek  co.  was  estimated  by  Fossett  to  be 
2,000.  The  mines  have  returned  an  average  of  $3  per  day  for  the  men  thus 
employed,  and  have  at  the  same  time  been  advanced  nearly  or  quite  an  equal 
amount  in  value  by  each  day's  labor,  the  mining  property  of  Clear  Creek  co. 
being  estimated  at  $20,000,000,  which  was  what  the  county  had  produced 
in  gold,  silver,  lead,  and  copper  down  to  1880. 


MINES  AND  MINING.  589 

the  mines  were  down  to  any  great  depth.  The  Ter 
rible,  situated  on  Brown  mountain,  three  miles  from 
Georgetown,  had  reached  a  depth  of  1,300  feet.  The 
ore  at  this  depth  yielded  200  ounces  of  silver  to  the 
ton.  Twenty-five  or  thirty  other  large  mines  in  Sil 
ver  Plume  district  were  the  producing  mines  of  the 
county,  though  the  Dumont,  Idaho  springs,  Fall 
river,  Chicago  creek,  Atlantic,  and  Daily  districts 
were  promising,  and  some  yielding  well.  Not  more 
than  half  a  dozen  mines  used  pumps.  The  deeper 
mines  were  growing  richer.  Hence  the  inference 
that  this  country  has  before  it  a  long  and  prosperous 
career  at  mining.  The  population  in  1880  was  about 
8,000.  Georgetown,  the  county  seat,  is  situated  at 
the  head  of  a  level  valley,  with  mountains  towering 
above  it  covered  with  pine  and  veined  with  silver. 
It  has  a  population  of  3,500.  Higher,  and  at  the  foot 
of  Republican,  Sherman,  and  Leavenworfch  mountains, 
are  the  mining  towns  of  Silver  Plume  and  Brown- 
ville,  with  1,800  and  1,000  inhabitants  respectively. 
Notwithstanding  the  altitude  of  Georgetown,  8,504 
feet,  the  mountains  rise  so  much  above  it  that  half 
the  day's  sunshine  is  cut  off  except  in  midsummer.32 

32  Thomas  Cooper,  born  in  Kent,  Eng.,  migrated  to  the  U.  S.  in  1852,  and 
after  several  removes  and  a  visit  to  his  native  land  came  to  Colorado  in  1859, 
engaging  in.  placer  mining  with  success,  making  some  valuable  discoveries. 
He  became  one  of  the  owners  of  the  Champion. 

Frank  J.  Wood,  another  of  the  men  of  1859,  was  born  in  Ohio  in  1839, 
and  came  to  Colorado  from  Iowa.  His  first  location  was  at  Central,  where 
he  remained  at  mining  for  five  years,  making  considerable  money  which  he 
lo^t  in  speculation.  He  then  set  himself  up  in  merchandising  at  Empire,  but 
in  1867  removed  to  Georgetown,  where  he  opened  a  drug  store.  After  a 
time  he  sold  out  and  went  into  the  book  and  stationery  trade. 

F.  J.  Marshall,  who  organized  the  Marshall  Silver  Mining  company, 
which  sold  its  property  to  the  Colorado  Central  Consolidated  Mining  com 
pany,  and  has  been  connected  with  some  of  the  most  celebrated  mines  in  the 
county  and  state,  was  born  in  Va  in  1816.  He  founded  Marysville,  on  the 
Big  Blue  river,  Kansas.  He  was  a  member  of  the  first  and  second  legisla 
tures  of  Kansas.  In  the  struggle  of  1855  he  was  elected  by  the  legislature 
brigadier-general  of  militia,  and  afterward  promoted  to  be  major-general  and 
commander -in-chief  of  the  Kansas  militia.  In  1856  he  was  elected  governor 
under  the  Lecompton  constitution,  but  retired  to  private  life  in  1857.  Two 
years  afterward  he  came  to  Colorado,  and  after  a  few  years  settled  himself 
at  Georgetown. 

Charles  P.  Baldwin,  a  mining  man  of  Georgetown,  was  born  in  Maine  in 
1835.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion  he  raised  a  company  and  enlisted 
in  service  of  his  country,  being  promoted  until  he  reached  the  rand  of  briga- 


590  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

The  only  other  towns  of  any  note  in  the  county  are 
Idaho  springs,"  Freeland,  Empire  City,  Bakerville, 
Dumont,  and  Red  Elephant. 

dier-general.  He  was  president  of  the  board  appointed  to  audit  war  claims 
at  Richmond  after  Lee  s  surrender.  On  being  mustered  out  in  1866  he  came 
to  Colorado,  selecting  Georgetown  for  a  residence  on  account  of  the  silver 
mines.  After  prospecting  and  mining  for  a  time  he  purchased  the  Comet 
lode,  which  in  a  few  months  yielded  $10,000,  but  could  never  be  made  to  re 
peat  this  production.  In  1879  he  came  into  ownership  of  the  Magnet,  which 
for  a  long  time  was  a  rich  and  productive  property.  In  1884  he  was  ap 
pointed  manager  of  the  Terrible  group  of  miners.  He  was  a  man  of  good 
ability  and  commanded  the  respect  of  all. 

Russell  J.  Collins,  who  came  to  Georgetown  in  1866  fresh  from  the  army, 
in  which  he  had  served  as  surgeon  of  an  111.  regiment  during  the  war.  He 
was  born  in  N.  H.  in  1828,  and  graduated  from  Berkshire  college  iii  1851, 
afterward  practising  in  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. ,  and  in  111. 

George  W.  Hall,  born  in  N.  Y.  in  1825,  came  to  Colorado  in  I860,  engag 
ing  in  lumber  dealing  at  Central  and  at  Empire,  but  removing  rinally  to 
Georgetown  in  1868.  In  1878  he  engaged  actively  in  mining,  and  became 
manager  of  the  Colorado  Central  Consolidated  Mining  company's  mines, 
which  produced  $500,000  in  one  year. 

33  Idaho  Springs  was  the  first  settled  town  in  the  county.  It  was  within 
its  limits  that  the  first  mining  was  begun  in  1859  on  Chicago  bar.  About  200 
miners  were  attracted  thither,  many  of  whom  remained  over  winter,  and  iu 
1860  the  town  was  perceived  to  be  a  fixed  entity.  A  hotel  was  opened  in  a 
log  cabin,  kept  by  F.  W.  Beebe,  which  was  the  precursor  of  the  present  Beebe 
house.  Among  the  pioneers  of  1859  who  still  remained  in  1880  were  William 
Hobbs,  JohnNeedam,  and  A.  P.  Smith.  A.  M.  Noxon,  E.  F.  Holland,  R.  B. 
Griswold,  John  Silvertooth,  M.  B.  Graeff,  John  W.  Edwards,  and  others,  set 
tled  in  1860.  In  1861  religious  services  began  to  be  held  by  an  itinerant 
preacher  nicknamed  the  Arkansas  Traveller,  whose  real  name  was  Bunch, 
intermitted  with  sermons  by  another  preacher  named  Potts.  In  1860  the 
Hukill  quartz  mine  was  discovered,  and  in  1861  the  Seatoii  quartz  mine  and 
the  first  stamp  mill  erected.  And  in  this  year  the  county  was  organized, 
and  the  county  seat  located  at  Idaho  Springs.  It  was  not  until  1863  that 
any  attention  was  given  to  improving  the  hot  soda  springs,  when  E.  S. 
Cummings  erected  a  small  bathing  house.  In  1866  Harrison  Montague  pur 
chased  them  and  began  to  prepare  for  the  reception  of  visitors  and  invalids. 
Their  medicinal  qualities  and  nearness  to  Denver  have  made  them  a  popular 
resort  and  the  chosen  residence  of  a  number  of  wealthy  families.  The  tem 
perature  ranges  from  70°  to  110°  Fahr.  in  the  several  springs,  which  is  tempered 
to  use  by  water  from  Soda  creek.  The  altitude  of  the  springs  is  8,000  feet,  the 
scenery  attractive,  and  the  climate  agreeable.  In  1873  a  government  patent 
was  obtained  for  the  town-site,  and  a  board  of  trustees  organized,  with  R.  B. 
Griswold  president.  It  was  not  until  railroad  facilities  reached  it  that  the 
town  began  to  make  any  rapid  progress.  The  population  in  1884  was  between 
800  and  900. 

This  history  of  Idaho  Springs  is  only  a  proper  introduction  to  the  history 
of  the  present  county  seat  and  metropolis,  Georgetown.  In  1859  George  F. 
Griffith  and  D.  T.  Griffith,  his  brother,  while  prospecting  for  gold,  followed 
the  windings  of  South  Clear  creek  to  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  where 
Georgetown  now  stands,  and  discovered  the  Griffith  lode,  which  runs  into 
the  town-site.  Like  most  of  the  silver  fissure  mines,  it  showed  gold  at  the 
top,  and  was  rich.  Griffith  mining  district  was  organized  June  25,  1860,  after 
a  number  of  discoveries  had  been  made  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  first. 
George  F.  Griffith  was  the  first  recorder,  and  James  Burrell  first  president. 
About  the  same  time  the  town  was  laid  off,  and  named  Elizabethtown,  after 
a  sister  of  the  Griffiths,  A  rude  water-mill,  with  12  wooden,  iron-shod 


CONEJOS.  r>91 

Conejos  county,    first    named    Guadaloupe  by  the 
legislature  of  1861,  and  changed  during  the  same  ses- 

stamps,  pounded  out  the  gold  from  the  Griffith,  Burrell,  Corisannie,  and 
Nancy  lodes,  which  soon,  however,  betrayed  that  refractory  character  which 
paralyzed  mining  for  a  time.  For  two  weeks  in  1863  John  T.  Harris  was  the 
sole  denizen  of  the  town,  the  population  having  run  after  the  better  paying 
discoveries  at  Idaho,  Spanish  bar,  and  Empire,  leaving  Georgetown  to  deso 
lation.  In  1864-65  a  company  formed  in  the  east  erected  a  mill,  which,  on 
trial,  was  a  failure,  and  the  discovery  that  this  was  really  a  silver  district 
coming  about  the  same  time,  started  on  again  the  car  of  progress.  In  Sep 
tember  1864  Ex-provisional  Governor  R.  W.  Steele,  James  Huff,  and  Robert 
Layton  discovered  the  Belmont  lode,  in  East  Argentine  district,  which,  on 
being  assayed,  as  I  have  related,  established  the  argentiferous  character  of 
the  region  about  Georgetown.  From  this  time  its  prosperity  was  assured. 
In  1867  it  was  resurveyed  and  platted  by  Charles  Hoyt,  under  direction  of 
the  citizens,  and  the  name  changed  to  Georgetown,  by  vote  at  a  mass  meeting 
held  a  the  corner  of  Rose  and  Mary  streets.  At  the  general  election  of  this 
year  it  became  the  county  seat,  and  was  incorporated  in  Jan.  1868.  Under 
its  municipal  organization  its  first  police  judge  was  Frank  Dibdin.  The  se 
lectmen  of  the  1st  ward  were  W.  W.  Ware  and  Charles  Whitner;  of  the  2d 
ward,  H.  K.  Pearson  and  John  Scott.  The  Colorado  Miner  newspaper  was 
established  the  same  year,  by  J.  E.  Wharton  and  A.  W.  Barnard,  the  office 
being  in  a  12  by  14  building  in  the  lower  town.  About  the  same  time  the  pub 
lic  school  was  organized,  Miss  L.  H.  Lander  being  the  first  teacher.  She  was 
drowned  in  Clear  creek  about  the  last  of  June,  1867,  slipping  from  the  foot- 
log  used  as  a  bridge.  In  1870  tiie  mining  camp  of  Silver  Plume,  two  miles 
above  Georgetown,  was  first  settled,  and  named  after  the  mine,  which  has 
since  become  famous  and  given  its  name  to  the  district,  which  contains  many 
of  the  most  important  mines  in  the  county.  The  richness  of  the  Dives,  Peli 
can,  and  other  mines  provoked  cupidity,  and  consequent  litigation,  which  for 
years  netted  a  rich  profit  to  the  legal  fraternity.  The  Terrible  was  at  length 
sold  to  an  English  company,  which  has  liberally  aided  its  development. 
Georgetown  receives  the  benefit  of  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  these 
mines,  besides  being  the  seat  of  most  of  the  reduction-works  of  the  county. 
Unlike  the  more  modern  towns  of  Colorado,  little  care  was  bestowed  upon 
streets  or  buildings,  although  the  character  of  the  latter  soon  improved.  It 
had  an  excellent  public  school,  and  several  churches.  The  methodists  organ 
ized  in  1864,  B.  T.  Vincent,  preacher  at  Central  City,  officiating.  They 
erected  a  church,  costing  $8,000,  in  1869.  The  presbyterian  church  organized 
in  1869,  and  erected  a  stone  edifice  in  1874.  The  episcopalians  first  organ 
ized  in  1867,  F.  W.  Winslow  rector,  and  built  a  small  church  in  1869,  which 
was  destroyed  by  a  hurricane  soon  after  its  completion.  It  was  rebuilt,  and 
in  1877  received  a  large  pipe-organ,  the  first  in  Georgetown.  The  catholics, 
as  usual,  secured  a  valuable  block  of  land  when  the  town  was  first  laid  out, 
Thomas  Foley  being  their  first  pastor.  In  1872  they  built  a  small  wooden 
church,  and  in  1875  a  brick  edifice,  costing  $12.000.  Georgetown  possesses  a 
good  system  of  water- works.  The  company  was  organized  in  1874.  The 
town  has  also  a  fire  department,  consisting  of  several  companies.  At  a  tour 
nament,  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  state  association,  at  Georgetown,  the 
Alpine  hose  company  won  the  first  prize,  consisting  of  a  silver  tea-set  and  a 
brass  cannon.  In  a  contest  with  a  Denver  company  the  same  year,  the  Bates 
hose  company  of  Georgetown  were  victorious.  In  1879,  with  the  other 
Georgetown  companies,  they  took  the  first  prize  of  $150  at  both  the  hose  and 
hook-and-ladder  races,  and  later  in  the  year,  at  the  state  tournament  in  Den 
ver,  again  took  the  first  prize  in  the  hose  race.  The  Star  hook-and-ladder 
company  has  also  won  a  long  list  of  prizes.  Among  them  area  silk  flag,  pre 
sented  by  the  women  of  Georgetown,  and  two  silver  trumpets.  At  the  state 
tournament  at  Georgetown,  in  1877,  they  were  victorious,  and  at  a  tourna- 


592  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

sion  to  Conejos,  was  until  the  advent  of  the  railway 
inhabited  almost  exclusively  by  a  Spanish- American 

meiit  at  Cheyenne,  in  July  1878,  they  won  $50.  In  August  of  the  same  year 
they  took  the  champion  belt  at  the  state  tournament  held  at  Pueblo,  and  $75 
in  gold.  Georgetown  has  a  public  hospital,  and  a  number  of  secret  and  be 
nevolent  orders  and  societies.  The  man  who  sawed  the  lumber  to  build  the 
first  frame  houses  in  Idaho  Springs  was  William  F.  Doherty.  He  was  born 
in  Me  in  1837.  He  learned  the  trade  of  an  iron-moulder,  working  thereat, 
and  making  occasional  voyages  to  sea.  In  1862  he  enlisted  in  the  1st  R.  I. 
cavalry,  was  in  several  important  engagements,  and  carried  the  colors  in 
Sheridan's  famous  ride,  in  Oct.  1864.  He  was  mustered  out  in  Feb.  1865, 
and  came  to  Colorado  in  May  following.  After  mining  at  Black  Hawk  one 
year  he  settled  at  Idaho  Springs,  where,  as  miner  and  lumberman,  he  resided 
continuously.  In  1884  he  purchased  the  Spa  hotel. 

F.  F.  Obiston,  born  in  England  in  1843,  came  to  the  U.  S.  as  secretary  of 
the  Washoe  Mining  company  of  Reno,  Nev.,  in  1864,  where  he  remained  two 
years.  He  was  afterward  supt  of  different  mines  on  the  Comstock,  and  came 
to  Colo  in  1879,  when  he  purchased,  in  company  with  J.  W.  Mackay,  the 
Freeland  mine,  which  produced,  in  the  6  years  following,  §2,000,000.  He 
also  purchased,  with  Mackay,  the  Plutus,  another  valuable  mine.  The  two 
mines  together  produced  $20,000  per  month.  The  Freeland  mine,  in  1855, 
had  two  miles  of  tunnelling.  The  property  is  over  a  mile  in  length,  and  is 
situated  on  South  Clear  creek,  4  miles  from  Idaho  springs,  and  ttwo  miles 
from  the  Colorado  Central  raildroad. 

B.  D.  Allen,  born  in  Ohio  in  1845  came  to  Colorado  in  1880.     He  was 


of  ore  per  month,  or  about  three  fourths  of  all  the  output  of  the  district. 

The  only  other  town  in  Clear  Creek  county  in  1886,  with  a  history,  was 
Empire.  In  the  spring  of  1860  a  few  prospectors  from  Spanish  bar,  a  small 
district  contigiious  to  Idaho  springs,  namely,  George  Merrill,  Joseph  Musser, 
George  L.  Nicholls,  and  D.  C.  Skinner,  temporarily  organized  Union  district 
for  placer  mining,  and  founded  a  settlement,  Merrill  and  Musser  erecting  the 
first  cabin.  Dr  Bard,  after  whom  Bard  creek  is  named,  drove  the  first  wagon 
into  the  new  town.  About  August  1st  Edgar  Freeman  and  H.  C.  Cowles 
came  across  the  mountains  from  Central.  Prospecting  on  Eureka  mountain, 
they  picked  up  some  bits  of  wire  gold,  and,  stimulated  by  this  discovery, 
continued  with  others  to  search  for  mines  of  gold  and  silver  in  the  district. 
In  Sept.  D.  C.  Dailey  &  Co.  discovered  a  lode  which  they  believed  to  be  sil 
ver,  naming  the  mountain  where  it  was  found  Silver  mountain,  and  the  lode 
Empire.  The  Keystone  lode  was  discovered  about  the  same  time.  The  min 
ers  at  once  proceeded  to  complete  the  organization  of  the  district,  electing, 
in  Dec.,  Henry  Hill  pres.,  H.  C.  Cowles  miners'  judge,  D.  J.  Ball  clerk  and 
recorder,  James  Ross  sheriff,  and  George  L.  Nicholls  surveyor,  all  of  whom 
remained  in  office  until  the  organization  of  the  territory.  Some  further  de 
velopment  of  the  mines  in  Union  district  showed  them  to  be  auriferous,  and 
population  flowed  in  from  the  adjoining  districts.  The  settlement  took  the 
name  of  Empire  City,  and  was  surveyed  and  laid  off  in  lots  and  blocks  by 
G.  L.  Nicholls,  H.  C.  Cowles,  D.  J.  Ball,  and  Ed.  Freeman.  The  enthusiasm 
of  the  first  set-to  at  quartz-mining  received  a  check  when  the  owners  of  lodes 
had  come  down  to  pyrites,  and  the  flush  times  of  Empire  were  over  in  1865; 
but  ever  since  the  art  of  mining  properly  and  profitably  began  to  be  mas 
tered,  the  mines  about  Empire  have  steadily  yielded  a  golden  return.  The 
town,  albeit  it  is  a  prettily  situated  spot,  has  never  returned  to  the  anima 
tion  of  its  first  days,  and  remains  but  a  miners'  camp. 

Lawson,  a  mining  camp  six  miles  below  Georgetown,  named  after  Alex 
ander  Lawson,  owes  its  existence  to  the  Red  Elephant  group  of  mines,  dis 
covered  in  1876.  Dumont,  two  miles  below,  was  formerly  known  as  Mill 


COSTILLA.  593 

or  Mexican  population,  which,  while  they  sent  mem 
bers  to  the  general  assembly,  maintained  little  com 
munication  with  the  United  States  Americans  to  the 
north  of  them.34 

City,  but  in  1880  had  its  name  changed  in  honor  of  John  M.  Dumont,  one  of 
the  pioneers  of  the  county.  The  other  settlements  are  Bakerville,  Baltimore 
Tunnel,  Bear  Creek,  Big  Bar,  Brook  Vale,  Burleigh  Tunnel,  Camp  Clifford, 
Downerville,  Dry  Gulch,  Elephant,  Fall  River,  Floyd  Hill,  Freeland,  Gilson's 
Gulch,  Grass  Valley,  Green  Lake,  Hukill,  North  Empire,  Seaton  Hill,  Silver 
Creek,  Silver  Dale,  South  Clear  Creek,  Spring  Gulch,  Stephensville,  Stevens* 
Mine,  Swansea,  Yankee  Bar,  and  York  River. 

34  An  exception  to  the  rule  was  Antonio  D.  Archuleta,  born  in  Taos,  N. 
M.,  in  1855,  and  removed  to  Conejos  co.  in  1856.  He  was  sent  to  Denver  in 
1870  to  be  educated,  where  he  remained  4  years,  when  he  returned  to  Conejos 
to  act  as  clerk  in  his  father's  store,  and  became  a  partner.  He  was  elected 
to  the  general  assembly  in  1882,  and  in  1884  to  the  state  senate.  The  boun 
daries  of  the  county  have  been  several  times  changed  and  diminished,  but  it 
still  contains  a  large  area,  much  of  which  lies  in  the  fertile  San  Luis  valley. 
The  principal  industries  in  the  a  nte-railroad  period  were  wheat-raising,  wool- 
growing,  and  cattle-raising.  The  farming  productions  found  a  ready  market 
in  the  San  Juan  mines  to  the  west,  but  such  was  the  race  prejudice  of  the 
Mexicans  that  when  the  active  American  population  began  to  invade  this 
region,  many  abandoned  it.  Those  who  were  left  were  chiefly  employed  as 
freighters.  In  1879  a  colony  of  Mormons  settled  at  Manassas,  on  Conejos 
creek,  and  these  will  probably  affect  the  agricultural  output  of  the  county 
favorably.  An  immigration  of  Scandinavians  was  invited  to  this  section  in 
1882,  which  will  add  to  the  farming  population  a  valuable  element.  Irrigat 
ing  ditches  are  being  constructed,  which  will  bring  a  large  body  of  land 
under  cultivable  conditions.  Its  mineral  wealth  is  very  little  developed.  The 
original  county  seat  was  at  Guadaloupita,  but  was  changed  to  Conejos,  a 
Mexican  town,  and  has  a  good  local  trade.  Alamosa  is,  however,  the  prin 
cipal  town,  having  connection  with  Santa  Fe,  Pueblo,  and  the  San  Juan 
country.  It  is  situated  on  the  west  side  of  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte,  almost 
in  the  centre  of  San  Luis  park,  at  an  ebvation  of  7,492  feet,  with  a  pano 
rama  of  mountain  views  skirting  the  plain  on  every  side.  Aside  from  its 
fine  situation  it  is  a  thriving  place.  It  was  founded  in  June  1878.  In  the 
first  six  months  the  sales  of  merchandise  reached  $600,000.  The  population 
at  the  end  of  a  year  was  500.  A  large  amount  of  freighting  was  done  in 
wool,  pelts,  hides,  machinery,  and  bullion.  Colorado  Condensed,  6-7.  This  is 
a  pamphlet  collated  in  1883  by  the  editor  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  News,  which 
furnishes  a  few  paragraphs  on  the  several  counties,  chiefly  with  regard  to 
their  present  condition.  Fossett's  Colorado,  85-6,  also  furnishes  a  few  hints 
of  the  recent  advancement  of  Conejos  county,  and  the  Colorado  Gazetteer  of 
1871  portions  of  its  earlier  history,  but  the  whole  is  incomplete,  owing  to  the 
avoidance  of  the  Americans  by  the  Mexicans,  and  the  little  known  of  the 
latter  by  the  former.  Pagosa  Springs  is  a  government  reservation  withheld 
from  sale  on  account  of  the  great  hot  basin  of  medicinal  waters,  which  is 
found  here.  The  spring  is  situated  west  from  Alamosa,  on  the  south  side  of 
the  San  Juan  river,  near  its  headwaters.  Its  altitude  is  7,084  feet,  the 
country  about  it  is  fertile,  and  the  climate  agreeable,  a  combination  of 
advantages  which,  united  with  scenic  and  other  attractions,  promises  to 
make  this  a  noted  resort  whenever  the  required  improvements  are  made  for 
the  accommodation  of  visitors.  Antonita  is  a  town  which  had  a  rapid 
growth.  The  lesser  towns  and  settlements  of  Conejos  co.  are  Amargo, 
Antonio,  Camp  Lewis,  Capulin,  Carracas,  Chama,  Cockrell,  Coxo,  Codyville, 
Cumbres,  Ephraim,  Fuertecitos,  Gato,  Juanita,  Jackson,  La  Jara,  Lava,  Los 
Brazos,  Los  Pinos,  Los  Rincones,  Los  Serribos,  Navajo,  Osier,  Piedra,  Price, 
HIST.  NEV.  38 


594  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

Costilla  county  was  originally  larger  than  at  pres 
ent.30  Its  characteristics  and  history  are  similar  to 
those  of  Conejos,  having  a  Mexican  population,  and 
embracing  a  portion  of  the  San  Luis  valley  or  park. 
A  part,  also,  of  the  county  is  claimed  as  belonging  to 
the  Sangre  de  Cristo,  or  Beaubien  grant,  and  is 
unsurveyed.36 

Rincones,  Rio  Grande,  Rivane,  San  Antonio,   San  Jose,  San  Rafael,  Serro 
Largo   Servilleta,  Sheldon,  Shultze  Rancho,  and  Spring  Creek. 

35 For  earlier  county  boundaries,  see  Gen.  Laws,  Colo,  1861,  52-7;  Id., 
1864,  68-9;  Id.,  1877,  186-216. 

36  The  history  of  this  grant  is  given  in  a  manuscript  by  Cutler,  of  the  Den 
ver  Journal  of  Commerce,  in  my  possession,   as  follows:     A  few  years  before 
the  Mexican  war  two  Canadians,  Charles  Beaubien  and  Miranda,  settled  at 
Taos,  then  a  state  of  the  republic  of  New  Mexico,  under  the  dictatorship  of 
Santa  Anna.     The  local  governor  of  Taos  was  Armijo,  a  Mexican  of  culture 
and  liberal  ideas.     He  had  for  a  secretary  and  confidential  adviser  Charles 
Bent,  the  same  who  was  made  military  governor  of  New  Mexico  by  Gen. 
Kearny  when  the  U.  S.  acquired  that  territory,  and  who  was  killed  in  the 
massacre  of  Taos  not  long  after.     The  Frenchmen  above  named  obtained  by 
purchase  a  large  tract  of  desert  country,   lying  north  of  Red  river,  the  chief 
consideration  being  their  promise  to  induce  an  immigration  from  Canada  and 
France,  an  obligation  which  they  never  fulfilled,  although  the  grant  was  ap 
proved  by  the  Mexican  government,  and  signed  and  sealed  by  Santa  Anna. 
Lucien  Maxwell  married  the  daughter  of  Beaubien,   and  purchased  of  his 
father-in-law  for  a  small  sum  all  that  part  of  the  grant  lying  north  of  Red 
river,  and  between  that  stream  and  the  Raton  mountains.     He  erected  a  fine 
house  on  the  Cimarron,  where  he  entertained  in   good  old  feudal  style,  sur 
rounded  by  his  dependents,  and  owning  immense  herds  of  cattle,  sheep,  and 
blooded  horses,  employing  as  herders  all  the  Cimarrons.     About  1869  Wilson 
Waddington,  Jerome  B.  Chaffee,  and  George  M.  Chilcott  purchased  the  Max 
well  grant  for  an  English  syndicate,  each  of  them  making  a  fortune  out  of  it. 
The  English  company  bonded  the  land  in  Holland  as  security  for  a  large 
amount  of  money,  and  when  the  loan  became  due  allowed  it  to  be  sold.     But 
the  Dutch  proprietors  in  a  few  years  tired  of  their  useless  possessions,  and 
the  land  was  sold  year  after  year  for  taxes.     Their  agent  in  New  York  was 
Frank  Sherwin,  who  bought  in  the  shares  of  the  Holland  firm  as  he  could 
obtain  them  until  he  became  proprietor,  and  then  he  laid  claim  to  a  wide  belt 
of  land  on  the  north-west  border  of  the  grant,  extending  over  the   Raton 
mountains   into  Costilla    county,   Colorado.     Mining   in  this  county   is   of 
late   beginning,  but    promises   well.     Its   iron   mines  include  some  of    the 
largest   bodies  of  that  metal  yet  found   in  the  state,   the  ore   taken   from 
here  being  smelted  at  Pueblo  and  Denver.     The  first  county  seat  was  San 
Miguel,  changed  to  San  Luis,  the  principal  town  in  the  county.     The  only 
other  town  of  any  note  is  Placer.     Antonio  A.  Salaza,  born  at  Abiquiu,  N. 
M,,  in  1848,  began  herding  sheep  at  10  years  of  age,  remaining  at  that  occu 
pation  6  years,  when  he  went  to  work  in  a  general  store  in  San  Luis,  becom 
ing  clerk,  then  treasurer  of  the  county  for  two  years,  next,  a  stock-raiser  and 
a  merchant.     He  was  elected  to  the  general  assembly  in  1880,  and  to  the  state 
senate  in  1882.     He  never  spent  a  day  in  school,  and  acquired  his  education 
by  night  study.     The  following  are  the  settlements  in  the  county  :  Big  Bend, 
Big  Hill,  Charmer,  Conlon's  Ferry,  Costilla,  Elkhorn,  Fort  Garland,  Garland 
City,   Grayback,  La  Trinchera,  Lojefca,  Medano  Springs,  Mountain  Home, 
Orean,  Russell,  San  Accacio,  Sangre  de  Cristo,  San  Pedro,  Spalding,  Under 
bill,  Upper  Culebra,  Valles,  Wayside,  Wilcox,  Williams. 


CUSTER,  DELTA.  595 

Custer,  formerly  a  portion  of  Fremont,  from  which 
it  was  cut  off  in  1877,  is  a  small  county,  lying  on  the 
east  slope  of  the  Sangre  de  Cristo  range.  It  con 
tains  the  El  Mojada  or  Wet  mountain  valley,  an  ele 
vated  basin  with  an  undulating  surface,  sentineled  by 
lofty  peaks,  and  offering  some  of  the  finest  scenery  in 
the  state.  The  extent  of  the  valley,  which  is  watered 
by  Grape  creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Arkansas  river,  is 
twenty-five  miles  in  length  by  ten  in  width.  Its  ele 
vation,  from  6,500  to  7,000  feet,  does  not  prevent  it 
being  a  good  farming  region,  although  the  lower  and 
smaller  Hardscrabble  valley,  twenty  miles  east,  is 
more  productive,  with  a  shorter  and  less  severe  win 
ter  season.  Wet  mountain  valley  was  for  some  years 
overlooked  or  neglected,  owing  to  the  difficulty,  or 
rather,  impossibility,  of  taking  wagons  through  the 
canons  of  Oak  and  Hardscrabble  creeks  leading  into 
it;  and  although  it  was  prospected  for  minerals  in 
1863,  it  had  not  a  single  settler  before  1869.  It  was 
selected  about  this  time  for  the  seat  of  a  German  col 
ony  numbering  367  souls,  who  settled  there  in  1870.37 

37  The  first  prospectors  in  the  valley  were  S.  Smith,  Melrose,  and  Wetmore, 
of  Pueblo.  The  first  settlers,  in  1869,  were  Voris,  Home,  and  Taylor,  who 
took  land  claims  that  year.  Brinckley  &  Hartwell,  Southern  Colo,  99.  The 
history  of  the  Colfax  Agricultural  and  Industrial  Colonization  company  is  as 
follows  :  Prof.  Carl  Wulsten,  impelled  by  a  desire  to  ameliorate  the  condition 
of  persons  of  his  own  nationality,  '  condemned  by  a  cruel  fate  to  work  in 
greasy,  ill-ventilated,  and  nerve-destroying  factories  of  the  great  city  of  Chi 
cago,'  formed  a  colony  of  about  100  families,  and  brought  them  to  V7et 
Mountain  valley,  in  his  eyes  a  paradise  of  beauty,  fertility,  and  health-giving 
air.  But  the  colonists,  used  to  city  habits,  and  at  a  loss  what  to  do  in  a  naked 
country,  however  beautiful,  proved  ungrateful  for  the  favor  conferred,  and  in 
6  months  the  organization  had  collapsed,  every  man  following  his  own  devices. 
It  was  doubtless  best  so,  for  every  one  of  the  colonists  was  in  a  few  years  in 
good  circumstances,  and  the  benefit  aimed  at  was  achieved  independently  of 
organization.  About  30  families  took  land  claims,  which  speedily  became 
productive  farms;  the  others  went  to  different  parts  of  the  territory,  but  all 
remaining  in  it.  William  Ackelbein,  John  and  William  Knuth,  0.  Groeske, 
Carson  Kunrath,  William  Shultz,  Ruester,  father  and  son,  Dietz,  Menzel, 
Klose,  John  and  Frederick  Piorth,  Kettler,  Philips,  Katzenstein,  Henjes, 
Falkenberg,  and  others  were  among  those  who  remained.  Abstract  of  an  ac 
count  of  the  colony,  by  its  founder,  in  Brinckley  and  HartiwlTs  Colo,  106-7. 
Roads  were  made,  farms  opened,  and  the  colonists,  being  joined  by  others, 
soon  made  this  portion  of  Fremont  county  blossom  as  the  rose.  But  had  it 
remained  purely  an  agricultural  community,  its  separate  organization  as  Cus 
ter  county  might  not  have  occurred.  The  ubiquitous  prospector,  in  the  per 
sons  of  Daniel  Baker  and  C,  M,  Grimeg,  from  Black  Hawk,  discovered  a 


596  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

Delta  is  a  new  county,  cut  off  from  Gunnison  in 
February  1883,  lying  on  both  sides  of  the  north  fork 
of  Gunnison  river.  What  has  been  said  of  the  lead 
ing  features  of  the  Gunnison  country  in  a  previous 

crevice  containing  metal  in  1871.  Grimes  was  a  pioneer,  and  had  been  a  lead 
ing  man  in  Gilpin  co.  as  sheriff  and  territorial  representative.  He  was  of  that 
genial,  liberal,  merry  making  disposition  which  secured  for  him  the  affection 
ate  appellation  of  'old  Grimes,'  according  to  mountain  custom.  Wulsten,  in 
1860,  took  to  Chicago  pieces  of  rock  from  the  vicinity  of  later  discoveries  at 
Gold  Hill,  which  assayed  1  j  ounces  in  gold,  and  37  ounces  in  silver,  per  ton. 
The  Black  Hawk  mine,  later  called  the  Senator,  began  to  pay  in  1873;  the 
Pocahontas  and  Humboldt  in  1874.  These  were  the  initial  point  in  the  mining 
district  named  Hardscrabble,  in  which  more  than  600  locations  were  made 
previous  to  1874.  Mining  was  carried  on,  and  some  small  smelters  introduced, 
but  no  excitement  was  created  for  some  years.  Meantime,  the  mining  town 
of  Rosita  had  grown  up.  overshadowing  the  pioneer  settlement  of  Ula,  situ 
ated  on  Grape  creek,  in  a  location  thought  favorable  to  future  greatness. 
Joseph  A.  Davis  was  the  first  settler  at  Ula,  in  Sept.  1871.  Soon  after  he 
erected  the  Ula  hotel,  and  kept  a  store  in  it.  The  town  grew,  and  the  peo 
ple  having  petitioned  for  a  post-office,  it  was  established,  under  the  name  of 
Ula,  at  Davis'  store.  The  Wet  Mountain  Valley  Library  association  was 
founded  in  1874  by  R.  S.  Sweetland  and  Dr  Richter,  who  was  one  of  the  ori 
ginal  colonists.  The  interests  of  the  district  and  valley  seeming  to  demand 
it,  the  legislature  created  the  county  of  Custer  in  March  1877,  and  the  com 
missioners,  R.  S.  Sweetland,  H.  E.  Austin,  and  T.  W.  Hull,  named  Ula  as 
the  county  seat,  but  it  was  removed  soon  after,  by  election,  to  Rosita.  This 
step  in  advance  was  greatly  hastened  by  the  remarkable  discovery  of  the 
Maine  gold  and  silver  mine,  by  Edmund  C.  Bassick,  who  named  it  after  his 
native  state.  This  was  in  many  respects  a  phenomenal  mine,  consisting  of  a 
chimney  of  circular  form,  filled  with  boulders,  and  from  six  to  25  feet  in 
diameter.  The  ores,  both  of  gold  and  silver,  were  new  to  mineralogists. 
They  consisted  of  a  true  conglomerate,  the  kernels  of  which  were  trachytic, 
prophjTy,  and  quartz,  encased  in  a  cement  of  a  telluride  of  gold  and  silver, 
exceeedingly  rich.  For  instance,  a  lump  1 2  inches  long  and  wide  and  six  inches 
in  thickness  weighed  43  pounds,  and  assayed  §7,000  per  ton.  Engineering  and 
Mining  Journal  in  Yankee  Fork  Herald,  Oct.  18,  1879.  The  proportion  of 
gold  and  silver  was  70  per  cent  of  the  former  to  30  of  the  latter.  Some  of 
these  nodules  had  the  telluride  coating  covered  with  crystallized  blende  and 
copper  pyrites.  Altogether,  the  Bassick  mine  was  a  discovery  of  much  inter 
est  to  the  scientific  world,  as  it  was  of  profit  to  its  finder,  for  it  sold  for  over 
$1 ,000,000  when  it  was  down  nearly  3<X)  feet.  Its  yearly  yield  after  1880  was 
nearly  81,000,000.  The  Bassick  mine,  as  it  is  now  called,  was  situated  on 
the  top  of  a  conical  hill,  two  miles  and  a  half  north-west  from  Rosita;  and 
it  appeared  as  if  it  might  have  been  at  some  period  of  the  earth's  history  a  gey 
ser  which  had  built  this  mound.  The  suggestion  led  to  prospecting  in  the 
direction  of  other  similar  eminences,  and  the  discovery,  three  miles  westerly 
from  Rosita,  of  the  Golden  Eagle,  a  true  fissure  vein  in  black  granite,  carry 
ing  from  two  to  five  ounces  of  free  gold  per  ton. 

In  1878  a  miner  named  Edwards,  while  passing  by  a  long  sloping  hill 
which  from  its  abrupt  termination  at  one  end  was  called  the  cliff,  knocked 
off  a  piece  of  rock,  which  he  had  assayed,  and  which  returned  twenty-seven 
ounces  in  silver  per  ton,  not  enough  to  pay  the  expense  of  smeltiug.  He 
thought  no  more  of  it  for  several  months,  when,  weary  of  unfruitful  prospect 
ing,  he  returned  Avith  his  partner,  Powell,  to  the  cliff,  and  soon  found  rock 
which  assayed  $1,700  per  ton.  Taking  in  another  partner.  Spoffard,  they 
made  further  investigations,  and  located  the  mines  later  celebrated  as  the 
Racine  Boy,  Horn  Silver  and  Plata  Verde  situated  on  the  mountain  which 


DOLORES,  DOUGLAS.  597 

chapter  pertains  also  to  this  division.  The  town  of 
Delta  is  the  county  seat.  Escalante  and  Dominguez 
are  two  other  new  towns. 

Dolores  county  was  established   in  1881.     It  con 
tains  in  its  eastern   part  the  great  carbonate  district 

they  called  Silver  Cliff.  This  district  soon  bade  fair  to  rival  Leadville,  the  ores 
being  chlorides,  which  needed  no  roasting.  In  1879  the  discovery  mine  was 
sold  in  New  York  to  Senator  Jones,  of  Nevada,  and  James  Keene,  and  stocked 
for  $10,000,000.  The  other  two  sold  equally  well.  Other  chloride  mines 
were  soon  after  discovered,  and  more  recently  a  second  mine,  like  the  Bassick, 
called  the  Bull  Domingo.  I  have  not  space  to  mention  the  many  important 
mineral  discoveries  which  have  made  the  new  and  small  county  of  Custer 
notable  and  prosperous  among  its  older  neighbors.  Its  most  important  towns 
are  Rosita  and  Silver  Cliff,  besides  which  there  are  several  busy  mining 
camps.  Rosita.  that  is  to  say,  little  rose,  was  founded  early  in  1873,  as  the 
capital  of  the  mining  district  of  Hardscrabble,  organized  Nov.  loth  of  the 
year  previous.  The  miners  gathered  in  the  district  at  this  time  were  the 
Remine  brothers  from  Central  City,  Jarvis  and  son  from  Georgetown,  School- 
field  brothers  from  Mill  City,  Jasper  Brown  from  Fort  Garland,  Hedges,  V. 
B.  Hoyt,  James  Pringle,  William  J.  Robinson,  Charles  Ragnan,  Nicholas 
Mast,  Thomas  Barrett,  and  John  Palmer.  When  the  town  was  laid  off 
Frank  S.  Roff  was  the  first  blacksmith — he  was  afterward  mayor  of  Silver 
Cliff — Frank  Kirkham  and  Lewis  Herfort,  storekeepers,  James  Duncan  and 
Charles  Nelson,  carpenters,  James  A.  Gooch,  afterward  postmaster,  George 
S.  Adams,  the  first  lawyer,  J.  M.  Hobson,  Woodruff  brothers,  Alexander  and 
Thomas  Thornton,  Charles  Fisher,  keeper  of  the  first  meat  market,  and  livery 
stable,  Ed  C.  Smith,  saloon  keeper,  John  Hahnenkratt,  boarding  house  keeper 
for  the  Hoyt  Mining  company,  who  afterward  built  the  Grand  View  hotel, 
A.  V.  Temple,  who  surveyed  the  town  site,  Malcolm  C.  Duncan,  and  others. 
In  the  autumn  of  1874  the  town  consisted  of  400  houses,  with  over  1,000 
inhabitants.  It  had  by  this  time  several  stores  and  hotels,  a  newspaper,  the 
Rosita  Index,  owned  by  Charles  Baker,  and  edited  by  Lane  Posey,  and  a 
bank,  owned  by  Boyd  and  Stewart.  These  bankers  claimed  to  have  secured 
an  interest  in  the  Pocahontas  mine,  which  was  in  possession  of  Herr  broth 
ers,  and,  aided  by  the  superintendent,  Topping,  assumed  tne  management, 
Topping  retaining  most  of  the  miners,  and  keeping  a  reserve  of  rough  char 
acters  to  fight,  if  fighting  it  came  to,  in  the  struggle  for  mastery.  The 
leader  of  this  gang  was  one  Graham,  an  ex-convict.  James  Pringle  having 
been  wounded  by  one  of  Graham's  men,  without  provocation,  a  committee 
of  safety  was  organized,  the  roads  guarded  to  prevent  escape,  and  the  mine 
surrounded.  Graham  appearing,  armed,  was  ordered  to  surrender,  but  turn 
ing  to  fly  was  shot  down.  The  remainder  of  the  gang  attempted  to  escape 
in  a  body,  but  were  intercepted,  and  being  much  frightened  at  the  attitude 
of  the  citizens,  displayed  a  white  flag,  and  were  finally  permitted  to  leave 
town.  Boyd.  who  had  been  seized  and  confined,  was  also  permitted  to  depart. 
Stewart  had  already  fled.  It  was  later  discovered  that  he  was  a  forger,  be 
ing  sought  by  the  police  of  New  York,  having  served  a  20  years'  term  in  the 
Sing  Sing  state  prison.  Thus  ended  an  attempt  at  the  piracy  of  a  mine. 
The  same  property  was  embarrassed  by  litigation,  in  which  Ballard  of  Ky 
figured,  but  ultimately  emerged  from  its  troubles  to  be  a  good  property. 
There  were  the  usual  unsuccessful  attempts  at  the  reduction  of  ores,  but  the 
Penn.  works  situated  in  the  town,  erected  to  treat  the  Humboldt  ores,  per 
formed  the  same  for  other  mines.  The  richer  ores  were  sent  to  Cafion  City 
or  Pueblo.  The  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  extended  a  branch  to  Silver  Cliff  in 
1881,  which  facilitated  their  transportation.  The  population  in  1880  was 
1,200.  Elevation,  of  the  town  8,200. 


598  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

of  the  San  Juan  country  already  described,  and  in  its 
western  part  good  grazing  grounds,  which,  if  irrigated, 
would  be  cultivable.  Rico  is  the  county  seat,  and  the 
seat  of  the  smelters  erected  to  reduce  the  rich  ores  of 
the  district  to  bullion.  The  population  in  1883  was 
2,000,  of  which  750  were  at  Rico.  Bowen,  Narra- 
quinep  Spring,  and  Dolores  are  rising  towns.  The 
assessed  valuation  was  $552,310,  and  the  bullion  pro 
duction  $200,000.  Besides  silver  and  gold  mines, 
some  of  the  best  coal  in  the  state  is  found  here. 

Douglas  county  was  organized  by  the  first  terri 
torial  legislature,  since  which  time  it  has  lost  the 
larger  portion  of  its  area.  It  resembles  Arapahoe, 
which  it  adjoins,  and  is  principally  occupied  by  a  graz 
ing  and  farming  population,  with  dealers  in  lumber 
and  building  stone,  which  find  a  ready  market  in  Den- 

Silver  Cliff  took  root  with  the  erection  of  the  first  house  in  Sept.  1878  by 
Mcllhenney  and  Wilson,  and  grew  so  surprisingly  that  when  it  was  a  year 
old  it  had  1,200  inhabitants  and  houses  for  their  accommodation,  with  all  the 
usual  concomitants  of  comfortable  living,  and  some  of  the  luxuries  of  older 
communities.  The  town  site  was  patented  Dec.  8,  1879.  The  population 
was  at  one  time  4,000,  but  since  the  rush  has  passed  has  settled  back  to  1,500. 
Mills  and  reduction  works  are  being  introduced.  In  1882  the  Silver  Cliff 
mines  were  under  a  cloud  from  the  difficulty  of  finding  the  exact  processes 
for  the  deeper  ores,  none,  however,  except  one,  being  down  more  than  700 
feet,  the  Humboldt  being  1,800.  At  this  time  there  was  a  40-stanip  mill  in 
operation  on  the  property  of  the  Silver  Cliff  Mills  company,  treating  100 
tons  daily  of  the  Racine  Boy  ore.  The  sampling  establishment  of  the 
Milling  company,  with  a  capacity  of  50  tons  daily,  adjoined  the  mill.  The 
Plata  Verde  also  had  a  40-stamp  mill  near  the  town,  which  was  the  base  of 
supplies  for  these  works.  The  town  was  incorporated  in  1879.  Its  first 
mayor,  elected  in  Feb.,  was  J.  J.  Smith;  recorder,  G-.  B.  McAulay;  trustees, 
Frank  S.  Roff,  Walter  B.  Janness,  Mark  W.  Atkins,  Samuel  Baeden.  In 
April  Roff  was  chosen  mayor;  Webb  L.  Allen,  Samuel  Baeden,  Samuel  Wat 
son,  and  0.  E.  Henry,  trustees.  In  April  1880  S.  A.  Squire  was  chosen 
mayor;  C.  D.  Wright,  recorder;  O.  E.  Henry,  John  Dietz,  William  French, 
and  Alfred  Wood,  trustees.  In  1881  H.  H.  Buckwalter  was  elected  mayor; 
George  W.  Hinkel,  recorder;  R.  Rounds,  W.  T.  Ulman,  William  Feigle,  and 
E.  Meyers,  trustees.  In  1882  Oney  Carstarphen  was  elected  mayor,  and  re- 
elected  in  1883  and  1884.  Carstarphen  was  born  in  Mo.  in  1844,  came  to 
Colorado  in  1879,  and  settled  at  Silver  Cliff.  He  was  elected  to  the  state 
legislature  in  1884,  and  became  interested  in  various  mining  properties. 
Querida  is  a  town  which  has  grown  up  about  the  Bassick  mine,  with  a 
population  of  400.  Dora  is  another  little  place  built  up  about  Chambers' 
concentrator,  6  miles  N.  E.  from  Silver  Cliff,  which  has  a  capacity  of  20 
tons  daily.  Blackburn  is  12  miles  from  Silver  Cliff.  Westcliff  and  Bassick- 
ville  are  also  mining  camps.  Other  settlements  are  Benton,  Blumenau, 
Colfax,  Conmrgo,  Govetown,  Hardscrabble  Canon,  Hollan  Springs,  Millville, 
Round  Mountain,  Silver  Circle,  Silver  Creek,  Silver  Park,  South  Hard- 
scrabble,  Wetmore,  Wet  Mountain  Valley,  Wixon  Park. 


EAGLE,  ELBERT,  EL  PASO.  599 

ver.  Castle  Rock  is  the  county  seat.  Sedalia  was 
founded  and  fostered  by  the  railway  corporation.  The 
settlements  in  Douglas  county  not  named  above  are 
Acequia,  Bear  Canon,  Divide,  Douglas,  Frariktown, 
Glen  Grove,  Greenland,  Huntsville,  Keystone,  Lark 
spur,  Mill  No.  1,  Mill  No.  2,  Parker,  Perry  Park, 
Pine  Grove,  Platte  canon,  Plum,  Rock  ridge,  Spring 
valley,  Stevens  Gulch,  and  Virginia  Rancho. 

Eagle  county,  organized  in  1883,  was  cut  off  from 
Summit,  and  contains  a  rich  mineral  district,  of  which 
Red  Cliff  is  the  metropolis  and  the  county  seat.  It 
is  broken  by  high  mountains  and  lofty  peaks.  The 
population  in  1884  was  2,000,  confined  to  the  south 
east  portion.  The  assessed  valuation  of  the  county 
in  1883  was  $338,454;  the  yield  of  the  mines — one 
group— was  $940,000.  Besides  Red  Cliff,  which  had 
at  this  time  500  inhabitants,  there  were  the  towns  of 
Gold  Park,  with  400  population,  Holy  Cross,  Cleve 
land,  Lake,  Mitchell,  Rock  Creek,  Taylor,  and  Eagle. 

Elbert,  organized  in  1874,  and  large  enough  for  a 
kingdom,  is  one  of  the  great  stock-raising  counties  of 
Colorado.  The  western  portion,  which  joins  Doug 
las,  is  well  watered,  and  considerably  cultivated.38 

El  Paso,  one  of  the  original  seventeen  counties,  is 
reckoned  among  the  agricultural  divisions,  and,  as 
such,  is  one  as  yet  unrivalled  for  resources.  Its 
assessable  property  in  1885  was  nearly  $5,000,000, 

38  There  is  also  a  large  supply  of  pine  timber  in  this  end  of  the  county. 
But  the  principal  capital  of  its  business  men  is  in  stock  cattle.  The  popula 
tion,  at  the  census  of  1880,  was  2,500,  and  the  valuation  of  assessable  prop 
erty  $1,202,052.  This  gives  about  double  the  usual  amount  of  property  per 
capita  in  farming  districts.  The  county  seat  is  at  Kiowa.  Moses  R.  Chap 
man,  born  in  N.  Y.  city  in  1844,  was  brought  up  in  111.  In  1859  he  came  to 
Russell's  gulch,  and  was  afterward  about  Central  City.  Becoming  discour 
aged,  he  borrowed  money  enough  in  1865  to  take  him  to  Elbert  co.,  where  he 
engaged  himself  as  a  herder,  and  gradually  worked  himself  into  the  stock 
business.  In  1874  he  married  Laura  A.  Danks.  In  1882  he  was  elected  to 
the  general  assembly,  having  been  county  commissioner  for  14  years.  He 
owned,  in  1886,  a  large  farm  and  over  1,000  head  of  cattle.  The  towns  and 
settlements  of  Elbert  county  are  Agate,  Arroyo,  Bellevue,  Boyero,  Brown  & 
Dods,  Buzzards  &  Sharretts,  Cameron,  Cedar  Point,  Clermont,  Cochran's 
Rancho,  Elbert,  Elbert  Station.  Elizal>eth,  Fork-in-Creek,  Gebhard,  Godfrey, 
Gomer's  Mills,  Hugo,  Lake,  Lake  Station.  Long  Branch,  Middle  Kiowa, 
Monatt's  Mills,  Ranch,  River  Bend,  Rock  Butte,  Running  Creek, 


600  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

divided  between  farm  improvements,  cattle,  and  other 
stock,  and  town  property.  Immense  coal  deposits 
exist  in  the  eastern  portion  of  the  country.  Pike's 
peak,  by  which  Colorado  was  long  known,  is  situated 
in  this  county.  In  an  earlier  chapter  I  have  given  a 
narrative  of  its  first  exploration  and  settlement,  when 
Colorado  City  aspired  to  be  the  leading  town  of  the 
territory,  and  of  the  causes  of  its  failure.  The  princi 
pal  city  of  El  Paso  is  now  Colorado  Springs,  already 
world-famous  as  a  health  resort.39 

39  When  Gen.  William  J.  Palmer  in  1870  organized  the  Denver  and  Rio 
Grande  railway  company,  he  likewise  projected  a  number  of  auxiliary  organ 
izations  to  develop  town-sites,  coal  lands,  and  other  resources  of  the  region 
through  which  the  railway  was  expected  to  pass.  Among  these  was  the  Colo 
rado  Springs  co.,  which  acquired  about  10,000  acres  of  land  near  the  base  of 
Pike's  peak  and  on  both  sides  of  Colorado  City,  including  a  large  level 
tract  through  which  the  railroad  would  run,  and  where  it  was  proposed  to 
build  the  principal  city  of  this  region.  On  July  31,  1871,  the  first  stake  waa 
driven,  and  the  city  named  Colorado  Springs  because  of  its  proximity  to  the 
famous  soda  springs  at  the  entrance  to  Ute  pass,  which  were  also  owned  by 
the  company.  The  region  developed  more  rapidly  than  was  expected,  and 
early  in  1872,  a  hotel  had  been  erected  at  the  springs  and  a  little  village 
there  started,  named  at  first  La  Font,  but  soon  changed  to  Manitou,  the 
Indian  name  of  one  of  the  springs.  The  president  of  the  Colorado  Springs 
co.  was  William  J.  Palmer.  Its  executive  director  was  Henry  McAllister, 
Jr,  who  was  born  in  Wilmington,  Delaware,  in  1836,  and  won  the  title  of 
major  by  his  services  in  the  army  during  the  rebellion.  At  the  close  of  the 
war  he  was  elected  secretary  of  the  American  Iron  and  Steel  association, 
which  position  he  resigned  after  seven  years'  service.  He  was  at  once 
elected  president  of  the  National  Land  Improvement  co.,  organized  to  de 
velop  the  lands  lying  along  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  railway.  He  was 
also  made  executive  director  of  the  Colorado  Springs  co.  At  the  time  Colo 
rado  Springs  was  started,  the  success  of  the  Union  and  other  colonies  in  Colo 
rado  had  popularized  this  method  of  town  building,  and  hence  was  formed 
the  Fountain  colony,  which  had  no  legal  existence,  but  was  simply  an  instru 
ment  of  the  Colorado  Springs  co.  in  the  development  of  its  property.  From 
the  beginning  this  company  and  its  associate  colony  pursued  a  liberal  and 
far-sighted  policy.  The  profits  accruing  from  the  sale  of  two  thirds  of  its 
property  were  constituted  a  fund  for  general  and  public  improvements.  Early 
expenditures  from  this  fund  were  $44,000  for  an  irrigating  canal,  and  $15,000 
for  the  purchase  and  planting  of  7,000  trees  upon  the  town-site.  During  the 
first  five  years  of  the  company's  history,  about  $272,000  were  thus  expended. 
A  lot  was  presented  by  the  company  to  each  of  the  Christian  denominations, 
and  ample  reservations  were  also  made  for  a  public  school  and  for  a  college. 
The  officers  of  the  colony  were  Robert  A.  Cameron  vice  president,  William 
E.  Pabor  secretary,  E.  S.  Nettleton  chief  engineer,  William  P.  Mellen 
treasurer,  and  Maurice  Kingsley  assistant  treasurer.  The  trustees  wore 
William  J.  Palmer,  Robert  H.  Lamborn,  Josiah  C.  Reiff,  Robert  A.  Cam 
eron,  W.  H.  Greenwood,  William  P.  Mellen.  The  temperance  question  was 
given  prominence  in  the  organization  of  the  colony  by  the  insertion  in  every 
deed  given  by  the  company  of  a  clause  forever  prohibiting  the  manufacturing, 
giving,  or  selling  of  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  beverage  in  any  place  of  public 


FREMONT.  601 

Fremont  county,  a  portion  of  whose  early  history 
has  been  given,  has  remained  in  a  backward  condition 

resort.  As  might  be  expected,  this  clause  was  soon  and  repeatedly  vio 
lated;  but  the  cases  were  decided  in  favor  of  the  company  in  the  state 
supreme  court  in  1876,  and  the  lands  forfeited.  On  appeal  to  the  U.  S. 
supreme  court  in  1879,  this  judgment  was  affirmed.  The  public  sentiment 
of  the  city  has  always  sustained  prohibition.  Fountain  Colony  of  Colorado, 
Prospectus;  Denver  Tribune,  June  29,  1871;  Faithful's  Three  Visits,  146-50; 
Graff', 
ani 
radi 

Colorado  Springs  became  the  ideal  city  of  the  Arkansas  valley,  if  not  of 
the  entire  Rocky  mountain  region,  by  reason  of  its  wonderful  and  beautiful 
surroundings,  its  healthtulness  and  orderliness,  its  temperance,  education, 
and  refinement.  Its  growth  from  the  first  was  healthful*  and  uniform.  At 
the  close  of  the  first  year  of  its  history,  277  town  lots  had  been  disposed  of 
at  a  valuation  of  $24,703,  159  houses  erected,  and  the  population  was  esti 
mated  at  803.  The  value  of  the  buildings  erected  by  private  individuals  was 
placel  at  $160,030.  Two  church  edifices  were  built,  and  a  weekly  newspaper 
was  established.  An  enterprise  most  fruitful  in  benefit  to  the  new  city  was 
the  building  in  1871  of  a  goo!  wagon  road  through  the  Ute  pass  to  the  min 
ing  region  of  South  park.  The  trade  of  a  growing  section  was  thus  secured, 
contributing  from  the  beginning  no  little  to  the  commercial  importance  of 
Colorado  Springs.  When  Leadville  arose  in  1878,  this  road  became  one  of 


the  chief  highways  to  that  great  camp,  and  made  Colorado  Springs  a  prin 
cipal  supply  point.  When  the  railroad  reached  Leadville  in  1880,  this  trade 
c  Based,  but  it  had  suffice!  to  establish  the  commercial  interests  of  Colorado 
Springs  on  a  sound  basis.  At  one  time  during  the  palmy  days  of  Leadville 
freighting,  12,000  horses  and  mules  were  employed  in  transportation  over 
the  road.  During  1876-7,  the  city  suffered  from  the  depression  then  gen 
eral  throughout  the  country,  and  also  from  a  visitation  of  grasshoppers, 
which  caused  great  devastation  to  the  Rocky  mountain  region.  Prosperity 
was  fully  restored  in  1878,  in  which  year  a  complete  system  of  water  works 
was  constructed,  the  supply  being  taken  from  one  of  the  sparkling  streams 
flowing  down  the  sides  of  Pike's  peak,  at  a  distance  of  seven  miles  from  the 
city,  and  at  a  point  1,200  feet  above  its  level.  Gas  works  costing  $50,000 
were  built  in  1879,  in  which  year  also  new  buildings  to  the  value  of  $200,000 
were  erected.  The  growth  of  the  city  has  since  been  continuous,  and  with 
slight  exceptions  uniformly  rapid,  till  in  1886  it  had  attained  a  population 
of  about  7,500,  the  assessed  valuation  of  its  property  was  $2,248,300,  and  its 
business,  exclusive  of  real  estate  sales,  aggregated  nearly  $3,000,000.  Acces 
sions  to  the  population  were  largely  of  health  seekers,  to  accommodate  a 
portion  of  whom  was  begun  in  1881  the  Antler's  hotel,  a  handsome  Queen 
Anne  structure  costing  $203,000,  and  ranking  among  the  most  noted  of 
Rocky  mountain  hostleries.  The  public  spirit  of  three  citizens,  Irving 
Howbert,  B.  F.  Crowell,  and  J.  F.  Humphrey,  gave  to  Colorado  Springs  a 
beautiful  opera  house,  seating  750,  and  costing  $80,000,  which  was  opened 
April  18,  1881. 

The  public  schools  of  Colorado  Springs  have  always  been  adequate  and 
of  high  grade.  In  1871,  Mrs  Gen.  Palmer  established  the  first  school,  giving 
her  services  voluntarily  and  without  compensation.  In  1874,  a  handsome 
school  building  was  erected  costing  $25,000.  By  1879,  this  had  become 
crowded,  and  two  frame  buildings  were  added.  In  1884,  a  large  modern 
brick  school-house  was  built  at  a  cost  of  $20,000,  and  in  1886  two  others 
were  completed.  Colorado  Springs  is  the  seat  of  Colorado  college,  founded 
by  the  Colorado  association  of  congregational  churches,  on  the  general  plan 
of  New  England  colleges,  but  with  modifications.  T.  N.  Haskell,  formerly  of 
the  state  university  of  Wisconsin,  was  selected  as  financial  agent.  The  prepar- 


G02 


COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 


for  reasons  which  will  appear  hereafter.  In  natural 
resources  it  is  rich,  especially  in  an  excellent  quality 

atory  department  was  opened  in  May,  1874,  with  Jonathan  Edwards,  grad 
uate  of  Yale,  as  principal.  A  frame  building  was  temporarily  erected,  in 
which  the  school  remained  until  1880.  A  department  of  mining  and  metal 
lurgy  was  established  about  1877,  of  which  in  1880  William  Strieby,  a  grad 
uate  of  Columbia  college,  was  in  charge.  This  department  met  with  such 
success  that  for  its  better  accommodation  a  wing  was  erected  on  the  north 
side,  contributed  by  William  J.  Palmer,  who  also  offered  to  add  a  south  wing 
if  the  college  were  first  freed  from  debt.  This  promise  inspired  the  friends 


VICINITY  or  COLORADO  SPRINGS. 

of  the  college  to  make  the  requisite  effort,  and  the  building  now  presents  a 
handsome  front  of  over  100  feet.  The  library  embraces  6,000  volumes,  in 
cluding  1,000  contributed  by  the  El  Paso  county  library  association.  A 
collection  of  natural  science  specimens  and  an  herbarium  of  native  plants 
has  made  a  promising  beginning.  President  Tenney  did  much  by  his  writ 
ings  and  personal  efforts,  to  make  both  the  city  and  college  known  in  the 
east.  Friends  came  to  the  rescue,  and  in  1886  it  was  in  a  fair  way  to  be 
extricated.  Its  officers  in  1886  were:  William  Strieby  chairman  of  faculty, 
W.  F.  Wilder  vice-president,  G.  H.  Parsons  secretary,  J.  H.  Barlow  treas 
urer,  and  George  N.  Harden  financial  agent.  The  territorial  legislature  of 
1874  located  an  institute  for  the  education  of  deaf  mutes  at  Colorado  Springs, 
appropriating  $5,000  for  immediate  application  to  that  purpose,  and  pro 
viding  a  permanent  fund  by  instituting  a  tax  of  half  a  mill  on  all  the  asses 
sable  property  in  the  territory.  A  house  was  rented  and  the  institution 
opened  with  a  dozen  pupils.  To  this,  also,  the  Colorado  Springs  company 
donated  12  acres  of  land,  title  to  be  given  whenever  suitable  buildings  should 
be  erected  thereon.  Thus  prompted,  the  trustees  raised  $5,000,  and  started 
the  building.  At  its  next  session  the  legislature  appropriated  $7,000,  inde 
pendent  of  the  tax,  and  additions  were  made.  Subsequently  that  body 
added  to  the  institution  a  department  for  the  blind,  $20,000  more  being 


COLORADO  SPRINGS.  603 

of  coal,  of  which  the  amount  is  practically  unlimited. 
Petroleum  has  also  been  found.  It  has  gold  and  sil- 

appropriated  for  improvements.  The  institution  is  in  a  prosperous  condi 
tion  and  doing  a  noble  work. 

The  first  religious  services  were  held  in  the  winter  of  1871,  by  the  Rev. 
Edwards,  rector  of  the  episcopal  church  at  Pueblo.  From  this  time  till  1873 
services  were  held  at  irregular  intervals,  conducted  by  Bishop  Randall  or  by 
J.  E.  Liller  as  lay  reader.  In  1873,  Grace  church  parish  was  organized,  and 
soon  afterward  a  church  built  at  a  cost  of  $12,000.  The  First  presbyterian 
church  was  organized  in  1872,  previous  to  which  time  services  had  been  held 
in  various  places.  The  M.  E.  church,  which  was  organized  in  Colorado  City 
very  early  in  the  history  of  that  place,  was  in  1873  transferred  to  Colorado 
Springs.  In  1881,  an  edifice  costing  812,000  was  built  in  a  central  location. 
The  First  baptist  church  was  organized  in  1872.  The  congregationalists, 
Cumberland  presbyterians,  Roman  catholics,  Christians,  and  African  meth- 
odists  established  congregations  at  later  dates.  Of  the  various  secret  and 
benevolent  organizations,  the  masons  and  odd  fellows  early  established  lodges 
in  Colorado  Springs,  and  were  followed  by  the  knights  of  pythias,  good 
templars,  knights  of  honor,  united  workmen,  and  others.  In  1886,  there 
were  20  lodges  and  encampments  of  the  various  organizations. 

Previous  to  1878,  there  was  no  fire  department  worthy  of  the  name,  the 
only  protection  against  fire  being  a  hook  and  ladder  company,  a  Babcock 
engine,  and  the  water  from  a  few  wells.  When  in  that  year  the  system  of 
water  works  was  introduced,  the  organization  was  begun  of  a  volunteer  fire 
department  that  for  efficiency  has  no  superior  in  the  country.  The  first 
bank  was  established  in  1873  by  William  S.  Jackson,  C.  H.  White,  and  J.  S. 
Wolfe,  and  called  the  El  Paso.  Soon  afterward  J.  H.  Barlow  became  con 
nected  with  it.  This  was  followed  the  next  year  by  the  First  National,  organ 
ized  by  W.  B.  Young,  B.  F.  Crowell,  C.  B.  Greenough,  G.  H.  Stewart,  F.  L. 
Martin,  and  others,  and  two  years  later  James  H.  B.  McFerran  started  the 
People's  bank.  All  are  sound  and  prosperous  institutions,  and  in  1880  had 
deposits  of  8500,000.  The  history  of  journalism  in  El  Paso  county  began  in 
1861  with  the  publication  of  The  Journal  at  Colorado  City.  It  was  edited 
by  B.  F.  Crowell,  and  was  issued  weekly  for  about  a  year,  when  publication 
was  discontinued.  After  that  the  county  possessed  no  newspaper  until  1872, 
when  the  first  number  of  Out  West  was  issued  by  J.  E.  Liller.  About  the 
same  time,  Judge  Eliphalet  Price  began  the  publication  of  the  Free  Press. 
In  January,  1873,  Out  West  became  the  Colorado  Springs  Gazette,  and  about 
a  year  later  the  Free  Press  was  merged  into  the  Mountaineer.  In  1878,  the 
Gazette  became  a  daily,  as  did  also  the  Mountaineer  in  1881  under  the  name 
of  the  Republic.  The  Gazette  and  Republic  continue  the  leading  newspapers 
of  the  county.  Various  weeklies  appeared  from  time  to  time,  prominent 
among  which  was  the  Hour,  started  in  1885.  Monument,  a  town  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  county,  has  had  at  times  a  weekly  paper  since  1878. 

William  J.  Palmer,  to  whom  Colorado  Springs  owes  its  existence,  and 
the  state  in  large  measure  its  present  condition  of  development,  was  born 
in  Philadelphia  in  1836.  Receiving  a  fair  education,  he  early  became  confi 
dential  secretary  to  J.  Edgar  Thompson,  then  president  of  the  Pennsylvania 
railroad,  in  which  position  he  evinced  marked  ability,  and  at  one  time  was 
sent  to  Europe  to  study  methods  of  iron  manufacture  and  railroad  manage 
ment.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion,  he  raised  the  Anderson  cavalry, 
of  which  he  was,  till  the  close  of  the  war,  the  commander.  Meantime  Thomp 
son  and  his  associates  had  become  interested  in  the  Kansas  Pacific  railroad, 
and  on  Palmer's  return  from  the  war  he  was  made  managing  director  of  that 
enterprise,  and  superintendent  of  construction.  While  thus  engaged,  he  made 
the  famous  survey  of  transcontinental  routes  along  the  32d  and  35th  paral 
lels.  Failing  to  induce  the  Kansas  Pacific  management  to  adopt  one  of  these, 
and  impressed  with  the  resources  of  the  Rocky  mountain  region,  in  1870,  as- 


604  COUNTIES   OF   COLORADO. 

ver  mines,  not  yet  much  developed,  also  copper,  lead, 
zinc,  mineral  paint,  marble,  alabaster,  valuable  build 
ing  stone,  potters'  clay,  and  one  of  the  few  jet  mines 
in  the  world.40 

sociated  with  William  A.  Bell  and  others,  he  organized  the  Denver  and  Rio 
Grande  railway  company.  In  the  face  of  difficulties,  physical  and  financial, 
he  pushed  this  great  enterprise  to  completion,  after  first  building  the  Denver 
and  Rio  Grande  Western,  of  which  he  was  president  until  1883.  He  was  at 
the  head  of  a  majority  of  the  companies  organized  for  the  development  of 
southern  Colorado,  the  most  prominent  among  which  was  the  Colorado  Coal 
and  Iron  company.  A  few  years  later  he  retired  from  the  presidency  of  the 
Mexican  National,  though  still  remaining  at  the  head  of  the  construction 
company.  He  is  also  president  of  the  reorganized  Denver  and  Rio  Grande 
Western  railway  company,  which  is  becoming  a  very  important  factor  in  the 
railroad  system  of  the  Rocky  mountains. 

Doctor  William  A.  Bell,  prominently  associated  with  General  Palmer  in 
the  building  of  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  railway,  was  born  in  Clonmel, 
Ireland,  in  1841.  He  studied  at  the  London  hospital,  and  took  a  medical 
degree  at  Cambridge  in  1865.  In  1866-7  he  visited  the  United  States,  and 
in  the  latter  year  joined  the  35th  parallel  surveying  expedition,  which 
brought  him  into  close  personal  and  business  relations  with  Palmer.  Re 
turning  in  1870  from  a  visit  to  England,  he  joined  him  in  the  organization  of 
the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  railway  company,  and  was  its  first  vice-president. 

M.  L.  De  Coursey,  who  had  much  to  do  with  the  building  up  of  Colorado 
Springs,  was  born  in  Philadelphia  in  1842,  and  served  in  the  civil  war  in 
which  he  was  captain.  In  1871  he  joined  his  former  cavalry  commander, 
General  Palmer,  in  Colorado,  and  held  prominent  positions  in  the  national 
land  and  improvement  and  other  companies.  He  afterwards  engaged  in  the 
real  estate  business. 

The  growth  and  permanent  prosperity  of  Colorado  Springs  has  been  very 
marked.  Among  the  publications  that  have  made  known  to  the  world  its 
scenic  wonders  and  famous  climate,  as  well  as  the  merits  of  its  mineral  waters, 
are  Charles  Dennison's  Rocky  Mountain  Health  Resorts,  a  treatise  on  pulmonary 
diseases  and  their  cure;  Colorado  Springs,  a  descriptive  and  historical  pamph 
let  relating  to  the  city  of  that  name  and  its  vicinity,  by  George  Rex  Buck- 
man;  Health,  Wealth,  and  Pleasure,  a  treatise  on  the  health  resorts  of  Colo 
rado  and  New  Mexico;  Glenicood  Springs,  a  descriptive  pamphlet;  Mrs  Simeon 
J.  Dunbar's  Health  Resorts  of  Colorado  Springs  and  Manitou,  descriptive; 
S.  Anna  Gordon's  Camping  in  Colorado,  descriptive  and  narrative.  Dr  S. 
Edwin  Solly,  of  Colorado  Springs,  has  done  much  by  his  pamphlets  to  call 
attention  to  the  curative  value  of  Colorado's  climate  and  mineral  waters. 
He  graduated  in  London  in  1867,  and  in  1874  came  to  Colorado  Springs, 
where  he  has  since  been  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  royal  college  of  surgeons,  England,  and  of  various  other  medi 
cal  and  scientific  societies,  both  in  England  and  America. 

The  villages  and  settlements  in  El  Paso  county  are  Aroways,  Bassett's 
Hill,  Bierstadt,  Big  Sandy,  Bijou  Basin,  Cheyenne  Peak,  Chico  Basin,  Colo 
rado  House,  Costello's  Rancho,  Crystal  Peak  Park,  Easton,  Edgerton,  El 
Paso,  Florissant,  Fountain,  Four-mile  Creek,  Franceville,  Franceville  Junc 
tion,  Granger,  Gwillemville,  Highland  Rancho,  Hursley's  Rancho,  Husted, 
Jimmy  Camp,  Lake  Station,  Little  Buttes,  McConnellsville,  Monument,  0. 
Z.,  Petrified  Stumps,  Quarry,  Sidney,  South  Water,  Suffolk,  Summit  Park, 
Table  Rock,  Turkey  Creek,  Twin  Rocks,  Weissport,  Wheatland,  Widefield, 
Wigwam,  Winfield. 

40  It  has  ranked  mainly  with  the  agricultural  counties,  but  it  is  not  emi 
nent  in  that  class,  although  its  altitude  of  less  than  6,000  feet  gives  it  a 
climate  better  suited  to  corn  than  most  other  counties  in  the  state.  In  1S£3 


CANON  CITY.  605 

The  chief  town  and  county  seat  is  Canon  City, 
with  a  population  of  about  3  000  in  1884.  The  Col- 
it  raised  considerable  grain,  and  had  15,000  head  of  cattle,  besides  5,000  other 
animals,  produced  $025,000  worth  of  coal,  and  $20,000  in  bullion.  It  had 
108  miles  of  railroad  within  its  boundaries,  and  its  population  was  4,730. 
This  was  not  a  flattering  exhibit  for  one  of  the  oldest  counties  with  these 
natural  resources.  But  the  hindrance  to  development  had  been,  first,  the 
want  of  railroads,  and  secondly,  a  war  between  railroads  for  possession  of 
the  Grand  canon  pass  through  the  Rocky  mountains.  This  wonderful  and 
awful  defile  of  the  Arkansas  was  the  gate  of  the  mountains,  its  eastern  end 
being  situated  in  the  neighborhood  of  Canon  City,  named  in  reference  to  it. 
To  secure  the  exclusive  right  of  way  through  this  passage  involved  a  long 
struggle  between  two  companies,  first  in  personal  encounter,  and  lastly  in 
the  courts,  where  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  prevailed  against  the  Atchi- 
son,  Topeka,  and  Santa  Fe  company. 

The  first  organized  effort  to  secure  a  railroad  was  made  in  the  autumn 
of  18b'7.  This  was  done  by  a  committee  consisting  of  B.  M.  Adams,  B.  F. 
Rockafellow,  and  Thomas  Macon,  who  appointed  A.  G.  Boone,  about  to  visit 
Washington,  a  special  commissioner  to  confer  with  John  D.  Perry,  president 
of  the  Kansas  Pacific  railroad,  in  reference  to  the  Arkansas  valley  transcon 
tinental  route.  Perry  promised  that  his  engineers  should  look  into  the  mat 
ter,  and  the  Fremont  county  people  were  hopeful.  At  that  time  General 
Palmer  was  managing  director  of  the  Kansas  Pacific,  and  had  charge  of  its 
construction,  and  W.  H.  Greenwood  was  its  chief  engineer.  Palmer  organ 
ized  and  commanded  an  expedition  which  surveyed  the  proposed  route.  His 
report,  which  was  made  in  1808,  recommended  that  the  route  from  Ells 
worth,  Kansas,  westward  should  deflect  to  the  south  of  its  former  survey, 
and  follow  the  one  by  the  Arkansas  river  to  its  headwaters,  and  thence  via 
the  San  Luis  valley  to  intersect  the  thirty-fifth  parallel  transcontinental 
route.  This  road,  had  it  been  built,  would  have  given  an  outlet  eastward  to 
the  richest  mineral  and  some  of  the  best  agricultural  country  in  Colorado. 
But  the  eastern  managers  decided  to  build  to  Denver,  a  decision  which  fin 
ally  threw  them  into  the  hands  of  the  Union  Pacific.  When  the  Kansas 
Pacific  was  about  completed,  Palmer,  remembering  what  he  had  seen  on  his 
surveys,  originated  the  plan  of  a  narrow-gauge  railway,  which  should  run 
southward  from  Denver  along  the  base  of  the  mountains.  Disappointed  in 
their  expectations  of  a  direct  road  to  the  east,  the  people  of  Fremont  county 
welcomed  the  thought  of  communication  with  Denver  and  connection  with 
the  Union  Pacific,  and  voted  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  company — the 
narrow-gauge  line — $50,000  in  county  bonds,  the  first  contribution  of  the 
kind  received  by  them,  and  which  through  some  technicality  was  finally  lost 
in  the  courts.  In  the  mean  time  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  had  constructed 
its  road  to  Pueblo,  with  a  branch  to  the  coal  mines  at  Labran,  eight  miles 
from  Canon  City,  which  was  completed  in  October,  1872,  and  without  going 
to  Canon  City,  as  was  expected,  was  pushing  south  with  the  design  of  reach 
ing  the  extensive  fields  of  coking  coal  at  El  Moro,  near  Trinidad,  and  of 
ultimate  extension  to  the  city  of  Mexico,  via  Santa  Fe  and  El  Paso,  which 
latter  was,  of  course,  regarded  as  an  achievement  of  the  somewhat  remote 
future.  Thereupon,  there  was  a  movement  made  inviting  the  Atchison, 
Topeka,  and  Santa  Fe"  to  come  to  Canon  City  and  occupy  the  route  formerly 
suggested  to  the  Kansas  Pacific.  For  this  purpose  a  public  meeting  was 
held  at  Canon  City  in  Jan.,  1873.  But  the  A.,  T.,  &  S.  F.  co.  proving  slow 
to  act,  and  the  people  being  impatient,  the  county  again  voted  its  bonds  to 
the  D.  &  R.  G.  co.,  this  time  for  $100,000,  after  an  exciting  canvass,  there 
being  a  majority  of  only  two  in  favor  of  the  gift,  and  the  county  commis 
sioners  refusing  to  issue  the  bonds.  In  1874,  however,  on  demand  of  the  D. 
&  R.  G.  co.,  Canon  City  voted  $50,000  in  bonds,  and  in  addition  gave  deeds 
to  $25,000  worth  of  property,  and  the  road  was  soon  afterward  completed  to 


606  COUNTIES   OF   COLORADO. 

orado  penitentiary  is  located  here,  and  was  in  charge 
of  the  general  government  until  1874,  when  the  ter- 

that  place.  The  next  movement  in  the  way  of  increased  railway  facilities 
was  in  Feb.,  1877,  when  the  Canon  City  and  San  Juan  railway  co.  was  organ 
ized,  with  C.  T.  Ailing  president,  B.  F.  Rockafellow  secretary,  James  Clel- 
land  treasurer,  and  H.  R.  Holbrook  chief  engineer.  Ailing  soon  resigned, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Frederick  A.  Reynolds.  Meantime  the  new  Leadville 
mining  region  began  to  attract  attention,  and  was  seen  to  offer  a  promising 
field  for  railroad  enterprise.  Stimulated  by  this,  and  it  may  be  also  by  the 
appearance  of  a  rival  in  the  field,  the  D.  &  R.  G.  co.  proceeded,  on  April 
19,  1878,  to  resume  work  on  its  line  from  Canon  City  westward  and  towards 
the  Leadville  region,  and  on  that  day  took  possession  by  its  agents  of  the 
narrow  portion  of  the  grand  canon,  known  as  the  Royal  gorge,  with  the 
avowed  intention  of  constructing  its  road  upon  the  line  of  the  surveys  made 
in  1871-2,  right  of  way  over  which  had,  as  it  claimed,  been  secured  to  it  by 
acts  of  congress  of  June  8,  1872,  and  March  3,  1875.  But  during  the  night 
of  April  19,  1878,  the  board  of  directors  of  the  C.  C.  &  S.  J.  co.  were  con 
vened,  and  elected  William  B.  Strong  and  A.  A.  Robinson  respectively 
general  manager  and  chief  engineer  of  the  A.,  T.,  &  S.  F.  co.,  to  similar 
positions  in  the  C.  C.  &  S.  J.  co.,  giving  conclusive  evidence  that  the 
great  Santa  Fe  co.  was  behind  the  local  enterprise.  These  officials  made 
preparations  to  take  immediate  possession  of  the  grand  canon  on  behalf  of 
their  company,  which  was  done  as  early  as  four  o'clock  on  the  morning  of 
April  20th,  at  which  time  a  small  party  of  men,  under  the  charge  of  an 
assistant  engineer,  swam  the  Arkansas  river,  and  in  the  name  of  their  com 
pany  took  possession  of  the  canon.  That  party  was  followed  the  same  day 
by  a  large  force  of  workmen  under  the  control  of  Chief  Engineer  Robinson. 
The  war  was  now  commenced.  Each  side  had  from  500  to  700  men  at  work. 
Fortifications  were  erected  by  each,  beyond  which  the  other  was  not  per 
mitted  to  pass,  and  for  a  time  the  spilling  of  blood  seemed  inevitable. 
These  movements  were  succeeded  by  a  suit  instituted  the  same  day  in  the 
state  court  in  the  name  of  the  C.  C.  &  S.  J.  co.  against  the  D.  &  R.  G.  co., 
in  which  an  injunction  was  obtained,  afterward  sustained  by  Judge  Hal- 
lett  of  the  U.  S.  district  court,  restraining  the  latter  company  from  occu 
pying  or  attempting  to  occupy  the  canon  for  railroad  purposes,  and  from 
interfering  with  the  C.  C.  &  S.  J.  co.  in  the  construction  of  its  own  road 
therein.  By  virtue  of  this  decision  the  C.  C.  &  S.  J.  co.  proceeded  with 
the  work  of  construction  through  the  grand  canon,  and  completed  during 
the  following  ten  months  the  20  miles  from  Canon  City,  being  as  far  as  it 
was  permitted  under  its  charter  to  build.  The  work  in  the  grand  canon  was 
difficult,  requiring  engineering  skill  of  the  highest  order.  In  places  the 
blasting  could  be  carried  on  only  by  suspending  men  by  ropes  down  the 
rocky  walls  2,000  feet  in  height;  in  others  the  chasm  was  so  contracted 
that  the  road  itself  was  suspended  over  the  river  by  a  hanging  bridge,  sup- 


against  it  and  the  financial  troubles  which  this  had  served  to  bring  to  a 
climax,  executed  a  30  years'  lease  of  its  entire  completed  line  to  the  A.,  T., 
&  S.  F.  co.,  which  took  possession  in  Dec.,  1878.  The  right  of  way  through 
the  grand  canon  was  expressly  excluded  from  this  lease,  the  A.,  T.,  &  S.  F. 
co.  taking  the  ground  that  this  was  the  property  of  the  C.  C.  &  S.  J.  co., 
and  that  a  lease  thereof  from  the  D.  &  R.  G.  co.  would  be  of  no  effect. 

In  April,  1879,  the  U.  S.  supreme  court,  to  which  the  case  has  been  ap 
pealed  by  the  D.  &  R.  G.  co.,  reversed  the  decision  of  the  lower  court,  and 
confirmed  to  the  D.  &  R.  G.  co.  its  prior  right  to  the  grand  canon.  The 
possession  of  this  prior  right,  however,  was  not  to  be  understood  as  pre 
venting  the  C.  C.  &  S.  J.  co.  from  afterward  building  a  parallel  road  of  its 


PUBLIC  INSTITUTIONS.  607 

rltory  assumed  its  support.  In  1877  it  consisted  of 
one  cell  building  with  forty-two  cells.  The  state  now 
owns  thirty-six  acres,  five  of  which  are  enclosed  by  a 
wall  of  stone  twenty  feet  in  height  and  four  in  thick 
ness,  with  good  buildings,  and  cell-room  for  over  400 
inmates,41  a  boot  and  shoe  factory,  lime-kilns,  stone- 
own  through  the  canon,  where  the  latter  was  wide  enough  to  admit  of  two, 
nor  from  using  the  D.  &  R.  G.  tracks  in  common  with  that  company,  in 
the  narrow  places  where  but  one  road  could  be  built,  these  rights  having 
been  generally  conferred  by  act  of  congress  of  March  3,  1875.  Complica 
tions  then  arose  in  the  affairs  of  the  A.,  T.,  &  S.  F.  and  D.  &  R.  G.  compan 
ies  which  kept  them  in  constant  litigation.  The  latter  company,  now  that  its 
rights  in  the  grand  canon  had  been  restored  to  it,  and  in  view  of  the  great 
business  revival,  due  to  the  discovery  of  new  and  rich  mining  regions,  natu 
rally  desired  to  regain  possession  of  its  road.  It  charged  the  lessee  with 
non-observance  of  contract  in  certain  particulars;  but  the  case  turned  on 
the  point  that  there  "was  no  Colorado  law  which  would  permit  a  foreign  cor 
poration  to  operate  a  railroad  within  the  state.  The  prayer  of  the  D.  & 
R.  G.  co.  was  granted,  and  a  writ  issued  by  the  court,  copies  of  which  were 
placed  in  the  hands  of  sheriffs  in  the  principal  places  along  the  line,  the 
effect  of  which  was  to  restore  the  road  to  the  D.  &  R.  G.  co.  These  were 
served  simultaneously  at  Denver,  Colorado  Springs,  Pueblo,  Canon  City,  El 
Moro,  and  Alamosa,  and  possession  taken  in  each  place  by  the  officers  and 
agents  of  the  D.  &  R.  G.  co.  Immediately  after  possession  had  been 

g lined,  on  June  15,  1879,  Judge  Bowen,  on  application  of  several  of  the 
.  &  R.  G.  bond-holders,  appointed  one  of  the  company's  solicitors,  Hanson 
A.  Risley,  its  receiver.  He  took  possession  of  the  road  and  operated  it  for 
one  month,  during  which  time  his  receivership  was  attacked  in  several 
courts  and  finally  terminated  by  Chief  Justice  Miller,  who  ordered  the  dis 
charge  of  the  receiver,  and  enjoined  him  to  restore  the  road  to  the  D.  &  R. 
G.  co.,  and  that  company  in  turn  was  directed  to  restore  it  to  the  A.,  T.,  & 
S.  F.  co.,  in  accordance  with  a  writ  previously  issued  by  Judge  Hallett  and 
not  at  that  time  obeyed.  When  all  this  had  been  done,  Judge  Hallett  fur 
ther  ordered  that,  till  the  equities  of  the  several  parties  could  be  determined, 
both  companies  be  restrained  from  further  work  in  the  grand  canon,  and 
appointed  L.  C.  Ellsworth  as  receiver,  to  take  possession  of  the  property  of 
the  D.  &  R.  G.  co.,  and  operate  it  under  the  direction  of  the  court.  While 
this  warring  had  been  going  on,  the  Pueblo  and  Arkansas  valley  railroad 
company,  a  local  corporation  of  the  A.,  T.,  &  S.  F.  system,  had  begun  to 
build  westward  from  the  20-mile  point  where  the  Caiion  City  and  San  Juan 
company  had  stopped,  and  had  succeeded  in.  completing  about  two  miles, 
when  the  D.  &  R.  G.  co.  arrested  further  progress  by  erecting  stone  en 
filading  forts  and  keeping  them  manned,  besides  mining  the  position  in 
readiness  to  send  the  enemy  skyward  at  a  moment's  notice.  Meantime 
Judge  Hallett  had  appointed  a  commission  to  determine  what  parts  of  the 
grand  canon  would  admit  of  the  construction  of  but  one  line  of  railway.  In 
accordance  with  the  report  of  this  commission,  the  court,  on  January  2, 
1880,  issued  a  decree  giving  to  the  D.  &  R.  G.  co.  the  exclusive  right  of 
way  through  the  grand  canon  from  Canon  City  to  South  Arkansas— the 
present  town  of  Salida — and  to  the  Pueblo  and  Arkansas  valley  railroad 
the  right  of  way  from  South  Arkansas  to  Leadville,  either  company  having 
the  right  to  build  a  separate  road  between  the  latter  points.  This  practi 
cally  ended  the  war,  and  the  two  companies,  after  having  spent  $500,000  in 
carrying  on  the  fight  both  in  and  out  of  the  courts,  concluded  a  treaty  of 
peace.  In  accordance  with  an  agreement  entered  into,  all  suits  were  with 
drawn,  and  the  A.,  T.,  &  S.  F.  co.  bound  itself  for  a  term  of  ten  years 


608  COUNTIES  OF   COLORADO. 

quarries,  and  brick-yards,  in  which  the  convicts  are 
employed.  The  Colorado  collegiate  and  military 
institute  is  located  here.  It  was  established  by  a 
stock  company  of  citizens  in  1881,  under  the  super 
vision  of  E.  H.  Sawyer.42  There  is  also  a  large  sil 
ver  smelter,  and  a  copper  smelter.  The  Arkansas 
river  offers  abundant  water  power;  the  town  is  sup 
plied  with  water  works ;  there  are  cold  and  hot  min 
eral  springs,  and  other  scenic  attractions,  all  of  which 
promise  a  not  unimportant  future  for  this  place  when 
the  surrounding  country  shall  be  made  to  yield  its 
corn  and  wine,  its  coal,  gold,  silver,  and  copper. 

not  to  build  either  to  Leadville  or  Denver,  while  the  D.  &  R.  G.  co.  for  a 
like  period  was  to  be  restrained  from  building  within  a  specified  distance 
from  Santa  Fe.  The  D.  &  R.  G.  co.  purchased  the  20  miles  of  road  con 
structed  through  the  grand  canon  by  the  C.  C.  &  S.  J.  Co.,  paying  there 
for,  according  to  the  Denver  Tribune,  of  April  2,  1880,  the  sum  of  $1,400,000. 
In  the  same  month  Receiver  Ellsworth  was  discharged  by  the  court,  and 
the  property  turned  over  to  the  D.  &  R.  G.  co.  Construction  had  mean 
while  been  pushed  with  all  speed,  and  in  July,  1880,  Leadville  was  reached, 
and  the  golden  stream  of  wealth  started  which  has  ever  since  continued  to 
flow.  Thus  ended  Colorado's  most  serious  railroad  war,  and  one  waged  for 
the  possession  of  a  prize  well  worth  the  struggle. 

William  H.  Greenwood,  so  conspicuous  in  railroad  affairs  in  Colorado, 
was  born  at  Marlboro,  N.  H.  He  had  purchased  property  in  Canon  City 
when  he  made  his  survey  of  the  grand  canon.  After  the  railroad  war  was 
ended,  he  settled  there  with  his  family.  In  the  summer  of  1880  he  was  em 
ployed  by  the  D.  &  R.  G.  to  go  to  Mexico,  and  while  near  Rio  Hondo  was 
assassinated  by  an  unknown  person.  The  Mexican  government  exhibited 
much  feeling,  and  made  every  endeavor  for  the  apprehension  of  the  mur 
derer,  but  in  vain. 

41  New  buildings  were  added  for  the  second  time  in  1883.     Fowler  re 
marks  that  there  are  over  400  convicts  confined  here,  'and  more  life-prison 
ers  among  them,  in  proportion,  than  elsewhere  in  the  world.'     This  may  be 
accounted  for  by  the  further  statement  that  there  are  throughout  the  state 
drinking-saloons  in  the  proportion  of  one  to  every  67  inhabitants — only  a 
little  behind  Nevada,  which  has  one  to  every  56 — and  the  prevalence  of 
gambling. 

42  The  board  of  trustees  consisted  of  F.  A.  Reynolds  pres.;  D.  G.  Pea- 
body  vice-pres. ;  W.  R.  Fowler  sec. ;  J.  F.  Campbell  treas. ;  E.  H.  Sawyer, 
J.  L.  Prentice,  A.  Rudd,  Samuel  Bradbury,  and  J   J   Phelps.     It  had  be 
sides  a 'collegiate  committee,' and  a 'military  committee,/     E.   H.   Sawyer 
was  president,  commandant,  and  professor  of  moral,  mental,  and  military 
science  and  engineering.    The  other  instructors  were  H.  S.  Westgate,  Frank 
Prentiss,  J.  M.  Willard,  and  C.  Uttermochlem. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO  CONCLUDED. 
1859-1886. 

GAKFIELD  COUNTY — ITS  GREAT  POSSIBILITIES— GILPIN  COUNTY  AND  CEN 
TRAL  CITY — EXPRESS,  TELEGRAPH,  NEWSPAPERS,  BANKS,  SCHOOLS,  AND 
CHURCHES,  LIBRARY,  FIRE  DEPARTMENTS,  MILITARY  AND  BENEVOLENT 
INSTITUTIONS — BIOGRAPHY — GRAND  COUNTY — GUNNISON  AND  HUER- 
FANO  COUNTIES— VARIETY  OF  PRODUCTS  IN  JEFFERSON  COUNTY— GOLDEN, 
LAKE,  AND  LA  PLATA  COUNTIES— BIOGRAPHY— LARIMER,  LAS  ANIMAS, 
MESA,  MONTROSE,  OURAY,  PARK,  PITKIN,  PUEBLO,  Rio  GRANDE,  ROUTT, 
SAGUACHE,  SAN  JUAN,  SAN  MIGUEL,  SUMMIT,  AND  WELD  COUNTIES — 
SOCIETY — RETROSPECT. 

GARFIELD  county  was  organized  in  February  1883 
out  of  Summit,  one  of  the  original  divisions  of  1861. 
At  that  time  the  county  seat  was  temporarily  located 
at  Parkville,  but  removed  soon  after  to  Breckenridge. 
On  the  organization  of  Garfield  and  Eagle  counties 
little  of  Summit  remained,  and  the  county  seat  of  the 
former  was  located  at  Carbonate,  near  the  eastern 
boundary.  It  lies  wholly  on  the  western  slope  of  the 
Rocky  mountains,  and  is  chiefly  an  agricultural  and 
grazing  region,  but  has  mines  of  silver  and  enormous 
deposits  of  coal.  It  was  vacated  by  the  Utes  as  late 
as  1882,  and  has  little  history.  Carbonate  was  one 
of  the  earliest  settlements,  and  Glen  wood  springs, 
located  at  the  junction  of  Roaring  fork  and  Grand 
river,  with  its  mineral  waters  and  rich  tributary  re 
gion,  is  becoming  the  commercial  centre  of  north 
western  Colorado. 

1  M.  L.  De  Coursey,  who  furnished  me  a  manuscript  on  Glcnwood,  in  1884, 

and  whose  biography  is  briefly  related  on  p.  604  of  this  vol.,  is  manager  for 

the  town  company,  in  connection  with  Glenwood  springs.    Though  containing 

much  that  is  of  interest,  it  is  impossible  to  devote  to  it  in  these  pages  the 

HIST.  NEV.    39  (609) 


610  COUNTIES    OF   COLORADO. 

The  population  is  between  300  and  400.  The  other 
towns  are  Axial,  Gresham,  Barlow,  and  Ferguson. 
The  valuation  of  the  county  in  its  first  year  was 
$136,781. 

Gilpin,  named  after  the  first  governor  has  an  area 
of  twelve  by  fifteen  miles.  It  is  purely  a  mining 
region,  and  not  exceeded  in  mineral  productions 
except  by  the  county  of  Lake.  Within  its  limits 
mining  has  been  carried  on  for  twenty-four  years,  dur 
ing  which  time  it  has  produced  $43,208.988  in  bullion, 
of  which  $38,500,000  was  in  gold,  being  about  one- 
fourth  of  the  production  of  the  state  in  precious  met 
als.  In  a  previous  chapter  I  have  sketched  the 
beginning  of  Gilpin's  history,  when  John  H.  Gregory 
there  discovered  gold,  and  was  followed  by  a  rush  of 
miners,  who  soon  exhausted  the  surface  deposit,  and 
after  impoverishing  themselves  in  milling  experiments 
abandoned  mining  or  sought  new  fields  of  exploita 
tion.  The  gold-bearing  lodes  occupy  an  area  one  mile 
wide  and  four  miles  long,  in  the  midst  of  whicji  are 
the  closely  allied  towns  of  Black  Hawk,  Central,  and 
Nevadaville.  The  silver  belt  extends  across  north 
Clear  creek  and  other  hills  from  York  gulch  to  Dory 
hill.  It  was  not  discovered  until  1878. 

The  first  improvement  of  the  gold  district  was  by 
the  construction  of  the  Consolidated  ditch  in  1860. 
More  than  100  small  mills  were  taken  to  Gilpin  county 
in  its  early  years.  In  1868  there  were  over  thirty 

space  that  the  subject  might  seem  fairly  to  demand.  Suffice  it  to  say  that 
by  many  excellent  authorities  there  are  claimed  for  the  waters  of  these 
springs  properties  as  valuable  as  any  in  the  state.  Great  stress  is  laid  by 
all  the  local  writers,  and  by  many  transient  ones,  on  the  merits  of  the  vari 
ous  mineral  waters  of  Colorado,  their  variety  and  excellence,  especially  as  to 
their  curative  properties.  To  discuss  the  statements  of  each  one,  or  indeed 
to  make  other  than  passing  mention  of  the  various  pamphlets  and  treatises, 
would  be  altogether  apart  from  the  p\irposes  of  this  work.  Among  others,  in 
addition  to  those  already  mentioned,  are  T.  G-.  Horn's  Scientific  Tour,  MS., 
descriptive  and  historical,  concerning  the  various  springs  of  the  country; 
Mineral  Springs  of  Colorado  is  a  pamphlet  by  the  same  authority.  Horn 
came  to  Colorado  in  1874,  being  a  graduate  of  medicine  in  St  Louis,  and  a 
native  of  Va,  born  in  1832.  He  is  a  member  of  the  state  board  of  health,  to 
which  he  made  a  report  at  considerable  length  on  the  mineral  springs  of  the 
state  in  1882. 


GARFIELD,    GILPIN.  611 

mills  at  work  operating  700  stamps.  In  1874  mining 
was  dull.  Soon  after  large  operators  began  purchas 
ing  small  mines  and  consolidating,  by  which  means  a 
new  impulse  was  given  to  this  industry.  The  gold 
ores  of  Gilpin  are  of  a  low  grade,  and  do  not  pay  for 
any  other  treatment  than  by  stamp-mill  or  smelting. 
There  are  fewer  mills  of  larger  capacity  than  formerly, 
and  although  the  increasing  depth  of  the  mines  makes 
the  extraction  of  the  ore  more  expensive,  the  returns 
are  satisfactory.  The  entire  bullion  output  of  1883, 
for  instance,  was  $2,208,983.  The  assessed  valuation 
of  the  county  for  that  year  was  $1,871,244,  and  its 
population  7,000.3 

Central  City,3  which,  next  to  Denver,  has  been  the 
seat  of  money,  political  influence,    and  brain  power, 

2  Some  account  of  the  earlier  and  later  operations  in  this  county  seems  im 
perative,  although  it  should  but  repeat  the  experiences  of  others.     In  1859 
several  arastras  were  constructed  to  pulverize  quartz.     A  miner  named  Red 
fixed  a  trip  hammer,  pivoted  on  a  stump,  the  hammer  pounding  quartz  in  a 
trough.     His  invention  was  called  the  Woodpecker  Mill.     Charles  Giles,  of 
Gallia,  Ohio,  made  a  6-stamp  wooden  mill,    run  by  water  power,  in  Chase 
gulch,  which  pounded  out  $6,000  in  a  season.     T.  T.  Prosser  imported  the  first 
mill  not  home  made.     It  was  a  3-stamp  affair,  and  was  set  to  work  in  Prosser 
gulch  in  Sept.  1859.     Coleman  &  Le  Fevre  brought  in  a  6-stamp  mill  the  same 
season,  which  was  lun  with  the  Prosser  mill  on  Gunnell  quartz,  saving  from 
$60  to  $100  per  ton.     Ridge  way  next  set  up  a  6-stamp  mill  on  Clear  creek, 
below  Black  Hawk,  and  soon  after  Clark,  Vandewater,  &  Co.  imported  a 
veritable  foundry  made,  9-stamp  mill  at  the  junction  of  Eureka  and  Spring 
gulches,  where  now  is  the  centre  of'  Central  City.     This  was  all  accomplished 
in  1859.     The  Gregory  lode  has  maintained  its  preeminence.     The  Bobtail 
was  reckoned  second;  the  Gunnell  third.    There  are  several  mines  on  each  of 
these.     They  all  have  a  history,  but  for  which  I  have  not  space.     Few  of  the 
mines  are  down  more  than  1,500  feet;  but  this  depth  requires  tunnelling,  of 
which  a  good  deal  has  been  done.     The  British-American  tunnel,  beginning 
on  south  Clear  creek  below  Fall  river,  extends  4  miles  northerly,  through 
Quartz  hill  to  the  silver  district,  and  is  not  yet  finished.     The  Union  tunnel 
cuts  through  Maryland  mountain.     The  European-American  tunnel  begins  a 
mile  below  Black  Hawk  and  runs   westerly,  being  incomplete.     There  are 
numerous  other  shorter  tunnels.     The  first  iron-works  setup  in  Colorado  waa 
by  Langford  &  Co.  of  Denver,  in  May  1861,  who  manufactured  iron  from  the 
bog  ore  found  16  miles  north-west  of  Denver.     After  making  the  trial  they 
removed  their  works  to  Black  Hawk,  where  they  continued  to  make  iron  and 
manufacture  mining  machinery. 

3  Although  early  settled,  Central  City  was  not  surveyed  into  lots  until 
1 866,  when  George  H.  Hill  laid  it  off.     The  town-site  act  of  congress  author 
ized  the  location  of  1,280  acres  where  there  \vere  over  1,000  inhabitants,  and 
Central  being  entitled  by  population  to  half  that  amount,  obtained  it,  less  a 
little  over  50  acres  already  patented  to  mines.     The  question  of  superior 
rights  necessarily  arose  for  settlement,  the  town  being  upon  mining  ground. 
Theodore  H.  Becker  contested  the  claim  of  the  city  to  a  strip  of  surface 
ground  50  feet  wide  lying  through  the  centre  of  town,  on  the  supposition 


612  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

which  was  at  one  time  the  capital  of  the  territory,  and 
is  the  county  seat,  is  the  principal  of  the  three  towns 

that  the  prior  record  of  his  mine  would  secure  him  in  his  claim.  The  secre 
tary  of  the  interior  decided  adversely  to  Becker,  but  referred  the  case  to  the 
courts.  The  city  obtained  its  patent  without  reservation  of  the  ground 
claimed  by  Becker,  but  with  a  proviso  again  referring  the  question  to  'exist 
ing  laws.'  The  existing  laws  granted  mining  patents  in  towns,  excepting  all 
rights  to  the  surface,  or  anything  upon  it,  which  decision  was  finally  estab 
lished  and  order  restored.  Black  Hawk  was  incorporated  in  1864.  The  first 
post-office  in  the  Rocky  mountains  was  located  here,  in  1860,  and  designated 
Mountain  City,  to  distinguish  it  from  another  Central  City  in  Kansas,  of 
which  Colorado  was  then  a  part.  The  name  was  dropped  when  the  territory 
was  organized.  The  second  land  office  in  Colorado  was  opened  at  Central 
City  in  1868,  for  the  district  composed  of  Clear  creek,  Gilpin,  and  parts  of 
Jefferson  and  Boulder  counties,  Irving  Stantan  register,  and  Guy  M.  Hulett 
receiver.  The  first  application  for  a  patent  was  for  the  Compass  and  Square 
lode,  in  Griffith  mining  district,  Clear  Creek  co.  The  first  express  company 
which  extended  its  line  to  Central  City  was  the  Central  Overland  and  Pike's 
Peak  express,  in  the  spring  of  1860.  It  came  into  the  possession  of  Holladay 
in  1861,  and  in  1865  was  transferred  to  Wells,  Fargo,  <fo  Co.,  after  which  it 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Kansas  Pacific  Railroad  company  in  1871,  when 
that  road  was  completed  to  Denver.  It  was  then  known  as  the  Kansas  Pa 
cific  Railroad  Express  company,  bnt  later  became  the  Paoific  Express  com 
pany. 

The  telegraph  line  was  completed  to  Central  City  Nov.  7,  1863,  by  the 
Pacific  Telegraph  company,  which  two  years  later  was  merged  in  the  West 
ern  Union  company. 

The  first  newspaper  started  in  the  county  was  the  Rocky  Mountain  Gold 
Reporter  and  Mountain  City  Herald,  published  in  1859,  by  Thomas  Gibson, 
at  Gregory  point.  It  suspended  the  same  year.  The  Miners'  Register,  pub 
lished  by  Alfred  Thompson,  was  the  second,  in  1862,  which  went  through 
several  changes,  and  suspended  in  1873.  In  1876  the  Post,  democratic;  was 
first  issued  at  Black  Hawk,  by  William  McLaughlin  and  W.  W.  Sullivan. 
It  soon  came  into  the  hands  of  James  R.  Oliver. 

The  first  banking  in  Central  City  was  done  by  the  private  firm  of  Kountz 
Brothers.  In  1866  the  Rocky  Mountain  National  bank  was  organized, 
Joshua  S.  Reynolds  president.  In  1874  the  First  National  Bank  of  Central 
City  was  organized,  which  succeeded  the  private  banking  house  of  Thatcher, 
Standley,  &  Co. ,  successors  of  Warren,  Hussey,  &  Co.  Hanington  £  Mellor 
organized  a  banking  house  in  Central  City  in  1875.  There  is  also  at  Black 
Hawk  a  private  banking  house,  owned  by  Sam  Smith  &  Co.,  established  in 
1880. 

Public  schools  were  organized  in  Central  City  in  1862,  Daniel  C.  Collier 
superintendent;  first  teachers,  Thomas  J.  Campbell  and  Ellen  F.  Kendall. 
Schools  were  organized  the  same  year  in  Black  Hawk  and  Nevada ville.  The 
first  public  school-house  erected  by  the  county  was  completed  in  1870,  at  a 
cost  of  $20,000,  at  that  time  the  best  school  building  in  Colorado. 

Religious  services  were  held  in  the  open  air  in  1859,  at  Gregory  Diggings, 
by  Lewis  Hamilton,  resulting  in  the  formation  of  a  union  church,  composed 
of  all  denominations.  The  hall  over  the  post-office  at  Central  City  was  used 
as  a  meeting  house.  In  1862  Hamilton  went  as  chaplain  to  a  Colorado  regi 
ment,  and  the  records  of  the  church  were  lost.  Gr.  W.  Fisher,  methodist, 
also  held  open-air  meetings  in  1859,  and  organized  a  church  in  1860,  afterward 
holding  meetings  in  a  public  hall.  A  lot  was  purchased  in  1862,  but  no  church 
edifice  was  completed  before  1869,  when  the  first  methodist  church  at  Cen 
tral  was  dedicated  by  Bishop  Calvin  Kingsley.  The  society  in  due  time 
had  a  church,  costing  $20,000,  and  a  membership  of  over  300.  Its  first 
settled  pastor  was  Mr  Adriance,  A  methodist  church  was  also  organized 


RELIGIOUS  AND  BENEVOLENT  ORGANIZATIONS.          013 

before  mentioned  as  occupying  the  heart  of  the  gold 
district.  It  was  named  in  reference  to  its  central 

at  Black  Hawk  in  1802,  and  a  small  church  edilice  erected.  The  first  set 
tled  pastor  was  D.  H.  Pettish.  It  was  not  until  after  1872  that  a  church 
was  built  for  the  Methodist  society  at  Nevada ville.  The  first  woman  to 
arrive  in  the  gold  district  of  Gilpin  county  was  Mary  York,  afterward  Mrs 
William  Z.  Cozzens,  in  1859.  She  was  a  catholic.  There  were  plenty  of  her 
faith  in  the  mines,  and  services  began  to  be  held  in  the  following  year  in  a 
public  hall  by  J.  P.  Machebeuf,  afterwards  bishop  of  Colorado.  In  1802  a 
building  was  purchased  and  converted  into  a  church,  which  continued  to  be 
used  until  the  present  large  edifice  was  erected,  the  corner-stone  of  which  wa.s 
laid  by  Bishop  Machebeuf  in  1872.  It  was  first  used  for  religious  services  in 
1874,  though  still  incomplete.  During  this  year  an  academy  was  opened  on 
Guiinell  hill  by  the  ca -holies,  under  the  charge  of  the  sisters  of  charity.  The 
presbyteriairs  were  organized  into  a  church  in  1802  by  Lewis  Hamilton, 
before  mentioned,  uiid^r  the  name  of  First  Presbyterian  "church  of  Central 
City,  George  W.  Warner,  missionary,  being  its  first  pastor,  succeeded  by 
William  Crawford,  Theodore  D.  Marsh,  Sheldon  Jackson,  J.  G.  Lawrie,  H.  B. 
Gage,  J.  P.  Egbert,  W.  L.  Ledwith,  R.  M.  BroM-n,  J.  W.  Johnstone,  J.  H. 
Bourns,  and  Otto  Schultz,  covering  a  period  of  about  20  years.  The  church 
building  was  erected  in  1873.  The  First  Presbyterian  church  of  Black  Hawk 
was  organized  in  1803  by  George  W.  Warner.  A  church  was  erected  the  same 
year  costing  §7,500,  and  dedicated  Aug.  28th,  Warner  pastor.  He  resigned  in 
Nov.,  and  was  succeeded  by  T.  D.  Marsh,  Dr  Kendal,  A.  M.  Keizer,  Albert  F. 
Lyle,  G.  S.  Adams,  aiidW.  E.  Hamilton.  The  church  was  closed  in  1872,  and 
subsequently  rented  to  the  methodists.  The  congregationalists  organized  in 
]  863,  under  William  Crawford's  ministrations,  as  the  First  Congregational 
church  of  Colorado,  being  what  its  name  indicated  in  reality,  and  wishing  to 
be  general  in  its  efforts  to  do  good.  It  was  incorporated  in  I860,  however, 
as  the  First  Congregational  church  of  Central  City.  In  that  year  a  church 
edifice  costing  $11,700  was  erected.  Crawford  remained  with  the  society 
until  1807,  when  he  resigned,  and  was  succeeded  by  E.  P.  Tenney,  after  whom 
came  S.  F.  Dickinson,  H.  C.  Dickinson,  Theodore  C.  Jerome,  and  Samuel  R. 
Dimock.  The  church  was  closed  in  1876.  A  baptist  church  was  organized 
in  1804  by  Almond  Barrelle,  a  missionary  from  the  American  Baptist  Home 
Mission  society,  and  a  house  of  worship  erected,  which  in  1871  was  repaired, 
and  in  1879  closed,  being  since  occupied  as  a  store  and  dwelling.  The  epis 
copal  churches  also  have  closed  their  doors.  Why  Central  City  so  often 
closes  its  churches  seems  to  require  explanation.  Probably  the  attempt  to 
support  too  many  in  the  three  contiguous  municipalities  rendered  abortive 
the  effort  to  support  any.  In  this  matter  the  protestant  churches  would  do 
well  to  imitate  their  catholic  brethren. 

In  1866  was  organized  the  Miners  and  Mechanics'  Institute  of  Gilpin 
county,  Colorado,  which  association  was  chartered  in  1807,  but  did  not 
remain  permanent.  The  library  of  1,000  vols  which  it  collected  was  sold 
to  the  city  of  Central  at  a  nominal  price,  for  the  use  of  the  public  schools. 
The  school  board  soon  added  another  1,000  volumes  to  the  public  school 
library.  The  cabinet  of  minerals  and  other  valuable  matter  was  burned  in 
1874. 

The  fire  department  of  Central  City  was  organized  in  1869,  when  the  Cen 
tral  Fire  company  No.  1  was  formed,  with  78  members,  M.  H.  Root  foreman. 
The  city  was  not  then  supplied  with  water  for  extinguishing  fires,  and  the 
department  was  otherwise  wanting.  After  the  fire  of  May  1874,  which  burned 
the  greater  part  of  the  business  portion  of  the  town,  it  was  reorganized.  The 
Rescue  Fire  and  Hose  company  No.  1  was  first  formed,  N.  H.  McCall  fore 
man.  In  1875  the  Rough  and  Ready  Hook  and  Ladder  company  No.  1  was 
organized,  M.  H.  Root  foreman.  In  1878  the  Alert  Fire  and  Hose  company 
No.  2,  Thomas  Hambly  foreman.  In  1879  the  Black  Hawk  Fire  and  Hose 


614  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

position  between  Black  Hawk  and  Nevada ville.  The 
other  towns  are  but  its  suburbs,  and  together  make  a 

company  No.  1  was  organized,  W.  O.  Logue  foreman.  There  was  soon  an  effi 
cient  fire  department,  with  hydrants  at  convenient  distances,  and  reservoirs 
at  a  sufficient  elevation  to  throw  water  over  any  building  in  the  town.  There 
was  mustered  into  service  as  Colorado  militia  a  military  company,  known  as 
the  Emmet  Guards  of  Gilpin  county,  in  Nov.  1875,  James  Noonan  captain, 
James  Delahanty  1st  lieut,  T.  F.  Welch  2d  lieut. 

Of  secret  and  benevolent  orders  there  are  a  number  in  Gilpin  county. 
Nevada  Lodge  No.  1,  of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  was  granted  a  dispensa 
tion  by  the  grand  lodge  of  Kansas  Dec.  22,  1860,  and  formally  opened  for 
business  Jan.  12,  1861.  Its  lodge-room  being  burned  in  the  autumn,  steps 
were  taken  to  rebuild,  and  80  feet  of  ground  fronting  on  Main  street  pur 
chased.  Nevada  lodge  was  the  first  organized  in  Colorado,  but  later  in  the 
same  year  John  M.  Chivington,  appointed  by  the  grand  master  of  Nebraska, 
instituted  lodges  as  follows:  Golden  No.  1,  at  Golden  City;  Rocky  Moun 
tain  No.  2,  at  Gold  Hill;  and  Park  No.  3,  at  Parkville,  in  the  counties  of 
Jefferson,  Boulder,  and  Summit  respectively.  He  then  called  a  convention 
at  Golden,  to  institute  a  grand  lodge,  Aug.  3,  1861.  This  action  of  the 
Nebraska  grand  lodge  was  regarded  by  the  Nevada  lodge  as  an  infringement 
of  the  privileges  of  the  Kansas  grand  lodge,  under  whose  jurisdiction  Colo 
rado,  it  was  claimed,  properly  came.  The  Kansas  grand  lodge,  however,  rec 
ognizing  the  Colorado  grand  lodge,  removed  the  difficulty,  and  Nevada  lodge 
surrendering  its  first  charter,  was  rechartered  by  the  Colorado  grand  lodge 
as  Nevada  lodge  No.  4.  Its  building  was  of  stone,  brick,  and  iron,  and  cost 
$7,000.  Chivington  lodge  was  chartered  Dec.  11,  1861.  Central  City  Chap 
ter  No.  1,  Royal  Arch  Masons,  received  its  charter  from  the  grand  royal 
arch  chapter  of  the  United  States,  Sept.  9,  1865.  Central  City  Council  No. 
54,  Royal  and  Select  Masters,  was  chartered  by  the  grand  council  of  111. , 
Oct.  23, 1872.  Central  City  Commandery  No.  2,  Knights  Templar,  was  insti 
tuted  Nov.  8,  1866,  and  received  its  charter  from  the  grand  encampment 
of  the  United  States  Oct.  24,  1868.  Black  Hawk  lodge  No.  11,  A.  F.  &  A. 
M.,  was  instituted  Feb.  17,  1866.  The  Rocky  Mountain  lodge  No.  2,  Inde 
pendent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  was  chartered  June  14,  1865.  Colorado 
Encampment  No.  1, 1.  O.  O.  F.,  was  instituted  May  22,  1867.  Colorado  lodge 
No.  3,  of  Black  Hawk,  instituted  May  16,  1866.  Nevada  lodge  No.  6  was 
chartered  Sept.  23,  1868.  Bald  Mountain  Encampment  No.  3  was  instituted 
at  Nevada  March  18,  1871.  The  first  lodge  of  Good  Templars  in  Gilpin 
county  was  instituted  at  Nevada  in  August  1860,  by  A.  G.  Gill,  commissioned 
by  the  grand  lodge  of  Kansas.  The  fire  of  1861  having  destroyed  their  lodge- 
room,  the  order  was  reorganized  at  Central  under  the  name  of  Central  City 
lodge  No.  23,  of  Kansas,  and  prospered  until  the  fire  of  1874  again  destroyed 
its  property.  The  lodge  did  not  disband,  but  continued  to  meet  in  hired 
rooms.  The  first  grand  lodge  of  this  order  was  instituted  in  Washington 
hall,  Central  City,  March  17,  1868,  with  788  members  and  11  lodges.  Ne 
vada  lodge  No.  52  was  instituted  by  the  grand  lodge  of  Kansas  in  April 
1866;  but  in  March  1868  it  applied  to  the  Colorado  grand  lodge  for  a  new 
charter,  and  received  the  name  of  Nevada  lodge  No.  3.  It  owns  a  building, 
and  is  in  good  circumstances.  The  Knights  of  Honor,  Knights  of  Pythias, 
Knights  of  the  New  World,  Foresters,  and  Red  Men  have  their  organizations 
in  Gilpin  county,  as  well  as  the  Scandinavian  and  other  benevolent  societies. 
Not  to  be  behind  the  rest  of  the  world  in  amusements,  Central  is  provided 
with  an  opera  house  of  stone,  55  by  115  feet,  which  will  seat  500  persons  in 
the  dress-circle  and  parquette,  and  250  in  the  gallery.  It  is  warmed  by  hot- 
air  furnaces,  is  finely  frescoed,  lighted  with  gas,  and  cost  altogether  $25,- 
000.  It  was  begun  in  1877,  and  completed  in  1878,  and  furnishes  a  strong 
contrast  to  Hadley  Hall,  the  large  log  building,  still  standing,  in  the  upper 
story  of  which,  in  earlier  times,  theatrical  representations  were  wont  to  be 
given. 


GRAND.  G15 

population  of  5,500.  It  has  excellent  schools,  and  a 
generally  progressive  and  refined  society.  The  other 
towns  and  camps  in  the  country  are  Kollinsville,  Rus 
sell's  gulch,  Black's  camp,  Cottonwood,  and  Smith 
hill.4 

4  Among  the  pioneers  of  Gilpiii  county  are  the  following:  Corbit  Bacon, 
who  came  to  Colorado  from  Pontiac,  Mich.,  in  1858  with  a  small  party  con 
sisting  of  James  A.  Weeks,  Wilbur  F.  Parker,  and  Alverson  and  son. 
Arriving  late  in  the  year  he  encamped  30  miles  above  Denver,  and  the  follow 
ing  spring  began  mining  on  Quartz  hill.  He  has  continued  in  the  business 
in  Gilpin  county  ever  since.  J.  M.  Beverly,  born  in  Va,  in  1843,  came  to 
Colorado  from  111.  in  1859  in  company  with  J.  R.  Beverly,  his  father.  They 
went  at  once  to  Gregory  gulch,  and  thence  to  Nevadaville,  where  they 
erected  the  first  cabin.  J.  M.  Beverly  was  elected  recorder,  sheriff,  and  jus 
tice  of  the  peace  in  the  autumn  of  1859.  During  the  winter  he  discovered  a 
mine,  named  after  him,  on  the  Burroughs  lode,  which  he  sold  in  1864.  He 
built  the  Beverly  mill  in  Nevada  gulch  in  1862,  which  he  sold  after  running 
it  5  years,  and  built  another.  Having  accumulated  a  fortune,  he  returned  to 
Chicago,  but  suffered  a  loss  of  his  property  in  the  great  fire  of  1871,  and 
began  the  study  and  practice  of  the  law  in  that  city.  Later  he  invested  in 
mines  in  Lake  and  Gilpin  counties.  Chase  Withrow,  born  in  111.,  in  1839, 
came  to  Colorado  in  1860,  and  settled  at  Central  City,  where  he  followed 
mining  for  two  years,  after  which  he  engaged  in  lumber-dealing  for  6  years. 
He  then  returned  to  the  study  of  the  law,  commenced  before  leaving  111., 
was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  practised  until  1875,  when  he  was  elected  clerk 
of  the  district  court,  which  position  he  held  for  6  years,  when  he  returned  to 
the  practise  of  his  profession.  Soon  after  he  was  elected  city  attorney.  Wil 
liam  H.  Beverly,  his  brother,  came  to  Colorado  in  1860,  and  settled  at  Neva 
daville.  Hugh  A.  Campbell,  born  in  Pa,  in  1826,  was  brought  up  in  Ohio. 
In  1850  he  joined  a  party  of  adventurers  going  to  California,  and  mined  in 
Nevada  co.  8  years.  He  had  no  sooner  returned  to  Ohio  than  the  rush  to 
Pike's  peak  began,  which  he  immediately  joined,  arriving  in  Central  City  in 
June  1859,  where  he  opened  a  store  with  Jesse  Trotter,  in  a  brush  tent. 
During  the  summer  they  erected  a  log  cabin,  on  what  is  now  Lawrence  street, 
and  removed  their  goods  to  it.  They  put  a  sign  over  their  door  with  Central 
City  on  it,  and  so  fixed  the  name,  not  recognized  by  the  P.  O.  department. 
Campbell  discovered  the  Cincinnati  lode  on  Casto  hill;  owned  40  acres  of 
placer  ground  on  the  south  side  of  Quartz  hill;  30  acres  on  Pine  creek; 
the  Globe,  Progressive,  and  Centennial  lodes  on  Gunnell  hill;  Greenback 
lode  on  Casto  hill;  Inter-ocean  and  Gettysburg  on  Quartz  hill,  and  other 
mining  property. 

D.  D.  Mcllvoy,  born  in  Ky,  in  1824,  was  the  son  of  a  farmer.  He 
crossed  the  plains  to  Cal.  in  1850.  He  joined  a  militia  company  during  the 
Pah  Ute  outbreak,  and  was  commissioned  a  lieutenant  by  Gov.  McDougal. 
In  1851  he  returned  home  by  sea,  meeting  at  Habana  with  the  filibustering 
army  of  Lopez,  recruited  at  New  Orleans,  witnessing  the  shooting  of  Capt. 
Crittenden  and  50  men  by  Lopez,  for  insubordination  and  desertion.  In 
1859  Mcllvoy  came  to  Colorado  with  his  family,  and  settled  on  Missouri  flats 
near  Central  City.  Soon  after  he  discovered  Lake  gulch,  and  engaged  in 
mining  and  farming,  having  160  acres  of  land  on  the  flats. 

David  D.  Strock,  born  in  Ohio,  in  1832,  raised  a  farmer,  and  educated  at 
Hiram,  came  to  Colorado  in  1859,  mining  at  Gregory  gulch  that  summer, 
when  he  returned  to  Kansas,  but  finally  settled  at  Plack  Hawk,  in  this  state 
in  1863,  as  a  millwright  and  carpenter.  He  owr.d  50  feet  on  the  Gunnell 
lode,  which  he  leased  to  the  Gunnell  company. 

Anthony  W.  Tucker,  born  in  Pa,  in  1837,  reared  in  Ohio,  a  machinist  by 
trade,  came  to  Colorado  in  1859,  and  mined  at  Gregory  and  Russell  diggings. 


616  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

Grand  county,  organized  in  1874,  included  the 
North  park,  and  most  of  the  Middle  park,  and  all  of 

He  set  up  and  operated  the  first  engine  in  Colorado,  in  Bentley  &  Bayard's 
saw-mill  at  Central  City.  In  1862  he  worked  on  J.  L.  Pritchard's  quartz-mill 
at  Nevadaville.  Afterwards  he  superintended  different  mills — D.  P.  Casey's 
in  Chase  gulch,  Ophir  mill,  Clayton  mill,  Truman  Whitcomb  mill,  and 
Wheeler  &  Sullivan  mill.  In  1877  he  leased  the  Tucker  mill  in  Russell  gulch, 
which  was  burned  in  1879,  after  which  he  purchased  an  interest  in  the  New 
York  quartz-mill  at  Black  Hawk.  He  was  elected  county  commissioner  in 
1877.  Henry  Paul,  born  in  Ky  in  1841,  and  brought  up  to  farm  life  in  Ky 
and  Mo.,  came  to  Colorado  in  1859,  but  returned,  to  Mo.  the  same  year,  and 
studied  medicine  until  1863,  when  he  settled  in  Gilpin  co.,  where  he  engaged 
in  mining  and  farming,  varying  these  pursuits  with  medical  studies.  His 
mining  discoveries  are  the  Hazelton,  Helmer,  Powers,  and  Searle  lodes  in 
Willis  gulch  in  Gilpin  county,  and  Security  lode,  on  Mt  Bross,  in  Park  co., 
and  many  others  in  several  counties.  He  was  elected  to  the  legislature  in 
1873,  and  was  chairman  of  the  committee  which  drafted  the  mining  law  of 
Colorado.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the  National  Democratic  convention  at 
Cincinnati  in  1880.  He  engaged  in  mining  and  merchandising. 

Joseph  S.  Beaman,  born  in  Baden,  Germany,  in  1834,  was  apprenticed  to 
a  brewer.  He  came  to  the  U.  S.  in  1851,  and  learned  carpentry  at  Louisville, 
Ky,  after  which  he  attended  school  two  years.  In  1859  he  came  to  Colorado, 
locating  at  Central  City,  where,  after  mining  a  few  years,  he  worked  at  his 
trade,  and  finally  established  himself  as  a  bottler  of  soda  water  and  liquors. 

Lewis  W.  Berry,  born  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  in  1822,  was  the  son  of  a  ship- 
carpenter,  and  learned  the  trade  of  painter.  He  was  in  New  Orleans  in  1846, 
where  he  raised  a  company  for  the  Mexican  war,  and  fought  under  Gen. 
Scott,  as  'captain.  Returning  to  Brooklyn,  he  remained  there  until  1859, 
when  he  came  to  Colorado,  mining  at  Central  City  for  4  years,  when  he  spent 
two  years  in  Montana,  living  later  at  Idaho  Springs. 

Samuel  Copeland,  born  in  Me  in  1819,  after  a  youth  spent  on  a  farm  and 
at  academies  in  St  Albans  and  Charleston,  embarked  in  mercantile  pursuits 
at  several  points  in  Me,  N.  B.,  and  Mich.,  and  travelled  for  health  and 
pleasure.  In  1860  he  came  to  Colorado,  having  invested  his  means  in  a  train 
of  11  wagons,  28  yokes  of  oxen,  and  4  horses,  the  wagons  being  freighted 
with  machinery  for  a  quartz-mill,  saw-mill,  and  shingle-mill.  The  quartz- 
mill  proved  a  loss,  but  the  others  were  set  up  and  profitably  operated  in 
Michigan  gulch  until  1863,  when  he  removed  them  to  Boulder,  being  the 
principal  lumber  merchant  there  until  1870,  and  engaged  also  in  mining  and 
merchandising.  His  energetic  course  resulted  in  a  fortune. 

James  B.  Gould,  born  in  N.  Y.  in  1 836,  was  reared  in  Pa  and  Iowa  as  a 
farmer.  He  came  to  Black  Hawk  in  1860,  engaging  in  freighting  about  the 
mines  for  two  years,  and  afterwards  for  7  years  between  the  Missouri  river 
and  Denver.  He  then  sold  his  teams,  and  purchased  a  farm  in  Boulder  co., 
where  he  secured  440  acres  of  improved  land  near  White  Rock.  I  have  ab 
stracted  these  biographical  sketches  from  Clear  Creek  and  Boulder  Vol.  Hist. 
The  names  of  C.  A.  Roberts  and  Charles  Peck  occur  in  connection  with  min 
ing  regulations  in  1859,  but  I  have  no  further  information  of  them.  Hollisters 
Mines  of  Colo,  78.  Some  facts  concerning  Central  City  and  Gilpin  co.  have 
been  drawn  from  N.  T.  Bond's  Early  History  of  Colorado,  Montana,  and  Idaho, 
MS.,  containing  narratives  of  discovery  and  early  government. 

Clara  Brown,  a  colored  woman,  born  near  Fredericksburg,  Va,  in  1800, 
after  an  eventful  life  as  a  slave,  was  liberated  in  Ky.  In  her  57th  year  she 
removed  to  St  Louis,  and  again  to  Leavenworth,  joining  in  the  spring  of  1859 
a  party  bound  for  Pike's  peak,  and  paying  for  her  transportation  by  cooking 
for  a  mess  of  25  men.  She  had  the  first  laundry  in  Gilpin  co.,  and  in  a  few 
years  accumulated  $10,000.  After  the  close  of  the  war  she  went  to  Ky  for 
her  relatives,  and  established  them  iu  Colorado,  herself  settling  in  Denver  in 


GUNNISON,    H1NSDALE.  617 

what  is  now  Routt  county.  It  now  embraces  the 
Middle  park  and  most  of  the  settlements  of  its  former 
territory.5 

Gunnison  county,  whose  early  history  has  been 
given,  was  organized  in  1880.  Its  development  has 
been  rapid.  Over  100,000  tons  of  coal  were  taken 
out  of  this  county  in  1883.  It  is  beginning  to  be  cul 
tivated  for  its  agricultural  wealth ;  its  grazing  inter 
est  is  large  and  increasing  ;  but  its  gold,  silver,  cop 
per,  lead,  coal,  and  iron  mines  are  still  the  chief 
incentive  to  settlement.  The  bullion  output  in  1883 
was  $650,000,  and  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  county 
$3,234,490.6 

a  neat  cottage  of  her  own,  and  being  a  member  in  good  standing  of  the  pres- 
byteriaii  church.  Clear  Creek  and  Boulder  Val.  Hixt.,  443. 

a  It  contains  arable  and  grazing  lands,  beautiful  mountain  lakes,  and  is  a 
sportman's  paradise.  The  lack  of  facilities  for  transportation  have  interfered 
with  its  development.  The  population  in  1880  was  but  little  over  400,  but 
had  increased  in  1883  to  2,000.  One  of  the  attractions  of  the  park  are  the 
hot  sulphur  springs  on  Grand  river  and  at  Grand  lake.  Placer  mining  has 
been  carried  on  in  this  county  for  twenty  years,  and  coal  of  good  quality  is 
one  of  its  best  known  resources.  The  later  mineral  discoveries  have  revealed 
gold  and  silver  lodes  of  great  value.  Petroleum  is  another  natural  produc 
tion  awaiting  railroads  to  be  made  available.  The  assessment  valuation  in 
1883  was  353,998.  Grand  Lake,  with  a  population  of  300,  was  the  county 
seat.  Hot  Sulphur  Springs  had  300  inhabitants,  Teller  5CO,  while  Fraser, 
Gaskill,  Lulu,  Troublesome,  Colorow,  Rand,  Hermitage,  and  Canadian  had 
100  or  less. 

6  Gunnison  City,  the  county  seat,  had  in  1886  6,000  inhabitants,  and  the 
county  not  less  than  14,000,  distributed  among  other  towns  as  follows:  Pit- 
kin  1,500,  Crested  Butte  1,000,  Gothic  900,  Irwiii  600,  Tin  Cup  500,  West 
Gunnison  400,  and  the  remainder  among  mining  camps  and  settlements. 
There  were  numerous  settlements  belonging  to  Gunnison  at  that  time,  namely, 
Allen,  Almont,  Anthracite,  Aureo,  Barnum,  Bellevue,  Bowman,  Camp 
Kingsberry,  Chipeta,  Chloride,  Cloud  City,  Copper  Creek,  Crooksville,  Cur- 
ran,  Delta,  Doyle  ville,  Drake,  Elko,  Elkton,  Emma,  Galena,  Haverly,  Hiller- 
ton,  Howeville,  Indian  Creek,  Jack's  Cabin,  Marom,  Montrose,  Ohio,  Paradox 
Valley,  Parlins,  Petersburg,  Pittsburgh,  Powderhorn,Quartzville,  Red  Moun 
tain,  Richardson,  Roaring  Rock,  Rock  Creek,  Ruby  City,  Rustler  Gulch, 
•Sage,  Sapinero,  Scofield,  Silver  Night,  Spring,  Stevens,  Toll  Gate,  Tomichi, 
Turner,  Uncompahgre,  Virginia,  Waller's  Camp,  Washington  Gulch,  White 
Earth,  White  Pine,  White  Sulphur  Springs,  and  Woodstock.  Some  few  of 
these  have  been  cut  off  by  the  division  of  the  county  in  1883. 

The  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  railroad  now  passes  across  the  county  from  east 
to  west,  with  a  branch  to  Crested  Butte,  where  considerable  progress  is  being 
made  in  the  development  of  extensive  and  valuable  deposits  of  anthracite, 
bituminous,  and  coking  coal.  But  there  is  less  population  in  the  towns,  nota 
bly  less  in  Gunnison  City,  than  for  the  first  two  or  three  years  of  growth,  and 
when  this  was  the  terminus  of  the  railway.  The  secondary  epoch  of  all  mining 
and  railroad  towns  is  upon  it,  from  which  the  healthy  growth  of  the  country, 
which  comes  later,  alone  will  redeem  it.  There  are  some  interesting  and 


618  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

Hinsdale  county,  named  after  George  A.  Hinsdale, 
was  organized  in  1874,  on  the  discovery  of  the  mines 
of  the  San  Juan  country.  Owing  to  its  mountain 
ous  character,  and  lack  of  transportation,  it  made 

instructive  facts  given  in. Eaton's  Gunnison  Yesterday  and  To-day,  MS.  'We 
have  always, '  he  says,  '  lived  on  eastern  capital, '  and  proceeds  to  relate  that 
a  St  Louis  company  laid  gas  and  water  pipes,  expending  $100,000;  erected 
the  La  Veta  hotel,  on  foundations  abandoned  by  its  projector,  at  a  cost  of 
$212,000;  formed  a  plan  for  an  opera  house  and  a  block  of  stores;  organized 
the  Gunnison  Steel  and  Iron  company,  buying  coal  and  iron  lands  all  over 
the  country,  the  city  raising  $20,000  to  put  in  escrow,  to  be  paid  over  when 
it  should  fulfil  certain  conditions.  Furnaces  were  partially  erected  when  it 
was  discovered  that  the  coal  owned  by  the  company  was  not  coking  coal,  and 
that  the  coking  coal  had  been  bought  up  by  the  Colorado  Coal  and  Iron  com 
pany.  This  suspended  the  business  of  the  St  Louis  company.  A  patent 
smelter,  owned  by  Moffat  of  Joplin,  Mo.,  was  erected  in  1882-3,  and  failed, 
but  was  afterward  made  to  work  successfully.  Shaw  and  Patrick,  young 
men,  also  erected  a  smelter,  which  when  still  incomplete  was  abandoned, 
presumably  for  want  of  capital.  An  attempt  was  being  made  in  1884  to 
raise  money  to  start  the  works.  These  several  failures  of  companies  and 
individuals  affected  the  business  of  the  town,  and  decreased  its  population. 
In  the  autumn  of  1884  a  brewery  was  started,  which,  with  the  Moffat 
smelter,  two  planing-mills,  a  cement,  and  a  mineral-paint  factory  constituted 
the  manufacturing  industry  of  Gunnisoii. 

The  first  banks  of  Gunnison  were  the  Miners'  Exchange,  and  the  Bank  of 
Gunnison,  both  owned  by  private  individuals,  but  afterward  made  the  First 
National  and  the  Iron  National  banks,  the  latter  printing  drafts  with  an  en 
graving  of  the  projected  steel  works  in  a  corner. 

A.  E.  Buck,  proprietor  of  the  News- Democrat,  formerly  of  the  Spirit  of 
the  Times  in  New  York,  laid  out  an  addition  to  Gunnison  town  site.  The 
first  amusement  hall  was  the  Globe  theatre,  of  alow  character.  It  was  pur 
chased  by  the  citizens,  and  converted  into  an  academy  of  music.  In  1882 
the  Gumiison.  opera  house  was  erected,  and  a  private  theatrical  company  of 
the  citizens  gave  entertainments  occasionally,  varied  by  the  performances  of 
travelling  artists.  In  1882  Gumiison  had  two  small  brick  school  houses.  The 
following  year  $28,000  was  appropriated  by  the  citizens  for  the  erection  of 
two  new  school  buildings,  to  be  used  in  connection  with  the  others,  and  the 
schools  rose  to  a  high  order.  Six  churches  were  organized  by  1886,  having 
their  own  edifices.  A  chamber  of  commerce  was  started  in  1884,  for  which 
there  appears  to  have  been  no  urgent  demand.  It  had  begun  making  a  col 
lection  of  minerals. 

Hartly  C.  Eaton,  from  whose  MS.  I  have  taken  most  of  the  above  sug- 

festive  items,  was  born  in  Portland,  Me,  in  1853.  He  came  to  Gunnison  in 
882,  with  J.  A.  Small  and  A.  W.  Sewall,  to  engage  in  the  book  and  sta 
tionery  trade.  John  B.  Outcalt,  born  in  New  Jersey  in  1850,  a  carpenter  by 
trade,  who  came  to  Denver  in  1871,  and  to  Gunnison  in  1874,  with  Richard 
son  and  William  W.  Outcalt,  and  who  secured,  with  his  brother,  1,100  acres 
of  meadow  land  and  town  property  enough  to  make  them  wealthy,  also 
furnished  me  the  result  of  his  observations  on  Gunnison  county  and  city,  in 
Grazing  in  Gunnison,  MS.  See  Gunnison  Sun,  Oct.  13,  1883;  Gunnison.  Re 
view,  Jan.  1,  1883.  The  principal  reliance  of  Gunnison  is  in  coal -and  iron, 
to  promote  manufactures,  which  are  still  in  their  infancy,  a  fine  grade  of  an 
thracite  being  found  within  twenty-five  miles.  Sandstone,  granite,  and 
marble  are  abundant  in  the  neighborhood;  also  fire  clay  and  materials  for 
cement.  But  the  place  lay  long  under  the  ban  of  the  railroad,  to  whose 
tyrannies  men  and  municipalities  must  ever  submit.  Archie  M.  Stevenson, 
born  in  Scotland  in  1857,  but  brought  up  in  Wis,  and  educated  for  the  prac- 


HUERFANO,    JEFFERSON.  619 

little  progress.  Lake  City,  the  county  seat,  had  in 
1886,  800  inhabitants.  It  lies  in  a  sloping  valley,  at 
an  elevation  of  8,550  feet,  surrounded  by  mountains 
ribbed  with  mineral  veins.  The  principal  mining  dis 
tricts  are  Engineer  mountain,  Lake,  Park,  Sherman, 
and  Cimarron.  The  first  development  attained  to 
was  due  chiefly  to  the  firm  of  Crooke  &  Co.,  eastern 
capitalists,  who  purchased  a  number  of  mines,  and 
erected  concentrating  and  smelting  works  near  Lake 
City,  which  were  completed  in  1878.  The  product 
of  their  mines  the  first  year  was  $85,498  in  silver, 
$23,698.27  in  lead,  and  $2,925  in  gold.7 

Huerfano  county  was  organized  in  1861  with  the 
county  seat  temporarily  at  Autobes.  It  was  removed 
to  Badito  subsequently,  and  is  at  present  at  Walsen- 
burg,  a  railroad  and  coal-mining  town.  Huerfano  is 
principally  a  grazing  and  agricultural  district.  There 
were  in  the  country  in  1883,  20,000  cattle,  and  100,- 
000  sheep.  No  mining  except  for  coal  was  being  done 
there,  although  it  is  known  to  have  mines  of  gold  and 
galena.  The  coal  product  of  1883  was  100,000  tons, 
from  the  mines  of  the  Colorado  Iron  and  Coal  com 
pany.  The  population  at  that  date  was  over  5,000, 
and  the  assessed  valuation  $1,321,826.  Walsenburg 
had  in  1886  400  inhabitants.8 

Jefferson  county,  besides  being  one  of  the  earliest 

tise  of  the  law,  came  to  Colorado  in  1880,  locating  first  at  Pitkin,  but  remov 
ing  to  Gunnison  after  being  elected  to  the  state  senate  for  4  years,  in  1882. 
He  formed  a  law  partnership  with  Stevenson  and  Frankey. 

7  Two  smelters  were  also  erected  at  Capitol  City,  in  1880,  under  the  manage 
ment  of  George  S.  Lee.  The  mines  of  the  county  best  known  are  the  Little 
Annie,  Golden  Queen,  Ute,  Ule,  Belle  of  the  West,  Ocean  Wave,  Emperor, 
Fairview,  Scotia,  John  J.  Crooke,  El  Paso,  Inez,  Palmetto,  and  Hotchkiss, 
which  are  but  few  of  the  many  good  mines.  Capitol  City,  Antelope  Springs, 
Sherman,  Burrows  Park,  and  Argentum,  have  from  125  to  200  inhabitants 
each.  There  are  a  few  other  settlements,  and  mining  camps:  Antelope  Park, 
Barrett's  Station,  Belford,  Clear  Creek,  Crooke  City,  Hudson's  Rancho, 
Lost  Trail,  San  Juan,  Sparling's  Rancho,  Tellurium,  and  Timber  Hill. 

8Lesser  settlements  are  Apache,  Butte  Valley,  Chabez  Plaza,  Cucharas, 
Dickson,  Dixolt,  Fabian  Plaza,  Gardner,  Garzia  Plaza,  Hager's  Mill,  Ham 
ilton,  Huerfano,  Huerfano  Canon,  La  Veta,  Malachite,  Meaz  Plaza,  Mining 
Camp,  Mule  Shoe,  Ojo,  Park's  Mills,  Piedras  Animas,  Quebec,  Quinland, 
Rito  de  Gallina,  Sangre  de  Cristo  Station,  Santa  Clara,  Santa  Maria,  Span 
ish  Peaks,  Tirneros  Plaza,  Turkey  Creek,  Veta  Pass,  Wahatoya,  Walsen's 
Springs,  Walsen  Station. 


620  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

settled  and  first  organized,  enjoys  the  advantage  of  a 
nearness  to  the  metropolis  and  a  variety  of  products 
to  take  to  that  market.  While  not  strictly  a  mining 
county,  it  contains  in  its  western  portion  gold,  silver, 
copper,  lead,  zinc,  iron,  mica,  coal,  mineral  paint, 
petroleum,  alabaster,  fire  clay,  potters'  clay,  limestone, 
marble,  building  stone,  timber,  and  other  productions 
which  enter  into  manufactures.  Its  coal  mines  are 
extensively  worked.  It  is  one  of  the  foremost  agri 
cultural  and  horticultural  counties,  and  has  a  greater 
variety  of  industries  than  almost  any  other.  The 
population  in  1883  was  8,000,  and  the  assessed  valu 
ation  $2,746,498.  Golden  is  the  county  seat,  with 
2,500  inhabitants.  There  are  a  number  of  smelters 
located  here  for  reducing  the  ores  from  other  coun 
ties,  besides  flouring  mills  and  factories  of  various 
kinds.9 

9  The  towns  of  Arapahoe,  Mount  Vernon,  and  Golden  Gate  were  mining 
camps  in  the  spring  of  1859,  the  second  at  the  mouth  of  Table  Mountain 
canon,  and  the  latter  at  the  mouth  of  another  canon  called  the  Gate  of  the 
Mountains.  Golden  City  on  Clear  creek,  was  settled  at  the  same  time  by  W. 
A.  H.  Loveland,  John  M.  Ferrell,  Fox  Deifendorf,  P.  B.  Cheney,  George  Jack 
son,  Hardy,  Charles  M.  Ferrell,  John  F.  Kirby,  T.  P.  Boyd,  William  Pollard, 
James  McDonald,  George  West,  Mark  L.  Blunt,  Charles  Remington,  E.  B. 
Smith,  J.  C.  Bowles,  David  MeCleery,  I.  B.  Fitzpatrick,  and  W.  J.  McKay. 
A  part  of  this  number  belonged  to  the  Boston  company  of  8  members  who 
crossed  the  plains  together,  arriving  in  June,  among  whom  were  Henry  Vallard 
and  A.  D.  Richardson  and  Thomas  W.  Kiiox,  the  celebrated  correspondents  of 
the  N.  Y.  Tribune.  George  West,  a  Bostonian,  wTas  president  of  this  company. 
They  decided  that  the  temporary  settlement  at  the  crossing  of  Clear  creek 
was  the  proper  site  for  a  city,  and  accordingly  they,  with  Loveland,  Kirby, 
J.  M.  Ferrell,  Smith,  H.  J.  Carter,  Mrs  Williams,  gtanton  &  Clark,  F.  W. 
Beebe,  J.  C.  Bowles,  E.  L.  Berthoud,  and  Garrison  selected  1,280  acres  on 
both  sides  of  Clear  creek  and  laid  out  a  town.  F.  W.  Beebe  surveyed  320 
acres  that  season,  but  the  survey  was  completed  in  1860  by  Berthoud.  By 
the  close  of  the  year,  with  the  help  of  a  saw  and  shingle  mill,  Golden  had 
grown  to  a  town  of  700  inhabitants.  Robert  L.  Lambert  erected  a  log  store 
in  the  winter  of  1859,  between  the  seasons  of  mining.  He  became  a  wealthy 
cattle  and  sheep  raiser  in  Las  Animas  co.  Many  farms  were  taken  up.  I.  C. 
Bergen  settled  in  Bergen  park,  where  he  kept  a  hotel.  In  the  autumn  Mc- 
Intyre  and  MeCleery  organized  a  company  to  construct  a  wagon  road  from  old 
Fort  St  Vrain  to  South  Park,  via  Golden,  Bergen  Park,  Cub  Creek,  etc., 
which  was  located  in  the  following  spring.  On  the  7th  of  Dec.,  1859,  the 
Western  Mountaineer  issued  its  first  number,  George  W^est  publisher.  The 
first  county  election  under  the  provisional  government  was  held  Jan.  2,  1860, 
when  the  votes  for  county  seat  gave  Golden  a  majority  over  Arapahoe  of  401 
to  228.  Baden,  later  Aleck,  received  22  votes.  Joseph  C.  Remington  was  the 
first  sheriff  elected.  There  was  a  public  sale  of  town  lots  in  February,  prices 
ranging  from  $30  to  $120.  A  school  was  also  opened  in  the  spring  by  M.  T. 
Dougherty,  with  18  pupils,  At  the  first  municipal  election,  held  April  10, 1860, 


LAKE.  621 

Lake  county  was  first  organized  In  1861,  when  Cal 
ifornia  gulch  was  in  its  first  flush  period,  with  the 
county  seat  at  Oro.  On  the  discovery  of  silver  at  a 
later  date  the  legislature  cut  off  the  northern  end  and 

J.  W.  Stanton  was  chosen  mayor;  S.  M.  Breath,  recorder;  W.  C.  Simpson, 
marshal;  W.  A.  H.  Loveland  treas.;  R.  Barton,  J.  M.  Johnson,  R.  T.  Davis 
D.  G.  Dargiss,  0.  B.  Harvey,  A.  B.  Smith,  W.  J.  Smith,  J.  Kirby  council- 
men.  In  August  a  weekly  mail  was  established.  A  period  of  slow  progress, 
and  in  1883  Golden  was  made  the  capital  of  Colorado,  but  the  legislature  did 
not  meet  there  until  1866-7.  In  1867  the  county  voted  $100,000  in  bonds  in 
aid  of  the  Colorado  Central  and  Pacific  railroad  to  Cheyenne  and  to  Denver. 
Golden  had  now  two  flouring-mills,  a  brewery,  and  a  paper-mill,  and  was 
making  fire-brick.  In  1868  ground  was  broken  for  the  first  Colorado  rail 
road,  and  the  following  year  the  road-bed  was  made  ready  for  the  rails  10 
miles,  from  Golden  to  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  county.  On  the  26th  of 
Sept.,  1870,  the  first  locomotive  reached  Golden.  In  April  a  narrow  guage 
railroad,  the  first  west  of  the  Mississippi,  had  been  begun,  which  was  fin 
ished  to  Black  Hawk  late  in  1872.  In  March  1873  a  narrow  guage  to  Floyd 
Hill  was  in  running  order,  and  in  April  the  Golden  and  Julesburg  branch  of 
the  Colorado  Central  was  completed  to  Longmont.  Still  later  in  the  year 
the  Golden  and  South  Platte  railway  was  graded  18  miles  to  Plum  creek. 
Then  came  the  panic  of  1874-6,  when  railroad  building  was  interrupted.  In 
1877  the  narrow  guage  to  Georgetown  was  completed,  and  the  line  from 
Black  Hawk  to  Central  in  the  spring  of  1878.  The  Colorado  Central  also, 
when  completed,  belonged  to  the  system  of  railroads  which  contributed  to 
the  prosperity  of  Golden,  34  trains  leaving  and  arriving  daily.  They  car 
ried  away  coal,  stone,  hay,  grain,  and  flour,  and  brought  ore,  coal,  coke, 
lumber,  grain,  and  groceries.  Golden  built  three  flouring-mills,  five  smelt 
ing  and  reduction  works,  two  breweries,  a  paper-mill,  six  coal  shafts,  three 
fire  brick,  pressed  brick,  and  drain-pipe  factories,  three  perpetual  lime-kilns, 
and  two  quaries,  with  a  variety  of  minor  industries.  The  smelters  turned 
out  from  §1,200,000  to  $1,500,000  annually.  It  has  seven  churches,  good 
schools,  and  an  intelligent  press.  The  state  school  of  mines  was  placed  at 
Golden.  It  was  established  by  act  of  legislature  in  1870,  making  an  appro 
priation  for  that  purpose.  It  was  reestablished  by  another  act  in  1874;  and 
in  1877  still  further  placed  on  a  permanent  footing.  It  now  occupies  a  fine 
brick  edifice,  and  is  an  ornament  to  the  town.  It  is  supported,  like  all  the 
other  state  institutions,  by  a  direct  tax  of  so  many  mills  on  the  dollar.  A 
signal-office  has  been  maintained  in  connection  with  it.  Here  are  taught 
analytical  and  applied  chemistry,  mineralogy,  metallurgy,  assaying,  civil  and 
mining  engineering,  geology,  and  mathematics.  The  state  industrial  school 
is  also  located  at  Golden  by  an  act  of  the  legislature  of  1881,  the  old  school  of 
mines  building  being  used  for  a  beginning;  bat  by  an  act  of  1883  an  appro 
priation  of  $15,000  was  made  for  new  buildings.  The  whole  appropriation 
for  industrial  school  purposes  in  that  year  amounted  to  $60,000,  to  be  ap 
plied  to  its  maintenance,  machinery,  and  material  for  industries,  and  a 
library.  The  lesser  towns  and  settlements  of  Jefferson  are  Ahlstrom's, 
Anchor  Station,  Archer's,  Arvada,  Bartlett's  Lake,  Bear  Creek,  Beaver 
Brook,  Beeson  Mill,  Bellville,  Big  Hill,  Brownville,  Buffalo,  Buffalo  Creek, 
Buffalo  Tank,  Chimney  Gulch,  Church's,  Clear  Creek,  Copperdale,  Cottonwood 
Falls,  Creswell,  Crossons,  Crosson's  Camp,  Deansbury,  Deer  Creek,  Deer 
Creek  Mines,  Dome  Rock,  Eagle  Brook  Park,  Elk  Creek,  Emperor  Rancho, 
Emperor  Springs,  Enterprise,  Ford  Lake,  Forks  Creek,  Forks  of  Clear 
Creek,  Gallagher  Camp,  Gilman,  Glen  Plym  Rancho,  Grotto,  Guy  Creek, 
Hildebrande,  Hines  Rancho,  Huntsman,  Hutchinson,  Jefferson,  Jefferson 
Park,  Johnson's  Crossing,  Jones  Siding,  Last  Resort,  Leahow  Island.  Lee 
Siding,  Little  Station,  Littleton,  Memphis  Camp,  Morrison,  Mount  Carbon, 


622  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

called  it  Carbonate  county,  with  the  county  seat  at 
Leadville,  while  the  southern  portion  retained  its  for 
mer  name.  At  the  same  session,  however,  the  name 
of  Lake  was  restored  to  the  silver  region,  and  that  of 
Chaffee  given  to  the  remainder.1' 

Olio,  Oxeville,  Park  Siding,  Pine  Grovo,  Platte  Canon,  Platte  River,  Rals 
ton,  Ralston  Creek,  Shingle  Mill,  Smith  Hill,  South  Platte,  Spruce  Park, 
Steven's  Gulch,  Stewart's  Rancho,  Thompson's  Mill,  Troutdale,  Turkey 
Creek,  Turtle  Pond,  Ute  Trail,  Vermillion,  Webber's  Saw-mill,  Welters 
Wood  Camp,  Willowville,  Wilson's  Saw-mills. 

Andrew  H.  Spickerman,  born  in  New  York  in  1820,  came  to  Colorado  in 
1859,  and  settled  on  Turkey  Creek  in  1862,  where  he  has  continued  to  reside. 
Reuben  C.  Wells,  born  in  111.  in  1833,  came  to  Colorado  in  1859  from  Moline, 
of  which  his  father  was  one  of  the  founders.  He  returned  the  same  year  to 
111.,  but  finally  settled  at  Golden  in  1869,  where  he  is  engaged  in  making 
paper.  David  G.  Dargin,  born  in  Me  in  1835,  came  to  Colorado  in  1859,  set 
tling  at  Golden  City,  and  opening  the  second  store,  Loveland  having  opened 
the  first.  He  afterward  spent  some  time  in  other  parts  of  the  union,  but  re 
turned  in  1879  to  Golden,  where  he  improved  his  town  property,  and  opened 
the  Monster  lode  in  Clear  Creek  co.,  where  he  secured  several  mines. 

19  These  changes  were  made  in  Feb.  1879.  It  is  a  small  county,  and 
noted  only  for  its  mines,  of  which  I  have  already  given  an  account.  Its  his 
tory  is  summed  np  in  the  brief  statement  that  it  produced  in  gold,  silver,  and 
lead  between  1860  and  1884,  $79,934,647.69.  Of  this  amount  about  $13,000,  - 
000  was  in  gold,  and  $55,000,000  in  silver.  Lake  county  is  the  largest  lead 
producing  district  in  the  U.  S.  A  variety  of  the  less  common  minerals  and 
metals  is  found  in  these  mines,  among  which  are  zinc,  antimony,  bismuth, 
tin,  copper,  and  arsenic.  The  official  reports  for  four  years  give  $15,025,153 
for  1880,  $12,738,902  for  1881,  $16,531,853  for  1882,  and  $15, 69 1,200  for  1883, 
with  better  prospects  for  1884.  There  are  13  smelters  at  Leadville,  and  231 
steam-engines  employed  in  the  mines,  with  an  aggregate  horse-power  of 
5,454.  Other  business  is  proportionately  active.  The  population  of  Lead 
ville  is  20,000.  Adelaide  and  Malta  have  together  1,000  inhabitants,  besides 
which  there  are  the  villages  of  Twin  Lakes,  Eilers,  Alexander,  Alicante, 
Soda  Springs,  and  a  number  of  small  settlements.  They  are  Bird's  Eye, 
Buckskin,  Clark  Rancho,  Crane  Park,  Crystal  Lake,  Danaville,  Dayton, 
Evansville,  Fifteen-mile  House,  Hayden,  Henry,  Howlaiid,  Keeldar,  Oro, 
Ryan's,  Union  Station.  Soda  Springs,  five  miles  from  Leadville,  is  a  popular 

1880,  a 


health  resort;  and  Twin  lakes,  on  which  a  steamboat  was  placed  in 
famous  pleasure  resort. 

Among  the  pioneers  of  Lake  county  are  the  following:  George  L.  Hender 
son,  born  in  northern  Ohio  in  1836,  came  to  Colorado  in  1859,  and  resided  at 
Central  City  and  California  Gulch.  He  was  the  first  postmaster  of  Leadville, 
and  claims  to  have  suggested  its  name.  His  business  is  general  merchan 
dising. 

Emmet  Nuckolls,  born  in  Va  in  1842,  migrated  to  Nebraska  City  while  a 
boy,  and  thence  to  Colorado  in  1859,  engaging  in  cattle-trading.  He,  removed 
to  Leadville  on  the  discovery  of  silver,  where  he  engaged  in  selling  stock, 
wagons,  hay,  and  grain.  He  was  a  member  of  the  board  of  aldermen. 

Ruf  us  Shute,  born  in  N.  Y.  in  1837,  removed  to  Wis.  at  an  early  age,  and 
thence  to  Colorado  in  1859.  He  mined  fora  year,  and  returned  east,  and  did 
not  again  visit  this  state  until  1877,  when  he  located  at  Leadville  in  the  lum 
ber  trade.  In  1879  he  sold  out  and  went  into  stock-raising.  He  served  as 
alderman  one  year. 

N.  C.  Hickman,  born  in  Mo.  in  1844,  was  the  son  of  a  physician,  and  left 
Davenport,  Iowa,  with  his  father  in  1859  for  Colorado.  In  the  following 
year  his  father  died  at  Central  City,  and  young  Hickman  returned  to  Iowa 


LA  PLATA.  623 

La  Plata  county  is  the  south-west  division  of  the 
state,  organized  in  1874,  but  its  development  has  not 

college  to  complete  his  education,  after  which  he  came  once  more  to  this  state 
and  located  at  Central  as  merchant  and  miner.  In  1867  he  sold  out  and 
spent  several  years  in  Kan.  and  N.  M.,  but  returned  in  1879  to  settle  at 
Leadville,  where  he  became  a  merchant  and  miner  again  on  a  larger  scale 
than  before.  He  was  elected  alderman  in  1880,  serving  for  two  years. 

Irving  J.  Pollock,  born  in  Sterling,  Scotland,  in  1829,  removed  to 
America  at  the  age  of  three  years.  He  received  a  university  education,  and 
travelled  extensively.  In  1858  he  came  to  Colorado,  mined  in  Russell  gulch, 
and  afterward  in  California  gulch.  He  was  elected  vice-president  of  the 
territorial  medical  society  in  1873,  and  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  the  U.  S. 
medical  convention  at  St  Louis  in  1874. 

Nelson  Hallock,  born  near  Albany,  N.  Y.,  in  1840,  came  to  Colorado  in 
1859.  He  engaged  in  mining  both  here  and  in  Montana,  In  1865  he  left 
mining  for  lumbering,  and  ran  a  saw-mill  for  12  years  in  Jefferson  and  Park 
counties,  and  finally  erected  a  mill  in  Lake  co.  on  the  site  of  Leadville. 
When  that  town  came  into  existence  he  went  into  the  livery  business  and 
teaming.  In  1877  he  sent  out  some  prospectors,  who  discovered  the  Carbon 
ate  mine,  which  he  sold  in  1879  for  $175,000.  He  then  purchased  an  inter 
est  in  the  Colorado  coal  and  iron  works,  of  which  he  became  president.  He 
is  a  director  and  vice-president  of  the  First  National  bank  of  Leadville. 

John  Riling,  born  in  Canton,  Ohio,  in  1836,  migrated  to  Pike's  peak  in 
1859,  mining  at  several  points.  He  discovered  and  located  the  placers  of 
Lost  canon,  and  followed  the  rush  to  California  gulch.  He  returned  east  in 
18G1,  remaining  at  Leavenworth  until  1878,  when  he  yielded  to  the  desire  to 
revisit  the  scenes  of  his  mining  adventures  and  removed  to  Leadville,  where 
he  makes  wagons  and  does  a  general  blacksmithing  business. 

George  W.  Huston,  born  in  Pa  in  1839,  learned  book-keeping,  and  was 
employed  in  Iowa  and  Kansas  at  his  profession.  In  1859  he  came  to  Colorado, 
mining  in  Gilpin  co.  during  summer,  but  returning  to  Leaven  worth  to  winter. 
In  1860  he  came  again,  and  this  time  went  to  California  gulch,  where  he  was 
elected  sheriff.  Afterward  he  served  in  the  civil  war,  and  was  register  of 
deeds  at  Leavenworth,  but  returned  to  Leadville  in  1878,  where  he  engaged 
in  real  estate  transactions. 

Robert  Berry  was  born  in  Ohio  in  1830.  In  1859  he  came  to  Colorado  and 
erected  the  second  saw-mill  in  the  territory  on  Plum  creek  for  D.  C.  Oakes  & 
Co.  the  same  year.  From  this  he  went  to  mining  at  Gold  Dirt  diggings,  Rus 
sell  gulch,  California  gulch,  and  Frying  Pan  or  Colorado  gulch.  In  the  lat 
ter  locality  Berry  and  his  partner,  Walters,  obtained  a  patent  for  140  acres 
of  placer  ground,  which  they  worked  for  many  years.  Berry  was  U.  S.  mar 
shal  and  int.  rev.  collector  in  the  early  territorial  times;  member  of  the  leg 
islative  council  in  1864  and  1865,  being  elected  sec.  in  the  latter  year;  was 
county  clerk  and  recorder  in  1862;  and  was  appointed  county  judge  to  fill  a 
vacancy. 

Charles  F.  Wilson  was  born  in  Ky  in  1 830,  and  was  engaged  in  a  grocery 
business  when  attracted  to  Pike's  peak  in  1859.  After  working  by  the  day  in 
Russell  gulch  for  a  time,  he  set  out  prospecting,  and  was  one  of  the  discov 
erers  of  California  gulch.  He  settled  eventually  in  the  cattle-raising  busi 
ness,  20  miles  from  Canon  City. 

Charles  L.  Hall,  born  in  N.  Y.  in  1836,  and  brought  up  in  Iowa,  left  Iowa 
college  in  1859,  and  after  a  short  experience  of  milling  grain,  came  to  Colo 
rado  and  started  a  stock-farm,  but  gave  it  up  and  began  prospecting  for 
mines  in  California  gulch.  He  was  one  of  Baker's  party,  which  explored 
the  San  Juan  country  in  the  winter  of  1860-1,  and  in  attempting  to  return 
by  a  shorter  route  was  lost  14  days  without  food.  He  was  finally  rescued 
when  unable  to  walk.  In  1862  he  was  operating  salt-M-orks  20  miles  from 
Fair  Play,  and  raising  stock  in  South  park.  In  1865  and  1866  he  was  a  mem- 


624  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO 

been  rapid.  In  the  south-west  corner  of  the  county 
are  found  many  of  the  cliff  dwellings,  whose  history 

ber  of  the  lower  house  of  the  legislature.  For  three  years  he  was  county 
commissioner  of  Park  co.  He  removed  to  Leadville  in  1878,  where  he  organ 
ized  a  gas  company  and  engaged  in  mining  operations.  He  also  owned  con 
siderable  railroad  stock. 

Men  of  the  later  period,  or  the  renaissance,  of  California  gulch  whom  I 
may  mention  are:  F.  A.  Wheeler,  born  in  Weld  co.,  Colorado,  August  21, 
1863,  educated  at  the  common  schools  of  his  native  state,  and  appointed  dep 
uty  clerk  of  the  5th  judicial  district  court  at  the  age  of  19  years,  which  posi 
tion  he  long  occupied. 

William  R.  Kennedy,  born  in  Pa  in  1844,  migrated  to  Colorado  in  1865. 
He  located  at  Central  City,  where  he  practised  his  profession  of  law,  and  was 
elected  probate  judge  in  1868,  serving  two  terms.  Subsequently  he  spent 
some  time  at  Georgetown  and  in  the  San  Juan  country.  He  was  twice  elected 
prosecuting  attorney  of  Hinsdale  co.,  and  chosen  a  delegate  to  the  constitu 
tional  convention  in  1875.  He  came  to  Leadville  in  1878,  being  elected  city 
attorney  within  a  month  of  his  arrival.  He  secured  an  interest  intheHome- 
Stakeand  other  valuable  mines. 

Peter  Becker,  born  in  Germany  in  1848,  immigrated  to  America  in  1853 
with  his  parents,  who  settled  in  Iowa.  Remaining  there  until  1870,  he  then 
came  to  Colorado,  and  when  the  town  of  Colorado  Springs  was  started, 
began  business  there  as  a  harness-maker.  He  was  elected  sheriff  of  El  Paso 
county  in  1875,  and  reflected  in  1877.  When  Leadville  was  at  the  height  of 
mining  excitement  he  removed  to  this  place,  and  again  was  elected  sheriff  in 
1881,  and  reflected  in  1883.  He  interested  himself  in  mining,  and  secured  a 
large  rancho  in  Lake  co. 

R.  H.  Stanley,  born  in  Mo.  in  1843,  entered  the  union  army  as  a  private, 
serving  through  the  war,  a  part  of  the  time  as  lieut-col  of  the  19th  111.  infan 
try.  He  migrated  to  Colorado  in  1870,  remaining  6  years  in  Denver.  In 
1876  he  visited  the  San  Juan  mines,  coming  to  Leadville  in  1877.  In  1879  he 
was  elected  county  treasurer,  and  was  the  republican  candidate  for  mayor  in 
1884,  but  was  beaten.  He  was  interested  in  mines,  and  secured  a  section  of 
land  near  Leadville  for  a  home. 

John  Harvey,  born  in  Scotland  in  1844,  came  to  Colorado  in  1870,  residing 
in  Denver  until  1879,  when  he  removed  to  Leadville. 

A.  T.  Gunnell,  born  in  Mo.  in  1848,  and  educated  at  Bethany  college,  Va, 
admitted  to  practise  law  in  1872;  being  apparently  far  gone  in  a  decline, 
came  to  Colorado  in  1873,  where  in  a  few  months  he  recovered  his  health, 
and  where  he  determined  to  remain.  He  was  elected  to  the  legislature  from 
Hinsdale  co.  in  1878.  In  the  following  year  he  removed  to  Leadville,  and 
was  elected  county  judge  in  1880,  and  again  in  1883. 

John  Law,  born  in  Iowa  in  1844,  studied  medicine  at  the  Chicago  medical 
college,  graduating  in  1868.  He  came  to  Colorado  and  settled  in  Park  co. 
in  1873,  and  was  elected  judge  of  the  county  court  in  1876.  In  1878  he  re 
moved  to  Leadville,  where  he  was  elected  coroner  the  following  year.  He 
held  the  office  two  years,  during  which  time  there  wera  over  300  inquests 
upon  persons  who  had  died  from  other  than  natural  causes.  He  was  elected 
city  physician  in  1879,  and  county  physician  in  1881.  He  never  heard  of  a 
case  of  consumption  originating  in  the  altitiide  of  Leadville,  but  knew  of 
many  wonderful  cures. 

David  May,  born  in  Germany  in  1848,  immigrated  to  the  U.  S.  in  1863, 
and  graduated  from  the  commercial  college  of  Cincinnati  in  1865.  He  after 
ward  resided  in  Ind. ,  where  he  was  in  business,  removing  to  Colorado  on  ac 
count  of  health,  and  settling  at  Leadville,  where  he  resumed  business  as  a 
clothing  merchant.  He  was  appointed  county  treasurer  in  1884. 

Joseph  H.  Playter,  born  in  Canada  in  1854,  removed  to  Kansas  in  1873, 
and  to  Colorado  in  1878,  living  at  Leadville,  where  he  engaged  in  mining. 


LARIMER.  625 

must  be  relegated  to  the  indeterminate  and  unrecorded 
past.11 

Larimer  county  was  organized  in  1861,  with  the 
county  seat  temporarily  at  Laporte,  and  belongs  to 

In  1883  he  wag  appointed  clerk  of  the  district  court,  and  also  elected  a  mem 
ber  of  the  city  council.  In  1885  he  was  the  democratic  nominee  for  mayor, 
but  was  defeated  by  the  republican  candidate,  Irwin. 

Jeremiah  Irwin,  bom  in  Pa  in  1834,  and  brought  up  in  Ohio,  was  edu 
cated  in  Cincinnati.  He  came  to  Leadville  in  1879,  and  commenced  making 
brick,  being  contractor  for  most  of  the  brick  buildings  in  the  city,  finding  it 
a  profitable  business.  He  was  elected  mayor  in  1885. 

J.  H.  Monheimer,  born  in  Germany  in  1844,  came  to  the  U.  S.  in  infancy, 
and  resided  in  New  York  city,  where  he  was  in  the  dry-goods  business.  He 
removed  to  Leadville  in  1880,  purchased  a  prominent  corner  lot,  erected  a 
handsome  brick  store,  and  commenced  business  as  a  retail  merchant.  In 
1882  he  erected  Union  block,  the  finest  in  the  city. 

B.  S.  Galloway,  born  in  Ontario.  C.  W.,  in  1854,  entered  the  medical  col 
lege  at  Ann  Arbor,  Mich.,  and  on  graduating,  in  1880,  came  at  once  to  Lead 
ville  to  practise  his  profession. 

Charles  F.  Lee,  born  in  Iowa  in  1855,  removed  from  Des  Moines  to 
Chicago  in  1875,  and  travelled  for  a  mercantile  house  until  1880,  when  he 
came  to  Colorado,  stopping  first  at  Kokomo,  where  he  was  postmaster,  but 
soon  settling  in  Leadville,  where  he  engaged  in  mining  operations  and  fire 
insurance. 

Charles  H.  Wenzell,  born  in  Louisville,  Ky,  in  1855,  came  to  Colorado  in 
1877,  and  commenced  the  practice  of  the  law  at  Georgetown,  having  been 
admitted  to  the  bar  a  few  months  previous  at  Pittsburgh,  Pa.  On  the  dis 
covery  of  silver  carbonates,  he  removed  to  Leadville,  where  he  formed  a  part 
nership  with  R.  S.  Morrison,  and  was  emplo}red  by  the  Leadville  Improve 
ment  company  in  their  contest  with  squatters  from  1878  to  1882.  In  1884 
he  was  elected  city  attorney. 

11  See  Tenny,  Colorado  and  Homes  in  the  New  West,49-6l ;  Hayden,  Great 
West,  6,  8,  129-34;  Denver  Tn'rnne,  Dec.  16,  1879;  Tice,  Over  the  Plains,  211-12; 
Crtfutt,  Grip-sack  Guide,  165-9;  Stone's  General  View,  MS.,  24-7;  Meaghers 
Observations,  MS.,  3.  Although  rich  in  agricultural  and  mineral  resources,  the 
county  had  in  1880  not  more  than  1,110  inhabitants.  In  1883  the  population 
had  increased  to  6,OOJ;  234,000  acres  of  land  were  under  improvement;  there 
ware  63,000  cattle  and  20,000  sheep  on  its  pastures;  its  coal  mines  produced 
12,000  tons  of  semi-anthracite,  and  the  bullion  output  was  3128,688.  The 
aissjsed  valuation  of  the  county,  not  including  mining  property  or  crops,  was 
$2,2i3,481.  The  county  seat  was  at  Parrott,  a  small  town  situated  on  the 
Rio  de  la  Plata,  where  it  leaves  the  mountains.  It  is  a  mining-town,  named 
after  a  banker  of  San  Francisco,  and  with  a  promising  future,  the  ores  by 
which  it  is  surrounded  carrying  tellurium  and  free  gold.  But  about  1880 
Durangj  was  laid  off  and  became  the  county  seat.  It  is  situated  in  the  midst 
of  a  region  of  r>atural  wealth  in  mines,  timber,  coal,  agriculture,  and 
stock-farming.  The  San  Juan  and  New  York  Smelting  company  erected 
tlie  first  smelter  at  Duraago  in  1880,  and  a  company  with  A.  C.  Hunt  at  its 
head  erected  a  hotel  costing  $100,000,  on  the  most  approved  plan.  No  pio 
neer  cabins  for  corporations.  The  population  in  1883  was  less  than  while 
the  terminus  of  the  railroad  was  here,  amounting  only  to  3,500;  but  it  is  still 
a  thriving  business  centre.  The  towns  and  settlements  of  La  Plata  county 
are  Anima3  City,  Animas  Park.  Arboles,  Bocea,  Carboneria,  Coliua,  Dolores, 
Elb?rc,  Florida,  Fort  Lewis,  Hermosa,  Ignacio,  La  Boca,  Mancos,  Merritts, 
Nic  Cora,  Pegasus  Spring,  Pine  River,  P.  P.  Divide,  Rockwood,  Scrape, 
Solidad,  Southern  Ute,  Vallejo. 
HIST.  KEY.  40 


626  COUNTIES   OF   COLORADO. 

the  agricultural  divisions,  although  it  has  mines  of 
copper,  silver,  and  gold  in  its  mountainous  parts.  Its 
facilities  for  irrigation  from  the  Cache-la-Poudre  and 
Big  Thompson  rivers  are  gradually  extending  the 
cultivable  area.12 

12  The  principal  productions  are  hay,  wheat,  oats,  barley,  rye,  corn,  roots, 
melons,  and  vegetables,  which  grow  to  great  perfection,  and  with  cattle  and 
sheep  form  the  wealth  of  the  county,  which  in  1878  was  assessed  at  $1,502,- 
330,  but  which  increased  after  the  irrigation  canals  were  completed  to  $3.012, 
040,  in  1883.  The  population  in  1880  was  5,000;  in  1883,  7,500.  Fort  Collins, 
the  county  seat,  is  situated  on  Cache-la-Poudre  river,  thirty  miles  above 
its  junction.  It  has  some  small  manufactures,  several  churches,  good 
schools,  two  local  newspapers,  and  about  1,300  inhabitants.  The  buildings 
of  the  State  Agricultural  society  and  college  are  located  here.  There  are 
no  important  towns  besides,  the  population  being  widely  scattered  on  farms. 

Abner  Loomis,  born  in  N.  Y.  in  1829,  and  brought  up  in  Iowa,  crossed  the 
plains  in  1850,  and  remained  in  the  mines  of  Cal.  until  1859,  when,  after  a 
brief  visit  to  Iowa,  he  came  to  Colorado,  and  mined  for  a  season,  but  soon 
engaged  in  freighting.  In  1864  he  began  stock-raising  with  100  head  of  cat 
tle,  but  sold  out  every  autumn  for  several  seasons,  fearing  to  trust  his  herd 
to  the  winter  climate.  Having  ventured  to  do  so  for  one  winter,  and  finding 
that  the  loss  was  insignificant,  the  rapid  increase  of  his  herd  followed  upon 
keeping  them  on  the  range  throughout  the  year,  until,  with  two  partners,  he 
became  owner  of  6,000  head. 

James  B.  Arthur,  born  in  Ireland,  in  1833,  migrated  to  the  U.  S.  in  1848, 
and  to  Colorado  in  1860,  settling  near  Fort  Collins,  and  making  hay  for 
freighters,  the  money  from  which  he  put  into  cattle.  He  believed  in  the 
fertility  of  the  lands  about  him,  which  was  obtained  from  the  government 
for  $1.25  an  acre,  and  in  a  short  time  became  worth  from  $40  to  $60  per 
acre. 

William  B.  Osborn,  born  in  Yates  co.,  N.  Y.,  in  1824,  at  the  age  of  21 
years  removed  to  Ohio,  where  he  taught  school,  removing  in  1852  to  Ind. 
and  teaching  at  South  Bend  until  1860,  when  he  came  to  Colorado.  He  was 
recorder  of  Gold  Dirt  mining  district  for  the  first  year,  after  which  he 
settled  on  a  farm  in  Larimer  co.  near  Loveland.  He  was  elected  county 
judge  in  1864,  county  treasurer  in  1866,  and  again  in  1868,  after  which  he 
declined  office.  He,  with  H.  M.  Teller,  signed  a  call  for  the  first  republican 
meeting  ever  held  in  Gilpin  co.,  and  organized  the  first  ever  held  in  Lari 
mer.  His  wife  was  the  second  white  woman  resident  in  the  co. ;  the  first 
died  in  1885. 

John  J.  Ryan,  born  in  Ireland  in  1837,  migrated  with  his  parents  to  the 
U.  S.  in  1841,  and  residing  in  St  Louis.  He  came  to  Colorado  in  1860,  and 
after  mining  a  short  time,  took  a  land  claim  near  Loveland,  engaging  in  farm 
ing  and  stock-raising,  borrowing  money  to  make  the  first  purchase.  In  1882 
with  Mr  Herzinger,  he  built  the  wheat  elevator  at  Loveland.  He  also  estab 
lished  the  Bank  of  Loveland  the  same  year.  He  has  owned  5,000  cattle  at 
one  time,  and  now  raises  choice  breeds. 

John  L.  Herzinger,  born  in  Germany  in  1834,  migrated  with  his  parents 
in  1838,  and  was  brought  up  in  Mo.  Coming  to  Colorado  in  1871,  he  engaged 
in  merchandising  at  Boulder,  where  he  remained  7  years,  when  he  removed 
to  Loveland,  where  he  erected  the  first  house  in  1878. 

Arthur  H.  Patterson,  bom  in  Pa  in  1884,  came  to  Colorado  from  Kansas 
in  1868  in  company  with  William  F.  Cody,  or  Buffalo  Bill,  driving  an  ox- 
team.  He  had  no  regular  occupation  for  several  years,  but  in  1866  started 
a  saw-mill  at  Fort  Collins  for  government  contractors,  remaining  in  their  ser 
vice  until  1869,  when  he  purchased  their  supply-store  and  began  business  for 
himself,  He  sold  out  oil  being  elected  connty  clerk  in  1870,  in  which  office 


LAS  ANIMAS,  MESA,  MOXTR03E.  627 

Las   Animas  county   was  organized  in    1866,  and 
comprises  a  large  extent  of  country  in  the  south  and 
south-eastern  part  of  the  territory.     It  is  an  agricul 
tural   and  coal-producing    district,    and    excellent  in 
both.13 

he  remained  three  years,  resigning  on  account  of  ill  health,  and  returning  to 
the  out-door  life  of  freighting  until  1876.  He  then  opened  an  agricultural- 
implement  and  feed  store.  He  has  been  for  several  terms  a  member  of  the 
city  council. 

Jay  H.  Boughton,  a  prominent  man,  was  educated  for  the  bar,  began 
practice  in  1870  at  Cortland,  but  removed  to  Colorado  and  settled  at  Fort 
Collins  in  1872.  He  was  elected  county  attorney  in  1874,  and  county  judge 
in  1876,  1878,  and  1880;  president  of  the  school  board  in  1879,  1882,  and 
1885;  and  for  several  years  was  member  of  the  city  council. 

Andrew  Armstrong,  born  in  Ireland  in  1825,  immigrated  to  the  U.  S.  in 
1839,  residing  in  New  York  city  until  1873,  when  he  came  to  Colorado  on 
account  of  failing  health.  He  settled  at  Fort  Collins,  which  at  that  time 
had  200  inhabitants,  bought  real  estate,  and  realized  satisfactory  returns. 

Charles  P.  Miller,  born  in  Mich,  in  185.S,  graduated  from  the  medical  de 
partment  of  the  state  university  as  a  homeopathic  physician  in  1877,  and  re- 
inuved  to  Colorado  the  following  year,  there  to  practise  his  profession.  The 
towns  and  settlements  are  as  follows:  Ada  Spring,  Berthoud,  Box  Elder, 
Branch  Canon,  Buckhorn,  Burns  Station,  Chambers,  Colorado  Junction,  Cow 
Creek,  Crescent,  Elkhorn,  Elkhorn  Rancho,  Estes  Park,  Fall  River,  Farrar 
House,  Ferguson  Rancho,  Fossil  Creek,  Home,  Horse-shoe  Lake,  Hupp's 
Rancho,  Lamb's  House,  Laporte,  Lily  Lake,  Little  Thompson,  Livermore, 


Spring  Gulch,  St  Louis,  Taylor,  Timber  Creek,  Tyner,  Virginia  Dale,   Wai- 
den,  Wheatland,  Whyte  Rancho,  Willow  Park,  and  Winonac. 

13  The  wheat  yield  exceeds  150,000  bushels  annually,  corn  110,000,  and 
oats  200,000  bushels.  It  has  60,000  head  of  cattle,  142,762  sheep,  6,210 
horses  and  mules,  the  value  of  which  exceeds  one  million  dollars.  The  county 
was  assessed  in  1883  on  $3,654,987,  without  its  mines,  mining  land,  and 
crops.  Its  coal-field  is  50  miles  square,  and  the  coal  of  the  best  quality  for 
heating  or  cooking  purposes.  As  much  of  the  coal  found  in  other  parts  of 
the  state  does  not  coke,  this  is  in  demand,  and  the  coke-ovens  of  El  Moro 
and  Trinidad  furnish  large  quantities  to  the  smelters  of  Pueblo,  Denver,  and 
Leadville.  The  production  of  the  mines  in  1883  was  370,680  tons,  worth 
about  8833,000.  There  were  produced  136,000  tons  of  coke,  and  20,000  tons 
of  iron  ore,  which  is  worked  by  the  Colorado  Coal  and  Iron  company  at 
Pueblo.  Limestone,  hydraulic  lime,  building  stone,  cement,  grind-stones,  and 
silica  are  among  the  mineral  deposits  of  the  county.  The  population  is 
10,000.  Trinidad,  with  3,500  inhabitants,  is  the  county  seat.  Its  altitude  is 
G,005  feet.  It  is  an  old  Mexican  town,  but  much  modernized.  Ihe  business 
Louses  are  of  stone  and  brick;  it  has  schools,  churches,  secret  orders,  hotels, 
banks,  and  newspapers  like  any  American  city.  El  Moro,  five  miles  from 
Trinidad,  has  a  few  hundred  inhabitants.  Barela  and  Starkville  have  each 
400,  and  Apishapa  200. 

Casimero  Barela,  a  member  of  the  mercantile  house  of  Barela  and  \\  ilcox 
at  El  Moro,  and  of  the  house  of  C.  Barela  &  Co.  at  Trinidad,  is  a  man  ot 
note  in  Las  Animas  county.  Born  at  El  Embuda,  Rio  Arnba  co.,  N.  M., ,111 
1847,  he  received  his  education  from  Bishop  Salpointe  of  Mora,  and 
age  of  20  years  camo  to  Colorado  in  search  of  something  to  do,  having  already 
married  J osefa  Ortiz.  He  began  life  as  a  freighter.  In  1 870  he  was  elected 
assessor  of  Las  Animas  county;  in  1872  and  1874  he  represented  the  county 


628  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

Mesa  county  was  organized  in  1883,  from  the  west 
ern  portion  of  Gunnison,  bordering  on  Utah.  It  is 
for  the  most  part  an  agricultural  and  grazing  country, 
with  large  beds  of  coal.  As  a  fruit-growing  region  it 
is  likely  to  surpass  the  counties  east  of  the  Rocky 
mountains,  and  has  already  extensive  nurseries.  Grand 
valley,  supplied  with  water  from  the  Grand  river,  in 
irrigating  ditches,  is  an  extraordinarily  rich  region, 
70,000  acres  of  which  were  made  cultivable  by  irri 
gation  in  1 882  -83.  The  climate  is  delightful,  the  alti 
tude  being  4,500  feet.  Large  herds  of  cattle  and 
sheep  are  pastured  in  the  county,  which  had  a  popu 
lation  of  about  3,000  when  organized.14 

o 

Montrose  county,  organized  at  the  same  time,  out 
of  the  south-west  corner  of  Gunnison,  is  drained  by 
the  Rio  Dolores,  San  Miguel,  and  other  affluents  of 
the  Grand  and  Gunnison  rivers.  Its  eastern  portion 
contains  extensive  beds  of  coal,  and  probably  other 
minerals  and  metals.  The  Uncompahgre  valley  is  a 
fine  agricultural  district,  bordered  by  the  lofty  mesas 
which  are  a  distinctive  feature  of  western  Colorado. 
The  valuation  of  property  in  this  county  in  1883  was 
estimated  at  $575,448,  and  its  population  at  about 
2,800.  Montrose,  the  county  seat,  had  then  300 
inhabitants,  Cimarron  100,  Brown  100;  and  there 

in  the  territorial  legislature,  being  also  elected  sheriff  in  the  latter  year.  In 
1875  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  constitutional  convention,  and  in  the 
following  year  was  elected  to  the  first  state  senate,  drawing  the  long  term. 
Being  a  democrat  in  politics,  he  was  chosen  delegate  at  large  to  tlie  demo 
cratic  national  convention  at  Cincinnati  in  1880,  and  again  elected  to  tlie 
state  senate.  In  1881  he  was  elected  treasurer  of 'Las  Aiiimas  county.  He 
became  a  member  of  one  of  the  largest  stock  companies  in  the  state,  with 
the  largest  herds  and  the  best  breeds.  The  minor  settlements  are  Alfalfa, 
Apishpa  Station,  Barnes,  Bent  Canon,  Carriso,  Chilelila,  Cordova,  Davis, 
Dodaonville,  Earle,  Eagle,  G-onzales,  Grinnell,  Hoelme's,  Hog  Back,  Hole  in 
Prairie,  Hole  in  Rock,  Las  Tijeras,  Linwood,  Lucero,  Morley,  North  Siding, 
Pedros  Coloradus,  Placita,  Purgatoire,  Pnlaski,  Raton,  Red  Rock,  San  Fran 
cisco,  San  Isidro,  San  Jose,  San  Pedro,  Spring  Valley,  Stockville,  Stonewall, 
Strange,  Tejara,  Terrichero,  Thatcher,  Toll  Gate,  Tyrone,  and  Vigil. 

u  The  county  seat  is  at  Grand  Junction,  which  has  had  a  rapid  growth, 
and  is  destined  to  be  an  important  railroad  cen!re.  In  1883  it  had  2,000  in 
habitants,  two  weekly  newspapers,  five  churches,  three  schools,  and  other 
features  of  advanced  society.  The  use  of  brick  in  building  gives  an  air  of 
permanency  to  the  improvements.  The  assessable  property  of  the  county  in 
1883  was  $965,144.  Fruita  had  between  300  and  400  inhabitant?,  Mesa  J50, 
Arlington  100.  Whitewater,  Kahuah,  and  Bridgeport  were  railroad  stations. 


OURAY,  PARK,  PITKIN,  629 

were  a  few  other  incipient  towns,  but  the  population 
is  chiefly  bucolic. 

Ouray  county,  organized  in  1877,  at  which  time  it 
comprised  a  large  extent  of  territory,  has  been  cut 
down,  and  had  its  boundaries  changed,  until  it  now 
occupies  a  small  portion  of  the  eastern  part  of  its 
former  domain.  In  1881  Dolores  was  set  off.  In 
1882  Uncompahgre  was  taken,  partly  from  the  east 
ern  side  of  Ouray,  and  partly  from  Gunnison.15 

Park  county,  organized  in  1861,  covers  nearly  1,000 
square  miles  in  the  geographical  and  metal-producing 
centre  of  the  state.  South  park,  which  it  includes, 
has  an  elevation  of  8,842  feet,  and  the  average  alti 
tude  of  the  whole  county,  which  embraces  a  number 
of  high  peaks,  is  10,000  feet.  It  contains  ten  or  more 
mining  districts,  each  differing  from  the  other,  some 
containing  fissure  veins,  some  contact  lodes,  others 
blanket  or  bedded  deposits.  The  mineral  belt  is 
twenty-five  miles  long  by  five  in  width.  Placer  min 
ing  has  not  failed  in  this  county,  where  the  hydraulic 
process  has  yet  to  be  applied  to  placer  ground.  Besides 
gold  and  silver,  copper,  lead,  iron,  coal,  and  salt  are 
produced.16 


newspapers 

predicted  a  bullion  output  of  $5,000,00(X  Red  Mountain  district  produced 
§1,000,000  in  1883,  about  one  third  of  which  was  gold,  and  the  greater  por 
tion  of  which  was  from  one  mine,  the  Yankee  girl.  The  districts  of  Pough- 
keepsie  Gulch,  Mount  Sneffles,  Uncompahgre,  and  Imogene  Basin  were  also 
largely  productive.  Coal  mining  had  only  begun  about  this  time.  Ouray 
was  the  county  seat,  with  500  inhabitants.  It  is  named  after  the  Ute  chief, 
for  whose  friendship  the  white  people  were  grateful,  at  a  time  when  his 
word  might  have  precipitated  war.  Its  situation,  at  the  western  end  of  the 
Uncompahgre  canon,  is  on  the  Pacific  slope  of  the  continent,  at  an  elevation 
of  7,640  feet,  in  a  round  park,  with  rocky  heights  all  about  it  of  exceeding< 
grandeur  and  startling  wildness.  Three  miles  below  Ouray  the  valley  is  cul 
tivable.  In  all  respects  this  mountain-walled  town  is  like  the  cities  of  the 
plains,  with  stores,  churches,  schools,  newspapers,  quartz-mills,  smelters, 
sampling-works,  and  concentrators.  It  is  reached  by  a  branch  from  the 
Denver  and  Rio  Grande  from  Montrose.  There  are  hot  sulphur  springs  a  few 
miles  from  Ouray.  About  one  mile  south  is  the  famous  mineral  farm,  which 


dozen  hamlets,  less. 

16  Salt  was  made  from  saline  springs  in  Park  county,  which  contain  from 


630  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

Pitkin  county,  named  after  Governor  Pitkin,  was 
organized  in  1881,  being  set  off  from  Gunnison,  with 
a  fair  division  of  the  indebtedness  of  the  elder  county. 
It  embraces  the  mining  region  about  the  headwaters 
of  Roaring  fork  of  Grand  river,  which  produced 
between  1879  and  1884,  $550,000  in  gold  and  silver.17 

Pueblo  county  was  organized  in  1861,  and  much  of 
its  history  appeared  in  previous  chapters.  Its  first 
commissioners  were  O.  H.  P.  Baxter,  R.  L.  Wooten, 
and  William  Chapman.  At  the  first  county  election 
Chapman  was  chosen  probate  judge,  and  John  B. 
Rice  sheriff.18  The  first  term  of  court  in  the  county 

6 to  14  per  cent  salt.  They  were  first  located  and  improved  by  Charles  L. 
Hall,  who  manufactured  salt  in  1861-3.  A  company  was  formed  in  1864, 
J.  Q.  A.  Rollins  at  the  head,  and  Hall  superintendent.  Works  costing 
$25,000  were  erected,  and  the  manufacture  carried  on  until  the  completion  of 
railroads,  which  transported  salt  more  cheaply  than  it  could  be  made  in  Col 
orado,  caused  the  works  to  be  closed.  This  information  is  taken  from  N.  T. 
Bond's  Early  Hist.  Colorado,  Montana,  and  Idaho,  MS.,  21-2.  As  a  history  of 
Park  co.  it  is  very  complete.  The  Hartsel  mineral  springs,  named  after  their 
discoverer  and  locator,  are  noted  for  their  healing  qualities.  From  40,000 
to  50,000  cattle,  5,000  horses,  and  10,000  sheep  are  grazed  in  South  park. 
The  bullion  output  of  1883  was  $400,000,  many  of  the  mines  being  idle. 
The  county  was  assessed,  not  including  mining  property,  at  $1,911,166.  The 
population  was  5,000.  Fair  Play,  the  county  seat,  has  800  inhabitants,  Alma 
900,  Como  550. 

Abraham  Bergh,  born  in  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  in  1835,  came  to  Colorado  in 
1859,  locating  himself  in  South  park.  He  erected  the  fint  house  in  Fair 
Play,  where  he  has  been  a  hotel-keeper  and  merchant,  as  well  as  miner  and 
owner  in  valuable  mining  property.  He  was  elected  to  the  general  assembly 
in  1882,  and  again  in  1884.  The  towns  and  settlements  of  Park  county  riot 
named  above  are  Alma,  Arthur,  Astroville,  Bailey,  Bentley's,  Bordeiiville, 
Buffalo  Springs,  Como,  Dudley,  East  Leadville,  E:tabrook,  Fairville,  Garo, 
Grant,  Guirds,  Guyraiid's  Park,  Hamilton,  Hall  Valley,  Hartsel,  Holland, 
Horse  Shoe,  Hubbard,  Jefferson,  Jones  Saw-mill,  Kenosha,  Lone  Rock 
Rancho,  Mountaindale,  Mullenville,  Park,  Park  Place,  Platte  Crossing, 
Platte  River,  Platte  Station,  Rocky,  Sacramento,  Salt  Works,  Spring  Ranch o, 
Slaght,  Sulphur  Springs,  Summit,  Tie  Siding,  Webster,  Webber's  Saw-mill, 
and  Weston. 

17  The  valley  of  Roaring  fork  is  also  a  good  grazing  country.     Absence  of 
the  means  of  transportation  has  retarded  the  development  of  the  mines,  one 
of  which,  the  Smuggler,  is  widely  known.     The  population  in  1CS3  was  esti 
mated  at  2,500,  and  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  county  $319,107.     Aspen, 
the  county  seat,  is  situated  at  the  confluence  of  Castle,  Hunter,  and  Maroon 
creeks  with  Roaring  fork.     It  had  a  population  of  750  in  1883,  and  was  a 
thriving  business  centre  for  the  county.     Ashcroft,  above  it  on  the  river,  had 
about  500  inhabitants,   and  Independence  250,  Sparkhill  100;  besides  which 
there  were  Highland,  Massive  City,  and  Sidney. 

18  Stow,  in  his  General  Vieiv  of  Colorado,  MS.,  says  that  one  of  the  original 
town  company,  J.    F.  Smith,  was  the  first  police  magistrate,  and  that  Ned 
Cozzeiis,  a  cousin  of  Fred  S.  Cozzens,  author  of  the  Sparrowjrass  Papers, 
wa.s  another.     William  H.  Young  and  William  H.  Green  were  also  of  the 
company.     Duell  and  Boyd  were  the  surveyors. 


PUEBLO. 


G31 


was  held  by  A.  A.  Bradford,  in  a  house  belonging  to 
A.  G.  Booue,  on  the  lower  end  of  Santa  Fe  avenue, 
Pueblo.  An  adobe  building  was  subsequently  erected 
on  the  same  avenue  near  Third  street  for  a  court 
house.  No  jail  was  erected  until  1868,  when  a  stone 
building  was  rented  to  the  county  by  R.  N.  Daniels 
for  that  purpose,  which  served  until  the  commission 
ers  soon  after  erected  a  brick  jail  on  Court-house 
square,  which  was  in  use  until  1880,  when  the  pres 
ent  prison  was  completed.19 


LAS  ANIMAS  GRANT. 

19  Pueblo  county  has  no  mines  except  of  coal,  and  13  therefore  classed  with 
the  agricultural  counties  Its  inhabitants  in  its  earlier  years  lived  by  grow 
ing  provisions,  which  they  sold  to  the  miners  outfitting  for  the  mountains. 
At  present  stock-raising  is  followed  equally  with  farming.  The  beautiful 
Ilermosillo  rancho  of  the  Colorado  Cattle  company,  covering  91,000  acres, 
lies  in  this  county,  twenty  miles  south  of  Pueblo  City.  It  belongs  to  an  or 
ganization  of  eastern  capitalists,  and  grazes  an  immense  number  of  cattle. 
This  rancho  is  a  part  of  the  Las  Animas  gra:it.  It  was  obtained  by  Ceraii  St 
Vrain  and  Cornelio  Vigil,  of  the  governor  of  New  Mexico  in  1844,  and  com 
prised  all  the  country  north  of  the  Beaubien  grant  in  N.  M.  as  fear  as  the 
Arkansas  river,  and  between  the  Las  Animas  and  the  St  Charles  tributaries. 
The  U.  S.  government  reduced  the  grant  subsequently  to  1 1  leagues.  A  part 
of  it  was  called  the  Nolan  grant,  and  was  sold  to  the  company  which  laid 
out  south  Pueblo.  There  is  still  some  question  as  to  the  rights  of  heirs  of  the 
original  grantees  The  amount  of  wheat  raised  in  Pueblo  county  in  18S3 
was  10,690  bushels,  which  placed  it  in  the  fifth  rank  of  wheat-producing 


632  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

Rio  Grande  county  was  established  in  1874.  It  is 
situated  on  the  west  side  of  San  Luis  park,  and  is 

counties,  Boulder,  San  Miguel,  Larimer,  and  Jefferson,  in  the  order  here 
given,  being  the  leading  wheat-growing  districts.  In  corn-growing  Pueblo 
ranked  third,  Weld  and  Boulder  taking  the  lead.  Pueblo  had  213,781  acres 
of  pasture-land,  being  only  a  little  less  than  El  Paso,  Weld,  and  Elbert;  but 
it  had  92,422  acres  under  irrigation,  which  was  more  than  other  county,  and 
irrigation  is  likely  at  any  time  to  change  pasture  into  farming  lands.  The 
county  contained  50,000  cattle,  75,000  sheep,  and  5,600  other  domestic  ani 
mals.  The  population  has  increased  from  7, 617  in  1880  to  20,000  in  1883, 
and  the  total  assessable  valuation  was  $7,286,422.  Like  almost  every  county 
in  the  state,  it  has  hot  mineral  springs. 

The  town  of  Pueblo,  the  county  seat  since  1861,  had  a  population  in  1880 
of  3,317,  and  south  Pueblo,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Arkansas  river,  1,443, 
or  4,760  altogether.  Together  they  had,  three  years  later,  four  times  that 
amouut  of  population,  and  were  practically  one  city,  although  still  keeping 
up  separate  municipal  governments.  Old  Pueblo  is  handsomely  laid  out,  with 
an  abundance  of  water  and  shade-trees,  churches,  schools,  newspapers,  banks, 
a  board  of  trade,  places  of  public  amusement,  founderies,  mills,  smelting- 
works,  water-works,  gas-works,  and  street  railroads.  The  county  buildings 
are  among  the  best  in  the  state.  The  state  asylum  for  the  insane  is  located 
here.  I  have  a  dictation  from  P.  R.  Thombs,  who  is  superintendent  of  the 
insane  asylum.  He  was  in  Colorado  before  the  settlement,  and  acquainted 
with  the  famous  traders  and  guides,  Bridger,  Carson,  and  others.  He  is  a 
man  of  fine  physique,  medium  size,  fearless  and  genial.  He  gave  me  some  bits 
of  early  history  in  his  Mexican  Colorado,  MS.,  which  I  have  incorporated  in 
my  work.  The  legislature  of  1879-80  authorized  the  establishment  of  the 
asylum,  making  the  necessary  appropriation  for  their  support  by  a  tax  of  one 
fifth  of  a  mill  upon  all  taxable  property.  Previous  to  this  date  each  county 
had  taken  charge  of  its  own  lunatics,  for  which  they  were  reimbursed  by  tho 
state.  Pueblo  obtained  the  location  by  donating  the  land  required — 40  acres. 
The  board  of  commissioners  appointed,  James  Macdonald,  Theodore  F.  Brown, 
and  J.  B.  Romero,  purchased  the  residence  of  George  M.  Chilcott,  near 
Pueblo,  which  served  for  a  beginning,  but  the  next  legislature  appropriated 
$60,000  for  the  erection  of  a  new  building,  which  not  being  sufficient,  $80,000 
was  appropriated  in  1883  to  enlarge  and  furnish  the  asylum.  A  part  of  old 
Pueblo  was  entered  under  the  act  of  congress  of  March  2,  1867,  by  Mark  G. 
Bradford,  probate  judge  of  Pueblo  co.,  in  trust  for  the  occupants.  On  Jan. 
19,  1869,  the  present  title  to  that  portion  was  derived  from  the  United  States 
through  him.  Another  portion  was  entered  by  the  county  at  the  same  time. 
The  town  was  incorporated  March  22,  1870.  The  trustees  appointed  were: 
George  A.  Hinsdale,  M.  G.  Bradford,  James  Rice,  H.  C.  Thatcher,  and  H. 
H.  Cooper.  The  first  town  election  was  held  in  April.  It  was  merged  in  a 
city  organization  in  March  1873.  The  first  city  election  was  held  April  7th 
of  that  year,  when  James  Rice  was  elected  mayor,  and  G.  P.  Hayslip,  O.  H. 
P.  Baxter,  H.  M.  Morse,  and  Weldon  Keeling  aldermen.  In.  1871  the 
county  voted  $100,000  in  bonds  to  aid  the  D.  &  R.  G.  R.  R.,  rather  than 
have  it  go  south  via  Canon  City,  which  was  threatened.  In  this  same  year 
the  U.  S.  land-office  was  opened  at  Pueblo,  with  Wheeler  as  register,  and  M. 
G.  Bradford  receiver.  The  Pueblo  People  was  also  first  issued  this  year  in 
Sept.,  with  Hinsdals  editor,  the  office  being  the  n.  e.  corner  of  Fourth  and 
Summit  streets.  Its  material  was  sold  in  1874  to  the  proprietors  of  the 
Chieftain,  its  successor.  Tho  county  court-house  was  completed  in  1872,  and 
was  paid  for  from  the  sale  of  lots  in  a  quarter-section  of  land  preempted  by 
the  county  authorities,  and  filed  as  an  addition  to  the  city,  costing  the  tax 
payers  nothing.  The  successors  to  Mayor  Rice  were  John  R.  Lowther,  M. 
D.  Thatcher,  W.  H.  Hyde,  and  George  Q.  Richmond.  In  1874  the  present 
Holly  system  of  water-works  was  completed,  at  a  cost  to  the  city  of  $130,- 


RIO  GRANDE.  633 

watered  by  the  Rio  Grande  river.     The  western  por 
tion  of  the  county  lies  in  the  San  Juan  mountains,  in 

000,  the  contract  being  let  to  the  National  Building  company  of  St  Louis. 
Soon  after  a  fire  department  was  organized,  consisting  of  two  hose  com 
panies  and  a  hook  and  ladder,  AV.  R.  Macomb  chief.  In  1875  the  Pueblo 
and  Arkansas  valley  railroad, connecting  with  the  Atchison,Topeka,and  Santa 
Fe,  was  completed  to  Pueblo,  giving  it  a  road  to  the  east.  The  county  sub 
scribed  $350,000  to  this  road,  and  its  opening  was  the  occasion  of  a  monster 
excursion  from  all  parts  of  Colorado,  and  from  Kansas,  the  rejoicings  last 
ing  for  two  days.  The  first  handsome  public  school  building  was  erected  in 
1876,  the  district  voting  $14,000  in  bonds.  The  trustee,  after  realizing  the 
money,  left  the  country,  and  the  county  was  $14,000  poorer.  Mather  £ 
Geist  erected  large  smelting- works  in  1878,  which  treat  ores  from  all  parts 
of  the  state,  and  employ  about  500  men.  The  methodist  church  south  began 
in  1884  to  organize  a  college  at  Pueblo,  which  is  meeting  fair  encouragement. 
South  Pueblo  is  a  manufacturing  town,  the  seat  of  the  Colorado  Coal  and 
Iron  company's  works,  one  of  the  most  extensive  of  the  kind  in  the  United 
States,  where  iron  and  steel  manufactures  are  carried  on.  The  works  cover 
40  acres  of  area,  and  the  other  buildings  of  the  company  400  acres  more. 
The  town  was  founded  by  the  Central  Colorado  Improvement  company, 
whose  officers  were  the  officers  of  the  D.  £  R.  G.  Co.,  and  which  was  subse 
quently  merged  in  the  Colorado  Coal  and  Iron  company.  According  to  M. 
Sheldon  of  south  Pueblo  the  D.  &  R.  G.  Co.  agreed  to  build  a  station  on  the 
north  side  of  the  river  should  the  county  vote  the  required  amount  in  bonds 
to  help  construct  the  road.  Having  an  opportunity,  in  1872,  to  purchase 
48,000  acres  of  the  Nolan  grant,  they  took  the  name  of  Central  Colorado 
Improvement  company,  founded  a  town  on  the  south  side,  and  removed  the 
terminus  of  the  railroad  to  that  site.  Sheldon  was  born  in  Trumbull  co. , 
Ohio,  in  1844.  He  came  to  Colorado  in  1872  for  his  health.  South  Pueblo, 
MS.  There  are  1,000  acres  laid  out  in  town  lots,  with  wide  streets,  bor 
dered  with  trees,  which  are  irrigated  by  tiny  canals.  The  town  has  a  mayor, 
board  of  aldermen,  newspapers,  and  post-office  of  its  own.  The  only  thing 
shared  in  common  between  the  towns  is  gas,  the  new  town  illuminating 
from  the  gasworks  of  north  Pueblo.  Taking  them  together  as  one,  Pueblo  is 
the  natural  centre  of  commerce  and  railroads  for  south-eastern  Colorado,  the 
depot  of  merchandise,  and  convenient  seat  of  manufactures  for  an  immense 
region.  These  advantages,  with  the  resources  already  named,  are  sufficient 
to  maintain  a  large  city.  There  are  no  other  considerable  towns  in  the  county. 
Stone's  Land  Grant*  in  Coh,  4-6;  Graff's  Colo,  47-51;  Inter-Ocean,  Jan.  10, 
1083;  Rocky  Mtn  News,  May  7,  1870;  The  Pueblos,  and  Pueblo  Co.,  Colo,  being 
a  history  of  the  twin  cities;  south  Pueblo  Puebh  Colleyiate  Institute,  Pro*pectun. 
W.  W.  Strait,  born  in  Pa  in  1839,  came  from  Min.  to  Colorado  in  1876,  and 
kept  the  Grand  Central  hotel  in  south  Pueblo  for  a  year  and  a  half.  From 
him  I  obtained  a  manuscript,  The  Pueblos.  James  Rice,  born  in  Vt  in 
1830,  came  to  Colorado  in  1868,  locating  himself  at  Pueblo,  engaging  in  the 
book  and  stationery  business.  From  him,  also,  I  gathered  some  interesting 
details.  Politics  in  Puebh,  MS.  The  towns  and  settlements  not  named  are 
Agate,  Anderson's  Rancho,  Andersonville,  Barry  Rancho,  Baxter,  Beulah, 
Booneville,  Cactus,  Chico,  Cody  Rancho,  Cook  Rancho,  Drag's  Rancho, 
Doyle's  Mill,  Dry  Rancho,  Fosdick's  Rancho,  Four-mile  Rancho,  Goodnight, 
Graneros,  Greenhorn,  Holliday  Rancho,  Horn  Rancho,  Huerfano,  Jackson, 
Jones'  Rancho,  Juniata,  Langley  Rancho,  McClellan's  Rancho,  Mdlh&ney'a 
Rancho,  Meadows,  Mace's  Hole,  Merrie's  Rancho,  Mexican  Plaza,  Muddy 
Creek,  Nada,  Nepesta,  Old  Fort  Reynolds,  Osage  Avenue,  Parnassus  Springs, 
Peck's  Rancho,  Pinon,  Pond,  Robinett  Rancho,  San  Carlos,  Skeeter  Rancho. 
Spring  Lake  Rancho.  St  Charles,  Sulphur  Springs,  Swallows,  Table  Moun 
tain,  Taylorville,  Undercliffe,  Walker  Rancho,  Wilson's  Rancho,  Wood 
Valley. 


634  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

a  rich  mineral  region.  Its  resources  are  about  equally 
divided  between  mining  and  agriculture.  The  Sum- 
Peter  K.  Dotson,  born  in  Va  in  1823,  crossed  the  plains  from  Independ 
ence,  Mo.,  in  1851,  intending  to  go  to  Cal.,  but  stopped  at  Salt  Lake,  where 
he  was  employed  a  few  months  in  running  a  distillery  for  Brigham  Young. 
The  following  year  he  was  engaged  by  an  express  and  mail  company  as  agent, 
which  position  he  held  for  9  years.  In  1855  he  was  commissioned  U.  S. 
marshal  for  Utah,  but  being  ordered  away  from  the  territory  by  Heber  Kim- 
ball  in  1857,  he  went  to  Washington,  and  came  with  the  army  of  Johnson 
to  Utah.  He  came  to  Colorado  in  1800,  arid  settled  at  Fountain  City,  (now 
Pueblo)  and  commenced  the  business  of  cattle-raising.  I  took  a  brief  dicta 
tion  from  him  called  Dotson  s  Doinys,  MS.  One  of  the  pioneers  of  Pueblo 
county  is  here  briefly  mentioned:  J.  W.  Lester,  born  in  Pa  in  1828;  owns 
240  acres  of  land  on  the  Arkansas  river  below  Florence. 

Jacob  A.  Betts,  born  in  Md  in  1830,  was  a  tailor  by  trade.  He  went  first 
to  Central  City  on  coming  to  Colorado,  but  after  roving  from  gnlch  to  gulch 
for  some  time,  stopped  for  three  years  at  Greenhorn  in  Pueblo  co.,  and  was 
sheriff  of  the  co.  in  1804  and  1865.  Subsequently  he  removed  to  Pueblo, 
where  he  was  in  the  grocery  trade.  He  settled  in  the  adjoining  county  of 
Fremont,  and  became  the  owner  of  740  acres  of  land,  and  herds  of  horses 
and  cattle. 

Alva  Adams,  born  in  Wis.  in  1850,  came  to  Colorado  in  1871,  and  worked 
at  first  on  the  railroad  at  common  labor.  At  Colorado  Springs  he  helped  to 
erect  the  first  house,  remaining  at  that  place  three  years,  when  he  removed 
to  south  Pueblo  and  engaged  in  hardware  business  for  two  years,  selling  out 
there  and  establishing  a  hardware  store  at  Del  Norte,  Rio  Grande  co.  In 
1870  he  started  a  branch  business  at  Alamosa,  returning  in  1878  to  Pueblo, 
leaving  the  branch  stores  in  charge  of  others,  and  commencing  a  wholesale 
business  in  hardware  at  this  point.  He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  first 
state  legislature  from  Rio  Grande  co.,  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  first  city 
council  of  south  Pueblo,  and  later  elected  governor. 

Alfred  W.  Geist,  born  in  Boston  in  1848,  graduated  from  the  scientific 
department  of  Yale  college,  and  went  from  there  to  Mexico,  travelling 
throughout  the  west,  studying  ores,  smelting  them,  and  looking  for  a  place 
to  locate  a  smelting  establishment.  In  June  1878  he  broke  ground  ai  Pueblo, 
starting  with  one  furnace.  The  following  year  two  more  were  erected.  The 
business  increased  faster  than  his  capital,  compelling  the  formation  of  a  stock 
company.  The  works  are  the  largest  in  the  world,  requiring  1.000  tons  per 
day  to  keep  all  the  furnaces  at  work.  They  employ  400  men,  and  the  com 
pany  paid  the  railway  for  freight  in  1884,  if  750,000.  Ores  from  every  part 
of  the  country  are  purchased,  and  the  product  goes  to  all  points  from  San 
Francisco  to  New  York. 

Henry  M.  Fosdick,  born  in  Boston  in  1822,  was  educated  a  civil  engineer. 
He  came  to  Colorado  in  the  spring  of  1859,  and  assisted  to  lay  out  the  streets 
of  Denver.  He  was  chairman  of  the  vigilance  committee  in  the  autumn  of 
that  year.  In  1861  he  purchased  a  section  of  land  in  El  Paso  county,  and 
laid  off  the  town  of  Colorado  City,  but  afterward  sold  the  land  to  A.  Z. 
Sheldon.  He  was  with  Chivington  in  the  Sand  creek  fight,  and  justifies  his 
course.  In  1804  he  went  to  Pueblo,  and  assisted  in  laying  off  that  town.  In 
1806  he  purchased  1,000  acres  in  Pueblo  co.,  and  became  a  farmer  and  stock- 
raiser. 

James  N.  Carlile  crossed  the  plains  with  an  ox -team  in  1859.  After  a  few 
days  at  Denver,  he  went  to  South  park,  where  he  mined  for  a  few  years.  He 
then  engaged  in  freighting  between  Denver  and  St  Joseph,  Denver  and  Mon 
tana,  and  Denver  and  Utah.  Then  in  1868,  in  partnership  with  William 
Moore,  he  became  a  railway  contractor,  and  subsequently  went  to  farming 
and  stock-raising,  which  resulted  in  the  ownership  of  large  ranches  in  Pueblo 
co.,  stocked  with  horses  and  cattle,  with  a  residence  in  south  Pueblo. 


ROUTT,  SAGUACHE,  SAN  JUAN.  635 

mit  district  is  one  of  the  most  important  in  southern 
Colorado  for  gold  mining.  There  are  several  stamp- 
mills  in  the  district,  which  have  produceb  for  several 
years  from  $200,000  to  $400,000  per  annum.  The 
mines  furnish  an  excellent  market  for  the  farm  pro 
ductions  of  the  fertile  San  Luis  valley.20 

Routt  county  in  the  north-west  corner  of  the  state 
was  cut  off  from  Grand  in  1877,  but  made  small  prog 
ress  until  the  removal  of  the  Utes  in  1882.  The 
population  the  following  year  was  500.  It  is  a  graz 
ing  and  agricultural  district,  with  some  placer  mines 
and  un worked  quartz  lodes.  The  assessed  valuation 
in  1883  was  $241,564,  principally  in  stock  cattle. 
Steamboat  springs,  and  half  a  dozen  hamlets,  were 

I.  W.  Stanton  was  born  in  Pa  in  1835.  At  the  age  of  20  years  he  migrated 
to  Pawnee  City,  Kan.,  and  was  there  when  the  first  Kansas  legislature  met, 
in  1855.  The  following  year  he  removed  to  Iowa,  remaining  there  until 
1860,  when  he  came  to  Colorado,  driving  a  team.  From  Denver  he  went  to 
Russell  gulch,  and  later  to  California  gulch,  returning  to  Denver  in  the 
autumn,  where  he  entered  a  store  as  clerk.  In  the  spring  of  18G1  he  walked 
to  Canon  City,  but  finding  nothing  to  do  there  returned  to  Denver,  and  was 
employed  as  clerk  in  the  post-office.  He  enlisted  in  the  2d  Colorado  infantry 
in  1862,  and  was  ordered  to  Leavenworth,  serving  until  1865.  When  mus 
tered  out  he  went  to  Washington,  where  he  remained  until  he  obtained  the 
appointment  of  register  in  the  land-office  at  Central  City  in  186S.  In  1871 
he  was  transferred  to  the  land-office  at  Pueblo.  In  1881  he  was  appointed 
postmaster  at  Pueblo. 

™  There  were  in  1883,  30,000  cattle,  40,000  sheep,  and  20,000  horses  and 
mules  in  the  county.  The  population  was  3,000,  and  the  assessed  valuation 
$1,013,417.  Del  Norte,  the  county  seat,  was  first  settled  in  the  winter  of 
1871-72.  The  population  in  1883  was  800.  It  is  situated  at  a  point  where 
the  mountains  from  the  north  and  south  approach  so  closely  to  the  river  as 
to  leave  only  an  elevated  bench,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  width  between  their 
rocky  cliffs,  on  the  southern  margin.  The  view  of  the  San  Luis  valley,  the 
tree-fringed  river  winding  below,  and  the  snow-crowned  peaks  of  the  Sangre 
de  Cristo  range,  make  the  situation  delightfully  picturesque.  Del  Norte  has 
a  good  trade,  several  fine,  large  blocks  of  stores,  built  of  stone,  where  whole 
sale  and  retail  merchandising  is  carried  on,  good  county  buildings,  schools,  a 
local  newspaper,  and  wide  streets,  shaded  by  rows  of  trees,  irrigated  after 
the  prevailing  custom  of  the  mountain  towns.  In  the  suburbs  and  surround 
ing  country  there  is  a  considerable  Mexican  population,  which  is  domiciled 
in  houses  built  of  adobe.  Timber  is  abundant  in  the  mountains,  and  there 
are  a  number  of  saw-mills  in  the  county  run  by  water-power,  of  which  there 
is  an  abundance. 

Twenty-nine  miles  west  of  Del  Norte  is  the  romantic  summer  resort  of 
Wagon-wheel  gap,  where  there  are  hot  sulphur  springs;  altitude  8,459  feet; 
climate  healthful.  The  name  comes  from  a  narrow  pass  of  several  miles 
through  a  range  of  mountains,  with  vertical  cliffs  from  500  to  1,500  feet  in 
height,  of  reddish-gray  sand  stone,  with  only  room  between  them,  as  it  was 
supposed,  for  the  river  and  a  wagon-road.  Summitville  in  Summit  mining 
district  had  in  1886  a  population  of  400.  Jasper,  Adams'  Springs,  La  Loma 
del  Xorte,  Lariat  Piedra,  and  South  Fork  are  small  villages. 


636  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

all  the  settlements  at  this  time.  Hahn's  peak  is  the 
county  seat. 

Saguache  county  was  organized  in  1866.  Its  bound 
aries  have  been  several  times  altered,  its  present  area 
comprising  3,200  square  miles,  the  principal  part  of 
which  is  agricultural  and  grazing  land.  Notwith 
standing  its  favorable  situation  in  the  centre  of  the 
state,  and  embracing  the  northern  portion  of  the  San 
Luis  valley,  it  is  very  little  developed.21 

San  Juan  county,  organized  in  1876,  has  been  quite 
fully  spoken  of  in  a  previous  chapter.  The  discoveries 
in  Lake  county,  which  followed  immediately  after  the 
San  Juan  country  had  taken  its  first  grand  start,  with 
drew  a  large  portion  of  its  population,  and  diverted 
capital  to  Leadville.  Its  original  area  has  also  been 
curtailed,  until  it  is  now  one  of  the  smallest  counties 
in  the  state,  and  strictly  devoted  to  mining,  although 
lumbering,  and  every  kind  of  milling  might  be  profit 
ably  carried  on  here,  timber  and  water  power  being 
abundant.  The  bullion  output  of  1883  was  $418,954, 
a  small  yield  for  a  county  with  so  many  good  mines. 
The  assessment  valuation,  which  excludes  mining 
property,  was  $1,045,597.  The  population  of  the 
county  was  5,000.  The  town  of  Silverton  had  1,750 
inhabitants,  and  Animas  Forks  450.  Eureka,  Min- 

21  This  neglect  was  owing  to  its  being  partly  covered  by  a  Spanish  grant, 
which  was  sold  to  Europeans  who  had  not  attempted  to  make  it  profitable. 
According  to  Wallihan's  Colorado  Gazetteer,  58,  Ex -governor  Gilpin  sold  a 
portion  of  Saguache  county  for  $2,500,000.  It  is,  however,  settling  up  with 
farmers,  who  sold  in  1883  $300,000  worth  of  agricultural  products.  The  cat 
tle  and  sheep  in  the  county  were  valued  at  about  $485,000,  and  other  prop 
erty  at  $911,931.  From  the  mines  in  the  Kerber  creek  district  $100,000  in 
bullion  was  produced.  The  population  of  the  county  was  estimated  at  6,000. 
Saguache  is  the  county  seat.  It  has  a  fine  location  on  the  San  Luis  river. 
There  were  900  inhabitants  in  1883.  Bonanza,  situated  in  Kerber  district, 
had  a  population  of  500.  Carnero,  Claytonia,  Crestone,  Iron  Mine,  Alder, 
Marshalltown,  Sedgwick,  and  Shirley  were  villages  of  100  or  150  inhabi 
tants.  The  list  of  settlements  comprises  Bismarck,  Blakeville,  Bonanza, 
Bonito,  Burnt  Gulch,  Camp  Sanderson,  Cebolia  River,  Cedar  Creek  Mines, 
Christione,  Cochetopa,  Cotton  Creek,  Cottonwood,  Elkhorn  Rancho,  Ex 
chequer,  Franklin,  Frisco,  Garibaldi,  Garner  Creek,  Gray  Siding,  Hauman, 
Jackson,  Kerber  Creek,  Kimbrell,  Kerberville,  Los  Pinos  Agency,  Marshall 
Pass,  Milton,  Oriental,  Plaza,  Poll  Creek  Mines,  Rito  Alto,  River  Meade, 
Rock  Cliff,  Sangre  de  Cristo.  San  Isabel,  Sargent,  Sheep  Mount,  Silver  Hill, 
Silvery  City,  Star  Branch,  Uncomphagre,  Veuerables,  White  Earth,  Willow 
Dale. 


SAN  MIGUEL,  SUMMIT,  WELD.  637 

eral  Point,  Howardsville,  Poughkeepsie  Gulch,  Con 
gress,  Cunningham  Gulch,  Del  Mine,  and  half  a  dozen 
other  small  villages  were  all  the  settlements  worth 
mention. 

San  Miguel  county,  set  off  from  Ouray  in  1883, 
comprises  all  of  the  former  county  of  Ouray,  except 
that  part  drained  by  the  Uncompahgre  river  and  its 
tributaries,  which  is  still  known  as  Ouray.  The 
boundaries  are  so  loosely  described  in  the  act  estab 
lishing  these  counties  that  it  would  be  impossible  to 
say  how  much  of  the  mineral  discoveries  being  already 
developed  went  with  the  county  of  San  Miguel. 
But  it  is  safe  to  say  that  its  new  name  cannot  have 
deprived  it  of  its  established  character  as  a  mineral 
region.  The  name  of  the  county  seat,  Telluride,  is 
indicative  of  the  resources  upon  which  it  depends. 
The  population,  at  the  period  of  its  establishment, 
was  2,000,  and  its  valuation  $449,856.  Telluride  had 
400  inhabitants,  and  Placerville  125. 

Summit  county,  established  in  1861,  extended  in  its 
earlier  form  to  the  boundary  of  Utah.  Its  former  ter 
ritory  was  divided  up  into  Garfield,  Routt,  and  Eagle, 
leaving  only  its  eastern  end,  resting  on  the  western 
slope  of  the  Park  range,  to  sustain  its  ancient  name. 
In  1882  it  ranked  fourth  among  the  bullion  producing 
counties,  whereas,  after  the  excision  of  Eagle  county, 
it  ranked  only  as  the  eleventh.21 

22  It  contained  73  silver  mines,  which  produced,  in  1882,  $459,550,  and 
placers  which  yielded  851,000;  but  the  following  year  the  whole  yield  of  the 
mines  was  no  more  than  §350,000.  The  assessable  property  of  the  county 
was  valued  at  §1,026,352,  divided  among  a  population  of  5,000.  The  county 
seat  was  temporarily  located  at  Parkville,  but  removed  to  Breckenrklge.  The 
town,  although  among  those  founded  in  1800,  was  not  incorporated  until 
1880,  at  which  time  it  had  1,628  inhabitants.  Breckenridge  is  situated  on 
Blue  river.  Like  all  the  Colorado  towns,  it  has  churches,  schools,  an  opera- 
house,  theatre,  banks,  and  newspapers.  Like  all  mining  towns  it  has  stamp- 
mills  and  smelting-works.  Robinson  has  a  population  of  500,  Racine  350, 
Frisco  250,  Montezuma  250,  Kokomo,  Taylor,  and  Chihuahua  each  200, 
Lincoln  City  125,  Swan,  Wheeler,  and  Argentine  each  100.  Remaining  set 
tlements  in  Summit  co. :  Adelia,  Argentine,  Astor,  Belden,  Blue  River,  Blue 
River  Valley,  Buffalo  Flats,  Carbonateville,  Chihuahua,  Cliff  Spring,  Clinton 
Gulch,  Conger,  Cooper,  Crocker,  Decatur,  Defiance  City,  Delaware  City,  Del 
aware  Flats,  Dillon,  Eagle  City,  Farnham,  Fisk's  Hotel,  Fort  McHenry, 
Genera,  Golden  City,  Golden  Gulch,  Gold  Rim,  Ha«ywood,  Hill's  Camp, 


638  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

"Weld  county,  occupying  the  north-east  corner  of 
the  state,  was  organized  in  1861,  and  named  in  honor 
of  Secretary  Weld.  It  is  exclusively  an  agricultural 
and  grazing  county,  although  it  has  for  a  foundation 
extensive  beds  of  coal.  An  account  of  its  great  irri 
gation  companies  has  been  given,  and  of  the  Greeley 
colony's  acequias.  Of  a  somewhat  later  date,  about 
1871,  was  the  South-western,  sometimes  called  the 
Tennessee  colony,  although  its  members  were  from 
several  western  and  middle  states.  This  association 
purchased  a  large  tract  of  land  in  the  Platte  valley, 
and  selected  a  town  site  near  Fremont's  orchard, 
twenty-five  miles  below  Evans,  on  the  Denver  Pacific 
railway,  which  they  named  Green  City,  after  D.  S. 
Green  of  Denver.  A  considerable  portion  of  the 
colony's  lands  needed  no  irrigation,  being  on  the  Platte 
bottom;  but  8,000  or  10,000  acres  had  to  be  brought 
under  cultivation,  which  was  done  by  means  of  ditch 
ing,  as  in  the  former  instance.  All  these  improve 
ments  have  made  the  western  portion  of  Weld  a  great 
grain  field,  while  the  sheep  and  cattle  ranges  in  the 
eastern  half  are  sufficiently  watered  for  that  purpose 
by  the  numerous  branches  of  the  Platte.23 

Hugh  Flat,  Inferno,  Intermediate,  Junction  City,  Lake,  Loveland,  Lower 
Swan  River  Valley,  Mill  Rancho,  Monument  Toll-gate,  Park  City,  Rexford, 
St  John,  Sulphur  Spring,  Summit  City,  Surles,  Swan,  Tariff  Mine,  Timothy, 
Warren  Camp,  Webster  Rancho,  Wheeler,  White  River,  Williams  Fork. 
This  list  embraces  most  of  the  settlements  existing  in  Eagle,  and  some  in 
Garfield,  or  in  Summit,  previous  to  the  late  change  of  boundary. 

A  late-comer  to  this  region  was  H.  H.  Eddy,  who  was  born  in  Milwaukee, 
Oregon,  in  1855.  He  removed  to  Watertown,  N.  Y.,  in  1866,  and  was  edu 
cated  for  the  law,  being  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Rochester  in  1877.  He  then 
migrated  to  Topeka,  Kan.,  and  thence  to  Colorado  in  1878.  After  a  few 
months  at  Leadville,  he  removed  to  Summit  cr  ,  locating  at  Chihuahua.  He 
was  elected  to  the  state  senate  in  1880,  and  again  in  1884.  He  secured 
mines  and  lands  in  the  co.,  where  he  made  his  residence. 

23  The  wheat  crop  of  1882  was  370,000  bushels,  worth  about  as  many  dol 
lars,  and  all  the  other  crops,  including  hay  and  potatoes,  were  valued  at 
§900,000.  The  population  of  the  county  was  8,000,  and  the  assessed  valua 
tion  $7,907,145.  The  county  seat  was  first  temporarily  located  at  St  Vrain, 
but  was  finally  established  at  Greeley,  which  had,  in  1883,  1,500  inhabitants. 
Evans,  Erie,  and  Sterling  had  each  400.  There  are  the  following  minor  towns 
and  settlements  in  Weld  co. :  Akron,  American  Rancho,  Athol,  Baker  Coal 
Bank,  Barrie  Rancho,  Beaver  Creek,  Beaver  Station,  Big  Bend,  Blair,  Blake- 
ville,  Boulder  Valley  Coal  Bank,  Brush,  Buffalo,  Cap  Rock,  Carr,  Corona, 
Corona  Station,  Cottonwood  Spring,  Crystal  Spring,  Divide,  Eckley,  Fleming 
Rancho,  Fort  Morgan,  Fort  Sedgwick,  Gard  Raucho,  Geary,  Godfrey's  Bluff, 


INDUSTRIAL  SUMMARY.  639 

Such  is  the  extent  and  variety  of  aspect  and  re 
sources  of  Colorado  that  each  division  has  required 
a  separate  history,  which,  at  the  best  my  space  allows, 
remains  too  brief.  To  sum  up  the  condition  of  the 
state  in  1883-6,  when  it  had  only  fairly  entered  upon 
a  career  of  settled  industries,  we  have  the  follow 
ing  :  Wheat  produced  from  114,000  acres,  2,394,000 
bushels;  corn  produced  from  21,287  acres,  532,100 
bushels;  oats  produced  from  41,250  acres,  1,209,000 
bushels;  potatoes,  1,000,000  bushels,  and  large  crops 
of  hay,  which  with  minor  productions  were  not  re 
ported,  the  approximate  value  of  which  was  about 
$4,000,000.  The  value  of  cattle  on  the  ranges  was 
$37,500,000  ;  of  sheep,  $10,000,000.  The  output  of 
coal  was  nearly  $6,000,000.  The  iron  and  steel  prod- 

Hadfield  Island,  Hall,  Hillsborough,  Hopkins  Coal  Bank,  Howard  Spring, 
Hudson,  Hyde,  Iliff,  Johnson,  Julesburg,  Junction  House,  La  Salle,  Latham, 
Lemons,  Lone  Tree,  Manchester,  Meadow  Island,  Mitchell's  Coal  Bank,  Mor 
gan,  New  Liberty,  Old  Fort  St  Vrain,  Old  Julesburg,  Pawnee  Creek,  Pierce, 
Platte  Valley,  Platteville,  Pleasant  Plains,  Pleasant  Valley,  Riverside, 
Sarinda,  School-house,  South  Platte,  Spring  Hill,  Sterling,  Stewart,  Summit, 
Valley  Station,  Weld,  Weldon  Valley,  Wild  Cat  Creek,  and  Wray. 

One  of  those  who  freighted  across  the  plains  before  the  railroad  era  was 
Jared  L.  Bacon.  He  was  born  in  Ohio  in  1837,  removing  to  Iowa  in  1857,  and 
to  Colorado  in  1859.  After  mining  two  years  in  Russell's  gulch  he  engaged 
in  the  transportation  of  goods  from  the  Missouri  river  to  Denver  until  the 
completion  of  the  Union  Pacific.  Then  he  turned  to  stock  raising  in  Weld 
co.,  and  had,  in  company  with  J.  L.  Routt,  3, 000  acres  of  land,  with  an  exten 
sive  range,  and  32,030  head  of  cattle.  He  was  elected  sheriff  of  Weld  co.  in 
3872,  and  to  the  general  assembly  in  1877,  and  again  in  1879.  He  was  also 
appointed  brig.  -gen.  of  the  state  militia  for  4  years,  and  was  chairman  of  the 
board  of  county  commissioners  for  6  years. 

Samuel  Southard,  born  in  Ohio  in  ]  84G,  enlisted  in  the  army  at  the  age  of 
15  years,  serving  through  the  war.  He  came  to  Colorado  in  1866,  remaining 
unsettled  for  several  years,  but  going  into  mercantile  business  at  Era,  in 
"Weld  co.,  in  1872.  In  1877  he  was  elected  county  treasurer  and  removed 
to  Greeley,  being  reflected  in  1879,  and  chosen  county  clerk  in  1881.  Later 
he  became  a  merchant  at  Greeley. 

Jesse  Hawes,  born  in  Me  in  1843,  migrated  to  111.  at  the  age  of  16  years, 
and  enlisted  in  the  army  in  1861,  serving  through  the  war.  He  then  com 
menced  the  study  of  medicine  and  graduated  from  Michigan  university  in 
1868,  after  which  he  spent  two  years  in  the  Long  Island  hospital,  and  two 
years  in  European  hospitals.  On  returning  to  the  U.  S.  he  came  to  Colo., 
settling  at  once  at  Greeley.  He  was  surgeon  of  a  railway  co.,  and  president 
of  the  State  Medical  Society,  as  well  as  of  the  State  Board  of  Medical 
Examiners.  .  ,  of,n 

Henry  B  Jackson,  born  in  N.  Y.  in  1848,  came  to  Colorado  m  1872, 
locating  himself  at  Greeley,  and  beginning  his  money-getting  by  hewing  ties 
for  a  railroad  company.  In  1877  he  started  a  small  store  but  was  burned 
out  in  1883.  The  same  season  he  built  the  Jackson  Opera  house  block  at  a 
cost  of  §16,000. 


640  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

uct  was  about  $3,000,000,  The  gold,  silver,  lead,  and 
copper  amounted  to  $26,306,000,  as  nearly  as  it  could 
be  estimated,  an  increase  of  $3,000,000  since  1885, 
but  a  slight  falling  off  from  1882.  According  to  cen 
sus  returns  in  1880,  the  capital  employed  in  599  dif 
ferent  manufactories,  not  including  smelting,  reducing, 
and  refining  works,  was  $4,311,714.  The  census  re 
turns  prepared  for  publication  at  each  decade  are 
really  prepared  the  previous  year,  and  therefore  this 
estimate  gives  the  amount  of  capital  employed  in 
manufactures  in  1879,  when  they  were  in  their  in 
fancy.  Without  any  exact  figures  to  demonstrate 
the  fact,  it  is  evident  that  in  1883  the  amount  of 
money  in  use  in  manufactures,  of  the  nature  of  iron 
and  steel  works,  brass  founderies,  machine  and  car 
shops,  flour  and  lumber  mills,  wagon  and  carriage  fac 
tories,  furniture,  clothing,  saddle  and  harness,  and 
boot  and  shoe  factories,  breweries,  meat  packing, 
brick  making,  cigar  making,  printing,  and  other  estab 
lishments  to  the  number  of  over  600,  great  and  small, 
must  have  quadrupled  the  census  figures  of  1880 ;  be 
sides  which  there  were  175  smelting,  stamping  and 
reduction  works  in  operation.  The  whole  product 
of  the  entire  manufacturing  industries  of  Colorado 
exceeded  $35,000,000. 

At  the  close  of  1883  there  were  eighty-three  bank 
ing  houses  in  Colorado,  of  which  two  were  national 
banks,  with  a  capital  of  $1,640,000,  deposits  of  $11,- 
171,734,  and  business  to  the  amount  of  $16,704, 
165.90  ;  fourteen  state  banks  and  trust  companies,  with 
capital  of  $615,754  and  $2,433,417  deposited;  and 
forty-seven  private  banks,  with  $774,735  capital  and 
$2,423, 305  deposited.  The  fire  insurance  companies  had 
policies  out  on  $32, 81 7, 015;  the  life  insurance  compa 
nies  on  $29,374,019 ;  and  accident  companies  for 
$1,036,981.  The  state  debt  consisted  only  of  state 
warrants,  which  there  was  money  in  the  treasury  to 
meet,  and  a  surplus  of  $372,961.  The  constitution 
prohibits  the  bonded  indebtedness  of  the  state. 


GENERAL  SUMMARY.  641 

The  biennial  expenditures  and  receipts  very  nearly 
balance  each  other,  and  average  $558,000.  The 
amount  raised  by  taxation  in  1883  was  $295,104.44, 
the  assessed  valuation  being  $110,729,756.  A  poll- 
tax  of  fifty  cents  was  levied  on  27,700  polls.  The 
state  tax  was  four  mills  on  the  dollar.  The  amount 
of  internal  revenue  raised  in  1880,  with  less  than 
200,000  inhabitants,  was  $168,259. 

There  were  370  school-houses,  valued  at  $1,235,- 
491,  and  a  school-fund  for  distribution  amounting  to 
$45,000,  but  which  the  improvement  and  leasing  of 
the  school  lands  was  rapidly  improving.  The  state 
supports  by  a  special  tax  the  state  university 
school  of  mines,  agricultural  college,  mute  and 
blind  institute,  state  industrial  school,  insane  asylum, 
and  penitentiary.  The  industrial  school  had  129 
inmates,  and  the  state  prison  341  {convicts.  There 
are  a  state  board  of  health,  a  state  historical  society, 
a  state  library,  and  a  historical  and  natural  history 
society  maintained  by  legislative  appropriation. 
Other  state  societies,  depending  on  their  members  for 
support,  are  maintained  by  the  medical  or  other  pro 
fessions  to  which  they  belong.  These  intelligent 
organizations  to  which  the  legislature  and  the  people 
in  their  homes  give  their  attention,  illustrate  the  pre 
vailing  character  of  society  in  Colorado.  Not  with 
out  blemishes  or  errors,  the  young  commonwealth 
stands  out  a  shining  example  of  mental,  moral,  and 
physical  progression  rare  to  find  in  the  first  twenty- 
five  years  of  a  nation's  political  existence.  The  laws 
are  liberal;  public  gambling  is  not  prohibited,  and 
drinking  saloons  are  numerous.  According  to  the 
census  of  1880,  the  whole  number  of  inhabitants 
was  194,327,  with  an  excess  of  65,196  males;  154,- 
537  were  native  born,  39,790  foreign  born,  2,435  were 
colored,  612  Chinese,  154  Indians.  The  population 
is  largely  drawn  from  New  England,  but  is  thor 
oughly  cosmopolitan.  Since  the  10th  census  was 
taken  Mormons  have  commenced  colonizing  in  this 

HIST.  NEV.     41 


642  COUNTIES  OF  COLORADO. 

state,  their  number  amounting  to  1,578.  The  Chinese," 
though  in  the  main  well  treated,  have  been  driven  out 
of  some  of  the  mining  towns.  The  most  remarkable 
feature  of  Colorado  is  the  number  and  size  of  its  cor 
porations  ;  and  the  question  to  be  solved  in  the  future 
is  how  far  they  are  beneficial  or  detrimental  to  a  state, 
particularly  in  the  form  of  money  preponderance  and 
monopoly.  Possibly  they  will  be  crippling  to  individ 
ual  enterprise,  and  enslaving  to  independent  will  and 
thought;  in  which  case  the  most  republican  of  our 
young  states  will  have  taken  a  backward  step  in 
republican  principles,  and  directors  of  wealthy  organ 
izations  be  able  to  dictate  to  the  producing  classes  as 
to  their  bondsman.24 

24  For  yield  of  metals,  see  Descriptive  America,  May  4,  1884;  Hall,  Ann. 
Rept  to  Chamber  of  Commerce,  1883,  147;  Farmer  Resources  of  the  Rocky  Mts, 
17-40;  FarreWs  Colorado  as  it  is,  1868,  15-46;  Stone's  Hist.,  MS.;  The  Rocky 
Mtn  Gem,  Corbett's  Legis.  Manual,  1877,  316;  Haydens  Great  West,  116-27; 
Rocky  Mtn  Herald,  Dec.  18,  1875;  Gunnison  Sun,  Jan.  5,  1884;  N.  M. 
Pointers  on  the  Southwest,  p.  46;  S.  F.  Call,  Jan.  12,  1885;  Rept  of  State  Geol 
ogist,  1881-2,  126-49;  Colorado  Condensed,  1881-82,  39-iO;  Id.,  1883,  25-34; 
Burchard's  Productions  of  Colorado,  1881,  132;  Rept  Director  of  the  Mint, 

1882,  14;    JV.    Hex.    Revisita,    1883,    279,  Elliott    &    Co.'s  Hist.    Arizona; 
Tucson  Fronterizo,  Jan.  27,   1882,  2;  N.   Mcx.   Mining  World,   Feb.   1,    1884, 
93;  The  Mines  and  Miners,  507,   509-10.     On  other  subjects,   see  H.  Misc. 
Doc.,  47th   cong.  2d   sess.,  98,    100;  Galveston  News,  Dec.    1,  1884;  H.  Ex. 
Doc.,  47th  cong.   1st  sess.,  vol.  15,  708-13;  Colo.  Sess.  Laws,  1881,  31;  Id., 

1883,  23-4;  Denver  Tribune,  Jan.    13,    1880;  Colo.   Gen.  Laws,    1877,   557-9; 
Colo.  Sess.  Laws,  1883,  23-4;  Denver  Hist.,  240-1;  Transactions  of  State  Med 
ical  Soc.,  1884;  Hawes  Charlatanism  in  Colorado;  Reprint  from  Transactions 
of  State  Medical  Soc.  for  1883;  Shinris  Mining  Camps,  280;  Mining  Rights  in 
Colo,  by  R.  S.  Morrison;  Mining  Code,  by  M.  B.  Carpenter;-  Gen.  Laws  Colo, 
1865,  71-2;  Fowlers  Around  Colorado,   MS.,   8;  Leadville  Democrat,  Jan.   1, 
1884;    10th  Census,    vol.    1,   378^47;   Porters  The  West  Census,  1880,   392; 
Hall's  Ann.  Rept  Chamber  of  Commerce,   1880-3,   128;   Corbett's  Directory  of 
Mines,  1879;  Rept  Sec.  Int.,  ii.  319,  43d  cong.  1st  sess.     In  regard  to  society, 
see  Harper's  Mag.,  vol.  Ix.  542-57;  Bird's  Lady's  Life,  etc.,  being  the  obser 
vations   of   an   early  traveller   in   Chicago,  40-296;   Bancroft,  Colo  Notes, 
MS.;  Sac.  Record- Union,  April  7,  1884;  8.  F.  Post,  Nov.   15,   1884;  Denver 
Tribune,  Oct.  17,  1880.     The  Chinese  were  driven  from  Como  in  1879,  Denver 
Tribune,  Nov.  13,  1879,  and  from  other  places  at  different  times,  and  always 
by  the  other  foreign  populations,  led  by  political  demagogues,  who,  whether 
right  or  wrong,  were  never  governed  by  a  regard  for  the  public  welfare,  but 
sought  rather  to  make  capital  for  themselves   by  pandering   to  the  base 
instincts  of  our  low  and  ignorant  foreign  voters,  or  their  sympathizers  or 
dependents. 


CHAPTEE  XIV. 

LATER  EVENTS. 

1886-1888. 

ELEMENTS  OF  GREATNESS — MINING  VERSUS  AGRICULTURE — LAND  AND  WATER 
MONOPOLY — MATERIAL  PROGRESS — RAILROADS — DEVELOPMENT  OF  DEN 
VER—ELECTION  CAMPAIGN— LEGISLATION — EXCELLENCE  OF  STATUTORY, 
INSTITUTIONAL,  AND  SOCIAL  REGULATIONS— CHARACTER  OF  PUBLIC  MEN 
— BIOGRAPHICAL. 

THE  elements  of  a  great  commonwealth  were  in  Colo 
rado  from  the  beginning.  Like  all  the  mid-continent 
states,  it  was  misunderstood.  From  being  a  desert,  ac 
cording  to  early  explorers  whose  experience  was  of 
heavily  timbered  countries,  it  was  at  length  discovered 
to  be  a  land  rich  in  minerals,  but  it  was  not  regarded 
as  a  farming,  or  even  a  grazing,  region  until  accident 
revealed  its  capabilities  in  these  directions.  After 
thirty  years  of  settlement,  farming  was  hardly  sec 
ondary,  though  the  mining  and  grazing  interests  over 
shadowed  it.  The  era  of  neglect  of  this  industry  was 
attributed  to  the  scarcity  of  water  on  the  surface,  and 
the  dry  ness  of  the  atmosphere.  Then  came  the 
water-grabbers,  and  fenced  off  the  rivers  from  the 
common  use  of  the  people ;  or  water  companies  con 
structed  miles  of  canals,  carrying  water  through  im 
mense  tracts,  which  were  thereby  greatly  augmented 
in  price.  They  condescendingly  sold  the  water  which 
belonged  to  the  people  to  the  farmers  along  their 
route,  and  charged  them  with  a  "  royalty"  upon  their 
land — that  is,  they  exacted  a  bonus  for  benefiting  the 
land  irrigated  in  addition  to  the  water  rent.1  Another 

^he  question  was  mooted  in  the  legislature  of  1887  whether  the  companies 
should  not  be  denied  the  right  to  own  water,  and  be  treated  simply  as  com- 


644  LATER  EVENTS. 

abuse  was  the  practice  of  aliens  in  taking  up  large 
tracts  of  land  in  the  state  for  grazing  or  for  speculative 
purposes.  The  legislature  of  Colorado,  following  the 
example  of  congress,  passed  an  anti-alien  law,  to  pre 
vent  English  capital  from  fastening  upon  state  lands. 
Mining  property  was  not  guarded  in  the  same  man 
ner,  but  was  owned  to  a  considerable  extent  by  aliens. 
Foreign  capitalists,  however,  had  not  the  same  success 
in  securing  returns  that  American  owners  enjoyed, 
owing,  perhaps,  to  the  fact  that  they  paid  large  prices 
for  the  undeveloped  mines,  and  reserved  too  little 
capital  with  which  to  work  them. 

The  state  of  Colorado  was  never  more  truly  pros 
perous  than  after  a  period  of  dullness  from  1883  to 

1885.  In  1886  there  was  considerable  immigration, 
particularly  to  Weld   county,  it   having   been  found 
that  crops  could  be  grown  there  without  irrigation. 
The  citizens  of  that  region  petitioned  the  legislature 
of  1887  to  create  two  new  counties  out  of  the  eastern 
portion   of  Weld.2     A  large  number  of  new  towns 
were  founded  about  this  time,  and  had  a  surprising 
growth.     Lamar,  in  Bent  county,  founded    in  May 

1886,  had  on  its  first  anniversary  twelve  hundred  in 
habitants.     Yuma,  another  town  of  about  the  same 
age,  138  miles  east  of  Denver,  on  the  Burlington  & 
Missouri  river  railroad,  gained  five  hundred  inhabitants 
its  first  year.     Hyde,  another  railroad  town  in  Wash 
ington  county,  took  its  start  in  1886,  along  with  many 

mon  carriers — a  principle  undoubtedly  correct,  for  the  water  in  the  streams 
which  they  robbed  belonged  to  the  people,  and  they  could  do  no  more  than 
convey  it  to  the  points  where  it  is  required.  The  legislature  passed  an  anti- 
royalty  bill  for  the  relief  of  the  farmers.  At  the  same  time  a  company  from 
the  neighborhood  of  Boston  was  planning  an  acequia  to  be  175  miles  long, 
and  to  irrigate  a  large  area  east  and  south-east  of  Denver.  The  ditch  was  to 
be  10  feet  wide  and  3  or  4  feet  deep. 

2  The  county  of  Archuleta  was  also  created  in  1885  out  of  the  western 
portion  of  Conejos,  with  the  county  seat  at  Pagosa  Springs.  In  1887  the 
authority  of  county  commissioners  (republicans)  was  defied  by  the  sheriff 
(democrat),  and  the  house  of  commissioner  Scase  burned.  The  trouble  arose 
from  the  fact  that  these  officers  were  not  only  republicans,  but  Mexicans. 
Mesa  county  was  created  by  the  legislature  of  1885  out  of  a  portion  of  Gun- 
nison  co.  Logan,  Washington,  and  Chilcott  counties  were  created. 


MATERIAL  PROGRESS.  645 

others.3  Real  estate  advanced  rapidly  throughout 
the  state/  the  sales  in  Denver  in  1886  amounting  to 
nearly  $11,000,000;  the  rise  in  property  in  other 
towns  being  also  marked.  This  advance  implies  sub 
stantial  improvements.5  Among  these  were  a  new 
capitol  building,6  and  a  federal  court-house  and  post- 
office,  the  first  costing  $1,000,000,  and  the  latter  half 
that  sum.  The  trade  of  Denver  amounted  in  1886 
to  more  than  $72,000,000,  of  which  the  smelters  pro 
duced  $10,000,000.  This  also  indicated  a  good  con 
dition  of  the  mining  industry.  The  total  output  of 

1886  was  $27,837,896.7     This  progressive  movement 

3 The  following  is  a  partial  list  of  new  towns  of  about  the  same  age: 
Armour  in  Pueblo  co. ;  Battle  Mountain  and  Clinton  in  Eagle  co. ;  Rogers 
and  Kingston  in  Arapahoe  co. ;  La  Salle  in  Weld  co. ;  Orson  in  Mesa,  a  new 
county  in  west  Colorado;  Otis  and  Red  Lion  in  Weld  co. ;  Parkville  in 
Saguache  co. ;  Parma  in  Rio  Grande  co. ;  Rangeley  in  Garfield  co. ;  Romley 
in.  Chaffee  co. ;  San  Antonio  in  Los  Animas  co.;  Sunnyside  in  Hinsdale  co.; 
Woody  and  Emma  in  Pitkin  co. ;  McMillan  and  Butter  City  in  Bent  co. ; 
Prospect  in  Guiinison  co. ;  Abbott,  a  farming  settlement,  in  Arapahoe  co. 

4  Glenwood  Springs  was  sold  in  March  1887  to  Louis  R.   Enrich  of  New 
York  for  a  syndicate  belonging  to  the  Midland  railway.     The  price  paid  for 
about  5  acres  was  $125,000  cash.     The  springs  were  purchased  to  make 
popular  resort. 

5  A  beautiful   club-house,  a  §40,000  methodist  church,  a  $25,000  unity 
church,  and  a  larger  number  of  substantial  brick  buildings  than  ever  before 
erected,  mark  the  local  improvement  in  Denver  for  1886.     The  Denver  pub 
lic  library  was  opened  this  year.     This  year  also  the  beautiful  academy  of 
music  was  destroyed  by   fire.  Id.,   Jan.   1,   1887.     The  Highland  park  was 
projected  in  1887,  and  several  additions  were  made  to  the  city.     Early  in 

1887  General  Sheridan  visited  Colorado  to  select  a  site  for  a  permanent  mili 
tary  post.     It  was  selected  at  a  point  between  seven  and  eight  miles  from 
Denver,  on  Bear  creek,  and  communicating  with  Denver.     The  government 
appropriation  of  $100,000  sufficed  only   to  commence  the  improvements  of 
the  640  acres  chosen,  for  which  the  citizens  of  Denver  paid  $31,000.     This 
gave  them  an  interest  in  the  post;  and  their  admiration  for  Sheridan  led 
them  to  name  a  magnificent  avenue  opened  between  Denver  and  Golden,  the 
Sheridan  boulevard.     In  addition  the  cable  road  to  the  military  post  was  set 
on  foot  in  August  of  this  year.     A  real  estate  exchange  was  organized  in 
June  1887.     The  art  glass  works  were  opened  for  manufacture  at  Denver  in 
1887.   Several  miles  of  street  railway  were  projected  and  partly  constructed, 
and  the  electric  motor  road  carried  over  the  Platte. 

6 The  style  is  classic,  of  the  Corinthian  order.  The  main  pediment  will 
have  an  allegorical  group  representing  the  wealth,  progress,  and  promise  of 
the  state.  A  magnificent  rotunda  will  light  the  halls  and  corridors.  Its 
dimensions  north  and  south  are  294  feet,  or  with  its  projections  383  feet,  and 
it  will  contain  160  rooms.  The  building  stone  used  for  the  front  will  be 
sandstone  from  the  Gunnison  quarry;  for  the  foundations,  Georgetown 
granite,  and  other  stone  for  the  remainder  of  the  building. 

7  Of  this  amount  $4,446,417  was  in  gold,  $18,209,406  in  silver,  and  $5, 182,- 
073  in  lead  and  copper.  Iron  and  coal  are  not  estimated,  although  large. 
New  prospects  were  opened  in  the  La  Plata  and  Needle  mountains,  also  in 
the  mountains  of  the  San  Miguel,  and  iu  those  west  of  Fort  Collins.  The 


646  LATER  EVENTS. 

continued  through  1887  and  1888.  The  assessed 
valuation  of  the  state  in  1886  was  $124,269,710;  in 
1887  it  was  $141,269,706. 

Railroad  progress  was  quite  as  marked  during 
1886-7-8  as  other  improvements,  if,  indeed,  it  did  not 
lead  them.  At  the  close  of  the  latter  year  there  were 
not  less  than  four  thousand  miles  of  railways  in  the 
state — roads  that  reached  out  to  the  gulf  of  Mexico 
and  to  the  Missouri  river  on  one  hand,  and  to  the 
Pacific  ocean  on  the  other — and  local  roads  that, 
clambering  among  the  mountains,  sought  to  bring  the 
remotest  mining  region  into  communication  with  com 
mercial  centres.8  Colorado  railroads  during  one  year 
produced  a  revenue  from  freight  shipped  from  the  east 
of  $7,600,000,  and  from  competitive  passenger  traffic 
$3,000,000,  while  the  traffic  of  the  strictly  local  roads 
amounted  to  $3,000,000  more.  The  importance  of 
the  state,  and  its  geographical  position,  invited,  and 
must  ever  invite,  the  transcontinental  roads  to  make 
connection  with  its  local  roads,  if  not  to  send  lines 
direct  to  its  business  capitals.  Denver  is  the  railroad 
centre — Denver,  "Queen  City  of  the  Plains,"  as  her 
people  have  been  pleased  to  name  her,  because  she 
sits  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  whence  she  looks 

Gunnison  country  had  produced  a  bonanza  in  1887,  in  the  Sylvanite  mine  at 
Gothic,  yielding  2,000  ounces  per  ton  of  metallic  and  wire  silver.  There  was 
an  increase  in  the  coal  output  of  1887  over  1886  of  300,000  tons. 

8  The  most  important  mineral  district  reached  in  1887  was  that  of  Aspen 
in  Pitkin  co.  Both  the  Rio  Grande  and  Midland  railways  were  extended  to 
this  important  town,  next  to  Leadville  in  wealth.  The  valley  of  the  Roar 
ing  Fork  thus  became  opened  to  settlement.  Glenwood  springs  was  another 
point  reached  by  these  roads,  and  beyond  Glenwood  the  Newcastle  coal 
fields,  while  the  Midland  was  carried  to  the  coal  region  of  Jerome  park. 
Tiie  Missouri  Pacific  extension  into  Colorado  opened  a  large  grazing  and 
agricultural  area  from  the  state  line  to  Pueblo.  The  Atchison  line  from 
Pueblo  improved  the  whole  country  east  of  the  Sierra  Madre  range.  The 
Rock  Island  and  the  Northwestern  also  caused  rapid  settlement  in  the 
eastern  portion  of  the  state.  During  the  year  of  1887  nearly  800  miles  of 
railroad  was  constructed  within  the  state,  as  follows:  Missouri  Pacific  175 
miles,  Colorado  Midland  239  miles,  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  157  miles,  Santa 
Fe  147  miles,  Denver,  Texas,  and  Fort  Worth  65  miles  of  new  track  and  96 
miles  of  third  rail  construction.  The  cost  of  these  roads  and  the  wealth 
added  to  the  state  by  railroad  building  in  one  year  was  $16,000,000,  or 
82,000,000  more  than  they  received  for  carrying  freight  and  passengers. 
The  increased  value  given  to  property  along  the  lines  could  not  be  estimated. 


POLITICAL.  647 

out  east  over  a  vast  expanse  of  gently  sloping  savan 
nas.  Behind  her  rise  the  majestic  heights  of  the 
great  continental  range.  All  about  her  are  bright 
landscapes,  over  her  are  skies  of  summer  azure.  In 
her  lap  is  wealth,  on  her  brow  peace  and  honor.  Let 
no  one  dispute  her  royal  right  to  preside  over  and  re 
ceive  the  homage  of  her  sister  municipalities.  Young, 
beautiful,  strong,  worthy  of  all  praise,  let  her  be  called 
Queen. 

The  election  campaign  of  1886  was  a  hardly  con 
tested  one,  the  democratic  party  throughout  the 
United  States  having  a  revival,  and  the  republicans 
being  divided  by  the  "  mugwump  "  faction  and  the 
prohibitionists.  Three  tickets  were  in  the  field  in 
Colorado,  the  prohibitionists  drawing  their  strength 
mainly  from  the  republicans.9  However,  all  the  re 
publican  candidates  for  state  officers  were  elected, 
except  the  governor,  Alva  Adams,  who  from  being  a 
hardware  merchant  of  Pueblo  came  to  be  elected  chief 
of  his  noble  young  state  by  a  plurality  of  2,418,  his 
competitors  in  the  race  being  William  H.  Myers, 
formerly  lieutenant-governor,  and  W.  H.  Fishback, 
prohibitionist.  His  predecessor  was  Benjamin 
H.  Eaton.  N.  H.  Meldrum,  formerly  secretary  of 
state,  was  elected  lieutenant-governor,  succeeding  P. 
W.  Breene,  elected  state  treasurer;  and  James  Rice 
became  secretary  in  place  of  Melvin  Edwards,  or, 

'James  A.  Dawson  died  Jan.  16,  1887,  at  his  residence  in  Denver.  He 
was  born  in  April  1834  near  Mumfordville,  in  Hart  co.,  Ky.  He  married  Mary 
Connelly,  daughter  of  Dr  Connelly  of  that  place.  In  1860  he  was  elected 
clerk  of  the  county  court  of  Hart  co.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  war 
he  entered  the  Union  army  as  a  member  of  the  33d  Kentucky  vols,  and 
attained  the  office  of  adjutant,  fighting  in  the  battle  of  Mumfordville, 
between  the  advance  guards  of  Bragg 's  and  Buell's  armies.  He  held  several 
civil  offices  in  Ky,  and  founded  the  Louisville  Daily  Ledger  in  1870,  and  came 
to  Colorado  in  1880,  where  he  practised  law  at  Denver,  and  edited  the  Col 
Law  Journal,  being  part  of  the  time  city  attorney,  and  subsequently  superior 
judge.  In  1884  he  published  Dawson  s  Code,  and  in  1885  was  appointed  sur 
veyor-general  of  Colorado  by  President  Cleveland.  Oney  Castrophan,  of 
Custer  co.,  came  to  Colorado  from  Palmyra,  Mo.  He  had  filled  the  office  of 
prosecuting  attorney  at  Hannibal,  and,  after  his  removal  to  Colo,  was  mayor 
of  Silver  Cliff,  after  which  he  was  chief  clerk  in  the  office  of  the  surveyor- 
general  until  he  was  promoted  to  fill  that  place. 


648  LATER  EVENTS. 

more  correctly,  after  Edward  R  Hanley,  appointed 
in  place  of  Edwards,  resigned.  D.  P.  Kingsley  was 
elected  state  auditor,  and  L.  S.  Cornell  state  school 
superintendent.  Attorney-general  Charles  Thomas 
was  succeeded  by  Alvin  Marsh,  and  George  G.  Symes 
was  elected  congressman,  running  against  Myron 
Reed  democrat,  and  Murray  prohibitionist,  beating 
them  by  a  plurality  of  866.  On  the  organization  of 
the  legislature,  in  January  1887,  George  M.  Chilcott 
was  chosen  president  of  the  senate,  and  T.  B.  Stuart 
speaker  of  the  lower  house.  The  republican  majority 
in  the  senate  was  ten,  in  the  assembly  one.19 

The  legislation  of  Colorado  has  never  been  disgraced 
by  violence,  by  wanton  waste  of  the  people's  money, 
or  by  disrespect  of  the  constituted  authorities.  If  its 
statutes  are  not  perfect,  neither  were  they  for  whom 
they  were  made,  nor  the  makers  themselves.11  It  is 
enough  that  an  effort  at  excellence  in  statutory  regu 
lations,  as  in  institutional  and  social  affairs,12  is  a  feat- 

10  Mention  was  made  by  the  president  of  the  senate  of  the  death  of  two 
state  senators  since  the  last  session — Tilford  and  Elkins;  and  Gov.  Eaton  in 
his  farewell  message  regrets  the  demise  of  ex-U.  S.  Representative  Jerome 
B.  Chaffee,  and  ex-Gov.  Frederick  W.  Pitkin. 

11  There  was,  in  1887,  when  the   legislature  met,   some  embarrassment 
from  the  financial  condition  of  the  state.     The  total  amount  in  the  treasury 
at  the  close  of   Gov.   Eaton's  term  of   office  was,  in   cash   and  securities, 
$834,579.05,  out  of  which  to  make  the  various  appropriations  for  the  support 
of  state  institutions,  and  to  pay  salaries  to  state  officers.     This  deficiency 
was  not  the  result  of  bad  management,  or  extravagant  outlay,  but  came 
from  the  too  common  practice  of  assessing  property  below  its  value.     For 
instance,  the  property  of  the  state  was  actually  worth  $400,000,000,  yet  was 
assessed  at  $120,000,000,  whereas  the  railroads   alone  were  selling  in  the 
market  at  a  valuation  greater  than  that,  although  they  were  assessed  at  only 
$23,696,666.     The  constitution  required  that  the  property  of  the  state  should 
be  rated  for  taxation  at  its  true  value,  and  it  was  manifest  that  a  low  tax  on 
a  full  valuation  should  be  more  satisfactory  than  a  high  tax  on  a  low  esti 
mate.     The  legislature  took  up  this  subject  in  1887,  and  provided  for  the 
taxation  of  mining  property,  the  opinion  of  the  courts  having  first  been 
obtained  as  to  the  constitutionality  of  the  bills  offered.     All  mines  producing 
more  than  $1,000  per  annum  in  mineral  were  made  assessable,  and  in  case  of 
a  mine  which  was  not  patented  being  sold  for  taxes,  the  title,  under  the  laws 
of  Colorado,  should  be  good  and  valid.     A  list  of  all  the  producing  mines  was 
to  be  furnished  by  the  county  clerk  to  the  county  assessor.     An  attempt  was 
made  to  correct  railroad  abuses  and  encroachments  by  statute,  and  a  law 
was  enacted  creating  a  supreme  court  commission.     The  persons  appointed 
under  the  act  were  Atty-gen.  Marsh,  Ex-senator  Rising  of  Custer  co.,  and 
Thomas  Macon  of  Fremont  co. 

rjThe  new  county  of  Archuleta,  which  had  not  more  than  150  voteri, 
rebelled  against  the  authority  of  the  county  commissioners  (republican)  i» 


BIOGRAPHICAL.  649 

ure  of  the  centennial  state.  Notable,  not  notorious, 
the  character  of  her  public  men  is  an  example  to  the 
younger  states,13  and  blends  harmoniously  with  her 
many  charms,  material,  natural,  and  inspired  by  art. 
Colorado  is  the  flower  of  a  peculiarly  western  civili 
zation,  in  which  is  mingled  the  best  blood  of  the  north 
and  the  south,  the  virile  sap  of  New  England  and  the 
Carolinas — a  truly  American  state. 

July  1887,  being  led  by  one  E.  T.  Walker  and  the  sheriff,  Height  (democrats). 
The  rioters  burned  the  property,  and  threatened  the  life  of  one  of  the  com 
missioners,  Charles  D.  Scase.  The  others  were  intimidated,  and  forced  to 
resign,  and  anarchy  for  a  time  held  sway.  The  population  of  this  region 
was  Mexican,  and  two,  at  least,  of  the  commissioners  were  Mexican,  but 
were  men  of  wealth  and  standing.  That  they  should  be  such  appears  to  have 
been  too  much  for  the  democracy  to  bear,  and  their  ukase  was  issued  as 
follows:  '  If  you  don't  resign,  we  will  kill  you  and  destroy  your  property.' 
The  legislature  sent  a  committee  to  inquire  into  the  cause  of  the  terrorism, 
as  it  was  bound  to  do,  when  it  appeared  that  one  of  the  mob  which  had 
broken  up  a  meeting  of  the  commissioners  had  enunciated  the  doctrine  that 
'  this  is  a  democratic  administration,  and  it  shall  be  run  on  democratic  prin 
ciples.'  Accordingly  the  ballot-box  was  stolen,  and  other  democratic  prac 
tices  resorted  to,  and  when  the  commissioners  met  to  open  court  they  were 
prevented.  The  legislature  then  attached  Archuleta  co.  to  La  Plata  co.  for 
judicial  purposes,  and  the  matter  was  brought  before  the  grand  jury;  but  in 
the  meantime  Walker  had  disappeared.  A  race  war  of  another  sort  was  the 
outbreak  of  the  reservation  Utes,  August  1887,  by  which  some  blood  was 
spilled  on  both  sides,  ending  by  the  Indians  returning  to  their  homes.  The 
trouble  arose  from  the  ruling  of  a  new  agent  that  the  band  must  come  to  the 
agency  to  draw  their  annuities,  be  counted,  and  placed  011  the  list.  The  Utes 
refused,  and  went  one  year  without  their  annuities.  The  agent  then  required 
the  sheriff  to  return  them  to  the  reservation;  hence  the  conflict. 

13Leadville  elected  a  democratic  mayor  in  the  spring  of  1888,  who  sur 
prised  his  constituents  by  ordering  the  gambling  saloons  closed,  and  closed 
they  were  within  a  month.  Colorado  had  two,  if  not  more,  towns  where  the 
public  sale  of  intoxicating  drinks  was  prohibited.  But  to  prohibit  by  agree 
ment  from  the  start  is  quite  different  from  saying  to  a  whole  community  of 
gamblers,  '  depart, '  and  enforcing  the  command.  Mayor  Roche  of  Leadville 
might  have  been  a  martyr  in  the  days  of  the  inquisition,  and  yet  have  died 
profitlessly,  like  many  another  martyr. 

George  Zweck  discovered  the  famous  Prussian  mine  in  April  1861,  while 
prospecting  alone  in  the  Gold  Hill  district.  He  recognized  the  value  of  the 
ore  at  once,  and  taking  with  him  A.  D.  Gifford  and  David  Besler,  went  to 
work  upon  it  as  equal  partners.  They  carried  their  provisions  a  distance  of 
35  miles  strapped  on  their  backs,  but  the  mine  paid  for  the  effort,  averaging 
down  to  the  present  time  £260  per  ton.  The  vein  has  a  general  width  of  3 
feet.  Out  of  it  has  been  taken  £375,000,  and  it  would  bring  $250,000  to  sell. 
It  is  tunnelled  1,700  feet  into  the  mountain.  Zweck  has  other  mining  inter 
ests,  in  which  Gifford  and  Besler  are  partners,  and  has  made  more  clear 
money  out  of  cattle  than  out  of  his  mines.  Zweck  was  born  in  Gei?nany  in 
1829,  migrated  to  Iowa  in  1854,  and  to  Colorado  in  1860.  He  began  with 
nothing,  and  has  made  and  saved  §300,000. 

George  W.  McCoy  born  in  Pa  in  1834,  and  educated  in  the  common 
schools  of  Ohio  and  111.  He  began  life  by  marrying  Rebecca  May  in  111. 
and  going  to  farming  in  1853.  In  1863  he  came  to  Colorado,  where  he  first 


650  LATER  EVENTS. 

tried  mining,  but  soon  returned  to  an  occupation  of  which  he  knew  some 
thing,  renting  a  farm  of  160  acres  in  Jefferson  co.  He  made  $2,uOO  the  first 
year,  and  the  next  year  removed  to  Boulder  co.,  renting  a  farm  near  Bur 
lington,  and  keeping  the  Burlington  hotel.  He  soon  purchased  320  acres 
paying  $5  per  acre.  On  this  he  cleared  §1,000  per  year  for  5  years,  and 
after  1880  made  money  much  more  rapidly.  He  owns  400  acres  well  stocked 
and  other  valuable  property,  and  his  family  of  seven  children  are  also  pros 
perous. 

W.  J.  Kitcly  came  to  Greeley,  Colorado,  in  1871,  but  after  a  short  stay 
removed  to  Longmont,  earning  a  living  by  pick  and  shovel.  He  entered 
first  80  acres  of  land,  and  has  now  480  acres  in  3  different  farms,  all  well 
improved,  and  worth  $50  per  acre.  He  deals  in  graded  cattle,  and  calls 
Boulder  co.  the  best  farming  country  in  the  world. 

John  H.  Wells,  born  in  111.  in  1842,  received  a  common  school  education 
supplemented  by  an  academic  course,  a  term  or  two  at  Knox  college,  and 
some  law  studies  in  Galaburg.  In  1886  he  came  to  Denver  and  commenced 
practise.  He  held  the  office  of  postmaster  for  a  short  time,  was  vice- 
president  of  the  Colorado  Central  railway  in  1867,  and  was  elected  member 
of  the  territorial  legislature  on  the  independent  ticket  in  1871.  In  1878-81 
he  built  the  D.  L.  M.  and  N.  W.  R.  R.  to  Mitchell  junction  and  in  1885  was 
appointed  county  judge  of  Boulder  co.  His  home  is  at  Longmont,  with 
whose  interests  he  is  thoroughly  identified. 

W.  H.  Dickens  came  to  Colorado  in  the  spring  of  1859,  and  commenced 
farming  in  Boulder  co.,  selling  his  produce  to  miners.  In  1864  he  enlisted 
in  the  3d  Colo  cavalry,  and  was  in  the  battle  of  Sand  creek.  He  has  suc 
ceeded  as  a  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  being  worth  $50,000  or  $60,000. 

George  L.  Beckwith  came  to  Colorado  in  1860,  settling  within  a  mile  of 
Longmont.  At  that  time  there  was  one  house  only  in  the  vicinity,  that  of 
Dickens  and  Allen;  but  several  at  the  mouth  of  the  canon.  Beckwith  com 
menced  farming  in  1861,  and  has  not  failed  of  a  crop  any  year  since.  While 
some  suffered  by  grasshoppers,  he  trapped  them  all  at  the  rate  of  a  bushel 
a  day  for  20  days.  He  served  with  the  3d  Colo  regt. 

L.  H.  Dickson  arrived  May  22,  1859,  at  Denver,  and  a  few  days  later 
came  to  Boulder  co.  for  the  purpose  of  finding  mines,  going  at  once  into  the 
mountains,  and  into  Middle  park,  being  the  pioneer  in  that  region.  Pro 
ceeding  to  California  gulch  he  mined  there  1  year,  when  he  came  the  second 
time  to  Boulder  and  took  up  some  farming  land  4  miles  east  from  Longmont, 
where  he  was  living  through  the  Indian  troubles  of  1863-4.  He  enlisted  in 
3d  Colo,  regt,  and  was  with  Chivington  through  the  100  days  campaign. 
He  was  a  successful  farmer  until  1869,  when  he  went  with  his  family  to 
Oregon  City,  Or.,  where  he  remained  until  1873,  and  returned  to  settle  at 
Longmont.  He  was  elected  to  the  legislature  in  1880  and  again  in  1884,  and 
was  mayor  of  Longmont  from  1881  to  1883.  He  owns  700  acres  of  land 
worth  $35  per  acre,  a  §  interest  in  a  flouring  mill,  some  live  stock,  and  min 
ing  interests,  all  the  result  of  his  own  industry. 

Rienzi  Streeter,  born  in  Pa  in  1838,  received  an  academic  education. 
In  I860  he  was  admitted  to  the  practise  of  law.  In  1862  he  migrated  to 
Neb.  to  take  the  position  of  U.  S.  dist  clerk,  under  his  brother.  Joseph  E. 
Streeter,  who  had  been  appointed  U.  S.  justice.  He  remained  in  the  office 
until  1867  and  in  1868  went  to  Cheyenne.  Afterwards  he  became  president 
of  the  Chicago  colony  in  Colorado,  held  the  position  several  years.  In  1879 
he  was  elected  to  the  lower  house  of  legislature  and  chosen  speaker;  in  1881 
he  was  elected  to  the  senate,  the  second  term  being  chosen  president.  \Vhen 
he  first  arrived  in  Colorado  he  purchased  an  interest  in  the  land  on  which 
Manitoy,  El  Paso  co.,  is  located,  out  of  which  he  made  considerable  money. 
He  is  now  asst  cashier  of  the  bank  of  Longmont,  and  cashier  of  the  Branch 
bank  at  Berthoud. 

E.  J.  Coffman,  born  in  Ohio  in  1837,  and  brought  up  in  111.,  was  gradu 
ated  at  Rock  River  seminary  in  1853.  He  went  to  Iowa,  teaching  a  school 
near  Cedar  Rapids.  In  1862  he  came  to  Colorado,  and  engaged  in  farming 


BIOGRAPHICAL.  651 

on  land  in  Boulder  co.,  apart  of  which  he  gave  to  the  Longmont  colony  in 
1871,  which  is  known  as  Coffman's  Addition  to  Longmont.  He  has  been 
an  officer  of  the  Colony  company  from  the  commencement,  and  a  dealer  in 
real  estate;  owns  mining  property  in  Gold  Hill  district;  named  the  Tellurium 
mines  and  owns  stock  in  them;  also  in  the  Lord  Byron  and  Ranchman's 
Luck. 

Carlton  C.  Calkins  came  to  Longmont  as  one  of  the  original  colonists  in 
1870,  aiid  was  not  favorably  impressed  with  the  agricultural  capacities  of 
the  county.  He  entered  a  small  quantity  of  land,  but  now  ownes  400  acres, 
worth  $40  per  acre,  and  a  dairy,  and  raises  thoroughbred  cattle,  mixed  hus 
bandry  being  his  business.  He  prefers  Boulder  co.  to  any  part  of  the  U.  S. 

B.  Clark  Wheeler,  born  in  Pa  in  1849,  studied  at  Wellsborough  academy 
and  the  university  of  Pa,  and  afterward  read  the  law  with  Sherwood  & 
Mitchell  of  Phila.  He  joined  the  army  as  a  drummer  boy,  but  was  taken 
home  by  his  father.  In  1864  he  went  to  Iowa,  and  in  1868  came  to  Colorado, 
but  again  went  home,  finished  his  studies,  and  returned  here  in  1876,  being 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  Denver.  Soon  he  went  to  the  Black  hills,  practising 
there  for  two  years.  His  active  disposition  caused  him  to  make  a  prospect 
ing  tour  through  Colo,  N.  M.,  and  Ariz.,  after  which  he  once  more  returned 
to  Coloiado,  and  settled  permanently  at  Aspen  in  Pitkin  co.,  where  he  fol 
lowed  law,  mining,  and  newspaper  publishing.  Pitkin  Mining  Neivs,  d.  &  w. 
From  1879  to  1882  he  lectured  frequently  in  different  parts  of  the  state  upon 
the  mineral  wealth  of  the  country,  and  went  as  a  comm'r  to  the  cotton  ex 
position  at  Atlanta,  to  represent  the  resources  of  Colo,  lecturing  before  the 
Bullion  club  of  New  York  on  the  same  subject  during  this  tour.  He  labored 
industriously  to  attract  attention  to  the  region  about  Aspen,  and  finally  suc 
ceeded  in  getting  capital  interested  in  the  person  of  David  M.  Hyman  of 
Cincinnati.  In  1885  there  was  shipped  from  Aspen  about  .$4,000,000  worth 
of  ore  and  bullion.  The  place  has  only  1  smelter  with  a  capacity  of  60  tons 
per  day.  Wheeler  surveyed  and  located  the  town  of  Aspen,  and  named  the 
streets.  The  present  pop.  if!  5,000. 

P.  J.  Pauly,  a  native  of  St  Louis,  was  born  in  1854,  and  received  the 
advantages  of  the  puplic  schools,  remaining  in  his  native  city  until  20  years 
of  age.  He  was  apprenticed  3  years  to  an  architectural  draughtsman,  and 
on  coming  to  Denver  engaged  in  this  calling,  but  soon  returned  to  St  Louis 
to  work  for  the  firm  of  Pauly  &  Bro.,  pail  manufacturers.  At  the  end  of  3 
years  he  was  admitted  to  a  partnership,  which  interest  he  still  retains,  the 
firm  having  invested  8200,000.  In  1882  he  came  to  Colorado  for  his  health, 
and  having  married  the  year  previous  Sarah  Crissy  of  Mich.,  determined  to 
settle  here.  He  purchased  3  cattle  ranchos  in  or  near  Estes  park,  and  en 
tered  upon  the  lucrative  business  of  raising  graded  stock,  being  regarded  as 
one  of  the  foremost  men  in  northern  Colorado. 

Jacob  Downing,  born  at  Albany,  N.  Y.,  1830,  came  to  Denver  in  April 
1859.  He  raised  company  D  of  the  1st  Colorado  regt  in  1861,  and  was  mus 
tered  out  in  1865  as  major  on  Col  Chivingtoii's  staff.  He  was  elected  pro 
bate  judge  of  Arapahoe  co.  in  1867,  serving  2  years.  In  1866  he  purchased 
a  tract  of  land  containing  2,000  acres  in  Jefferson  co.,  5  miles  from  Denver; 
and  subsequently  300  acres  3  miles  from  Denver  court-house,  worth  in  1886 
over  $60, 000.  The  value  of  his  lands  has  steadily  advanced  year  by  year, 
and  is  still  going  up,  for  which  reason  he  thinks  real  estate  in  Arapahoe  a 
good  investment. 

James  A.  Dawson,  born  in  Hart  co.,  Ky,  1834,  and  educated  there.  At 
the  age  of  21  years  he 'was  elected  county  clerk,  and  remained  in  that  office 
until  the  commencement  of  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  when  he  enlisted  in  the 
union  army.  After  serving  out  the  term  of  his  enlistment  he  was  appointed 
register  of  the  land-office,  holding  that  position  8  years.  In  1871  he  was 
appointed  adjutant-general  of  Ky  for  4  years.  He  came  to  Colorado  m 
1880,  and  opened  a  law-office.  In  1882  he  was  appointed  by  the  governor 
judge  of  the  superior  court,  and  served  one  term,  after  -which  he  was  ap. 
pointed  surveyor-general  of  Colorado.  He  is  a  eulogist  of  his  adopted 
state. 


652  LATER  EVENTS. 

Henry  H.  Metcalf,  born  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  in  1842,  came  to  Colorado 
in  1872.  He  purchased  a  section  of  land  in  Elbert  co.,  .and  52  head  of  cat 
tle,  and  had  $1,200  in  cash.  He  was  worth  in  1886,  $450,000,  the  result  of 
judicious  management  of  the  cattle-raising  business  in  this  state.  He  re 
sides  at  Denver. 

Westbrook  S.  Decker  wa&  born  in  Seneca,  N.  Y.,  in  1839,  his  father, 
Albert  Decker,  being  a  farmer  and  a  merchant,  of  Dutch  stock,  as  was  also 
his  mother,  Gertrude  Shoemaker.  He  worked  on  his  father's  farm,  and  for 
a  short  period  was  clerk  in  the  store.  In  1856  he  entered  Brockport  collegi 
ate  institute  for  one  year,  and  this,  with  whathe  had  learned  at  winter  sessions 
of  the  public  schools,  constituted  his  educational  training.  In  1857  he  went 
to  111.,  working  in  a  sorghum  mill  and  teaching  school  until  1861,  when  he 
returned  home  and  enlisted  in  the  12th  N.  Y.  infantry,  being  captured  at 
Harper's  Ferry,  paroled  and  exchanged.  He  was  afterward  twice  seriously 
wounded.  After  Gettysburg  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  2d  lieut,  and 
later  to  1st  lieut  in  the  19th  U.  S.  colored  troops,  and  was  assigned  to  the 
staff  of  Gen.  Ferrero,  as  ordnance  officer.  He  was  ordnance  officer  on  the 
staff  of  Hartsuff  at  Bermuda  Hundreds,  Va,  and  in  the  district  of  Nottoway, 
after  the  evacuation  of  Petersburg.  Subsequently  he  was  transferred  to  the 
command  of  Gen.  Giles  A.  Smith,  and  went  to  Tex.,  where  he  served  as 
provost  marshal  until  Aug.  1865,  when  he  returned  home.  In  Oct.  of  that 
year  he  entered  the  law  school  of  Mich,  university,  graduating  in  1867,  and 
locating  at  Kankakee,  111.  He  was  elected  city  attorney  in  1868  and  1869, 
and  elected  county  judge  the  same  year,  which  position  he  held  until  1873. 
The  following  year  he  came  to  Colorado  for  his  health,  and  remained  to 
practise  his  profession.  He  was  appointed  by  President  Grant  U.  S.  dis 
trict  attorney  in  1877,  in  which  office  he  was  retained  several  years. 

Gilbert  De  La  Martyr,  born  in  1825  in  New  York,  and  educated  there, 
was  ordained  a  minister  of  the  m.  e.  church  in  1848,  and  preached  until 
1862,  when  he  was  appointed  chaplain  of  the  129th  N.  Y.  infantry,  serving 
until  January  1865,  when  he  resigned.  He  had  charge  of  the  Sand  street 
church  in  Brooklyn  from  1865  to  1870,  at  which  time  he  was  transferred  to 
Omaha,  remaining  there  until  1873,  when  he  was  sent  to  Kansas  City,  Mo., 
and  remained  3  years,  after  which  he  went  to  Indianapolis  to  take  charge  of 
a  large  church.  He  was  elected  to  congress  from  Indianapolis  in  1878,  serv 
ing  one  term.  After  that  he  lectured  extensively  on  labor  organizations  and 
political  economy,  and  being  in  Denver  in  1882  was  solicited  to  take  charge 
of  the  methodist  church,  which  invitation  he  accepted,  with  the  determina 
tion  to  remain  permanently  in  the  healthful  climate  of  Colorado. 

Posey  S.  Wilson  was  born  at  Wappato  Indian  agency  in  1845,  his  father 
being  an  army  officer,  and  was  educated  at  St  Louis.  He  came  to  Colorado 
in  1863,  remaining  but  a  short  time  when  he  went  to  Montana.  In  1867  he 
removed  to  Cheyenne  and  engaged  in  banking  until  1879,  when  he  returned 
to  Colorado  and  purchased  a  cattle  farm  in  Larimer  co.  near  Fort  Collins. 
While  in  Wyoming  he  was  a  member  of  the  legislature  of  1876.  He 
remained  on  his  Larimer  co.  farm  until  1885,  when  he  was  appointed  by  the 
president,  assayer  of  the  Denver  mint.  He  retained  his  stock  interests  and 
is  settled  permanently  in  Colorado. 

William  A.  Hover,  born  in  Wis.,  in  1856,  was  educated  at  the  university 
of  that  state,  graduating  in  1877,  and  remaining  one  year  afterwards 
engaged  in  tne  study  of  chemistry.  In  1878  he  came  to  Colorado,  opening 
an  assay  office  in  Lake  City,  removing  the  same  year  to  Denver,  where  he 
purchased  part  of  a  retail  drug  business,  completing  the  purchase  of  the 
establishment  in  1880.  He  is  settled  here  permanently. 

R.  A.  Long,  born  in  Ohio  in  1851,  and  brought  up  on  a  farm,  commenced 
educating  himself  at  the  age  of  19,  earning  the  money  to  pay  his  tuition. 
He  graduated  from  the  law  school  of  the  Mich,  university  in  1879,  coming  at 
once  to  Denver.  In  six  years  he  had  paid  some  debts,  married,  and  accu 
mulated  .$20, 000,  which  may  be  considered  great  success  in  professional  life. 

L.  B.  France,  born  in  Washington  city  in  1833,  and  educated  at  George- 


BIOGRAPHICAL*  653 

town,  studied  law  in  Chicago,  where  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1858, 
practising  in  III.  and  Iowa  until  1801,  when  he  came  to  Denver.  In  the 
autumn  of  the  same  year  he  was  elected  prosecuting  attorney  of  Arapahoe 
co. — the  first  pros,  atty  elected  in  Colo — for  one  year.  From  that  time  he 
has  steadily  labored  at  his  profession,  not  engaging  in  politics. 

John  W.  Jenkins,  born  in  Va  in  1837,  and  educated  in  Ind.  In  1874  he 
was  appointed  territorial  secretary,  and  Gov.  McCook's  appointment  being 
contested,  became  acting  gov.,  serving  the  greater  part  of  McCook's  term. 
After  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office  he  commenced  the  practise  of  the 
law,  and  acquired  some  important  mining  interests.  He  was  prosecuting 
attorney  in  Lake  co.  in  1881-2,  and  held  office  in  the  Masonic  order,  and  the 
Improved  Order  of  Red  Men.  He  is  deeply  attached  to  the  country  and 
climate  of  the  centennial  state. 

Frank  Church,  born  in  St  Lawrence  co.  N.  Y.  in  1844,  and  educated 
there,  came  to  Denver  in  1869,  to  take  charge  of  a  seminary,  and  in  1871 
married  in  this  city.  While  teaching,  he  studied  law,  and  in  1872 
was  admitted  to  the  bar.  He  was  elected  county  supt.  of  schools  in  1871, 
holding  the  office  four  years.  In  1879  he  was  elected  state  senator  for  four 
years.  In  1883  he  was  elected  treasurer  of  Arapahoe  co.,  and  reflected  in 
1885.  His  experience  of  mining  investments  leads  him  to  prefer  Denver  real 
estate. 

Byron  A.  Wheeler,  born  in  Wis.  in  1842,  and  was  educated  at  Fon-du- 
lac.  In  1863  he  enlisted  in  the  1st  Wis.  regt,  serving  until  the  close  of  the 
war,  when  he  entered  the  Hahnemann  Medical  college  of  Chicago,  and  grad 
uated  in  1867.  After  practising  in  Wis.  and  Iowa  until  1870,  he  came  to 
Colorado  for  health,  locating  permanently  in  Denver.  He  married,  in  Wis. , 
Frances  A.  Noyes,  and  has  seven  children.  He  owns  considerable  real 
estate  in  Denver. 

William  B.  Craig,  born  in  Mo.  in  1855,  and  educated  at  De  Kalb  and  St 
Joseph  High  school,  studied  medicine  subsequently,  graduating  from  the  St 
Louis  Medical  college  in  1876,  and  subsequently  from  Bellevue  hospital,  N. 
Y.  Returning  to  St  Joseph  he  practised  there  until  1882,  when  he  removed 
to  Denver  on  account  of  his  mother's  failing  health,  and  finding  her  restora 
tion  complete,  owing  entirely  to  the  climate,  determined  to  remain  in  Denver. 

W.  W.  Anderson,  born  at  Fergus,  Canada,  in  1850,  and  educated  there. 
His  diplomas  and  degrees  from  the  best  medical  colleges  of  Montreal  and 
Quebec  made  him  an  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  P.  H.,  and  M.  R.  C.  S.  In  1876  he 
came  to  the  U.  S.  as  demonstrator  of  anatomy,  and  asst  surgeon  of  Mich, 
university,  and  in  1878  to  Denver,  where  he  has  since  practised  his  profes 
sion.  He  was  appointed  city  physician  in  1883,  and  re-appointed  in  1885. 
He  became  largely  interested  in  mining  and  real  estate,  and  is  located  per 
manently  in  Denver. 

Eli  M.  Ashley,  born  in  Ohio  in  1833,  and  educated  there,  engaged  in  a 
retail  drug  business,  soon  after  attaining  his  majority,  at  Toledo.  In  1861 
he  came  to  Colorado  as  chief  clerk  to  the  surveyor  general  of  the  territory, 
which  position  he  retained  through  the  administrations  of  5  surv.-genls,  a 
period  of  17  years.  He  began  buying  real  estate  in  Denver  at  an  early  date, 
owning  what  is  known  as  Ashley's  addition  to  the  city  of  Denver,  which  was 
laid  out  in  1868.  His  business  since  leaving  the  surv.-gen'ls  office  has  been 
that  of  buying  and  selling  real  estate.  In  1885  he  organized  the  Western 
Chemical  Works  co.,  of  which  he  is  pres't.  He  is  permanently  located  m 
Denver. 

C.  C.  Gird,  born  in  Ohio  in  1836,  receiving  a  common  school  education, 
came  to  Colorado  in  1860.  For  1  year  he  worked  at  his  trade  of  coopering, 
and  then  commenced  freighting  between  Denver  and  Omaha,  which  business 
he  followed  until  the  Indians  forced  him  to  abandon  it  in  1863,  when  he 
settled  on  a  land  claim  15  miles  from  Denver,  where  he  resided,  farming  and 
stock-raising,  until  1880,  when  he  removed  to  Denver.  He  was  elected  to 
the  terr.  council  in  1869  for  1  term,  and  to  the  state  legislature  in  18/9.  He 
was  elected  comm'r  of  Arapahoe  co.  in  1884,  and  twice  chosen  chairman  of 
the  board.  His  property  is  in  live  stock  and  lands. 


654  LATER  EVENTS 

Hartsville  F.  Jones,  born  in  Tenn.  in  1826,  was  brought  up  and  educated 
in  Ky.  In  1846  he  enlisted  for  the  Mexican  war.  In  1848  he  returned 
home,  and  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits  at  Lexington  until  1874,  when  he 
removed  to  Denver,  and  bought  and  sold  city  property.  He  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  city  council  in  1885,  but  has  not  entered  into  politics.  He 
will  remain  permanently  in  Denver. 

Thomas  S.  Clayton,  born  in  Phila  in  1838,  and  educated  there,  was  clerk 
in  his  brother's  store  in  that  city  until  he  came  to  Colorado  in  1863,  to  take 
the  same  position  with  his  brother,  who  had  opened  a  general  merchandise 
store  in  Denver  in  1859.  In  1866  he  went  into  merchandising  for  himself, 
but  ultimately  ran  the  business  into  hats  and  caps  exclusively,  and  was  the 
pioneer  hatter  of  Denver.  In  1877  he  was  appointed  chief  of  the  fire  dept, 
and  held  the  office  until  1882.  He  was  supt  of  the  Sunday-school  of  the 
episcopal  church,  and  of  each  of  the  other  churches  of  Denver.  He  was 
married  in  Phila  in  1878,  and  has  erected  a  residence  on  Capitol  hill  in  the 
city  of  his  adoption. 

Emile  Reithmann,  born  in  Switzerland  in  1844,  came  to  the  U.  S.  with 
his  father  in  1848,  and  resided  at  times  in  N.  Y.,  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Iowa 
before  coming  to  Colorado  in  1859.  He  settled  on  a  rancho  within  5  miles 
of  Denver  the  same  year,  and  started  the  first  dairy  in  the  terr.,  at  which 
business  and  stock-raising  he  has  continued  ever  since.  He  was  married  in 
Denver  in  1879,  and  considers  his  present  home  his  home  for  life. 

David  C.  Taylor,  born  in  Madison  co.,  Ohio,  in  1832,  removed  to  Mo.  in 
1858,  and  to  Colorado  in  1860,  going  to  the  Gold  Hill  mining  district.  After 
a  brief  experience  at  mining,  he  took  up  some  land  in  St  Vrain  valley,  where 
he  settled  permanently.  He  became  possessed  of  a  large  amount  of  land, 
stock  cattle,  and  was  half  owner  in  the  Clover  Basin  Irrigating  ditch. 

Jacob  Sherrer,  born  in  France  in  1838,  came  to  the  U.  S.  with  his  parents 
in  1846,  and  to  Colorado  in  1859.  He  was  engaged  in  freighting  across  the 
plains  until  the  completion  of  the  U.  P.  R.  R.  to  Cheyenne,  when  he  turned 
his  oxen  out  to  fatten,  aud  also  purchased  a  small  herd  for  breeding  purposes. 
He  now  owns  a  large  rancho  on  the  s.  branch  of  Republican  river,  and  6,000 
head  of  stock.  He  resides  in  Denver. 

Harmon  Merchant,  born  in  Courtland  co.,  N.  Y.,  in  1832,  came  to  Colo 
rado  in  1859,  and  engaged  in  freighting  and  trading.  Becoming  alarmed  at 
the  attitude  of  the  Indians  towards  the  white  settlers,  he  removed  with  his 
family  to  Or.  in  1863,  where  he  remained  2  years,  when  he  removed  to  Peta- 
luma,  Cal.,  and  commenced  dealing  in  cattle.  In  1869  he  sold  out,  and  for 
several  years  thereafter  was  in  the  cattle  business  between  Tex.  and  Neb., 
finally  locating  permanently  at  Denver  in  1876. 

David  J.  Lykins,  born  in  Ind.  in  1839,  and  brought  up  there,  began  early 
to  roam,  visiting  Ohio,  and  from  there  crossing  the  continent  in  1850,  work 
ing  in  the  mines  of  Cal.  until  1856,  when  he  returned  home  by  steamer.  He 
spent  most  of  the  next  two  years  in  travelling  over  the  middle  and  western 
states,  and  drifted  in  1859  with  the  great  migration  to  Colorado.  He  soon 
learned  the  profit  there  was  in  cattle,  and  with  those  he  had  driven  from  the 
Missouri  commenced  a  business  at  which  he  made  a  handsome  fortune,  own 
ing  1,000  acres  in  Arapahoe  co.,  a  large  farm  in  Mo.,  and  valuable  herds  of 
cattle,  and  an  elegant  residence  in  Denver. 

W.  B.  Rogers  was  born  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  in  1844,  where  he  received  an 
academic  education,  and  studied  medicine  and  dentistry.  In  1867  he  came 
to  Colorado  to  recover  lost  health,  practising  his  dental  art,  and  investing  in 
mining  and  city  property.  He  became  sound,  and  made  a  comfortable 
fortune. 

Edmund  Anthony,  bom  in  N.  Y.  in  1828,  and  educated  for  the  calling  of 
an  architect,  came  to  Colorado  in  1870,  being  the  first  to  open  an  office  for 
architectural  drawing  in  the  state,  and  designing  some  of  the  most  promi 
nent  buildings  in  Denver  and  Cheyenne.  He  came  to  the  mountains  for 
health,  which  he  obtained. 

John  D.  Atkin  also  came  to  Colorado  in  1873  for  relief  from  asthma,  of 


BIOGRAPHICAL.  655 

which  he  was  completely  cured.  Returning  to  111.  the  disease  returned, 
when  he  sold  out,  and  invested  his  means  in  Denver  real  estate,  with  the 
intention  of  ending  his  days  here.  He  brought  $35,000  to  this  city,  which 
has  increased  to  $300,000  without  the  aid  of  other  investments.  He  proph 
ecies  that  Denver  will  be  the  largest  city  west  of  the  Mississippi  river. 

Henry  Sness,  born  in  Germany  in  1837,  migrated  to  the  U.  S.  in  1854, 
residing  in  Mo.  until  1879,  when  he  came  to  Denver  as  an  agent  for  the 
Anheuser-Busch  Brewing  co.  of  St  Louis,  and  established  a  branch  business 
here,  which  was  placed  under  his  management.  He  organized  the  German 
Loan  and  Building  association,  of  which  he  is  president.  He  was  elected  to 
the  legislature  in  1884. 

John  W.  Collins,  M.  D.,  born  in  Green  co.,  Ala,  in  1835,  was  educated 
there,  studying  medicine  in  New  Orleans,  and  graduating  in  1860.  In  the 
following  year  he  entered  the  confederate  army  as  a  surgeon,  serving  through 
the  4  years  of  war,  and  afterwards  practised  his  profession  in  Miss,  and 
Tenn.  until  1879  when  he  came  to.  Colorado  to  perform  a  surgical  operation 
on  a  friend,  and  decided  to  remain.  Colorado,  he  predicts,  will  be  the  most 
famous  health  resort  of  the  world  when  it  is  better  known.  He  is  located  at 
Denver  in  the  practice  of  gynecology. 

William  Smedley,  D.  D.  S.,  born  in  Pa  in  1836  of  Quaker  parentage, 
studied  dental  surgery  at  West  Chester,  Pa,  until  1870,  when,  being  threat 
ened  with  consumption,  he  came  to  Colorado  for  relief,  and  his  health  being 
restored  he  has  practised  his  profession  ever  since.  He  owns  real  estate  in 
North  Denver,  and  is  much  interested  in  educational  matters,  being  on  the 
school  board. 

Edward  Rollandet,  born  in  Leyden,  Holland,  in  1852,  received  a  collegiate 
education,  but  enlisted  in  the  army  at  the  age  of  15  years.  After  serving  4 
years  he  left  the  army  with  the  rank  of  sergeant,  and  travelled  for  2  years, 
learning  smelting,  after  which,  in  1873,  came  to  the  U.  S.,  locating  in  Va, 
where  he  was  employed  in  iron  works  for  about  a  year,  going  from  there  to 
Canada.  In  1874  he  came  to  Colorado  and  engaged  with  the  Maxwell  Land 
co.  for  2  years,  after  which  he  located  in  Denver  as  engineer  with  a  map 
company,  and  dealt  in  real  estate.  In  1878  he  purchased  an  interest  in  the 
Vulture  mine  of  Leadville,  and  became  also  chief  draughtsman  in  the  sur 
veyor-general's  office  at  Denver.  In  1884  he  was  elected  surveyor  in  a 
neighboring  county.  The  following  year  he  returned  to  Denver  and  opened 
an  engineer's  office,  but  finally  united  with  Worrall  &  Chisolm  in  the  Den 
ver  Lithographing  co.,  in  which  business  he  remains. 

Ledru  R.  Rhodes,  born  in  Ohio  in  1849,  was  educated  in  the  public  schools 
and  taught  when  he  was  16  years  old.  In  1865  he  went  to  Iowa  where  he 
studied  law  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  He  commenced  practise  in  the 
district  court  of  Fremont  co.,  Neb.  In  1872  he  came  to  Colorado,  settling 
in  Larimer  co.  on  a  farm,  but  in  1874  opened  a  law  office  in  Fort  Collins' 
where  he  remained  4  years,  and  was  elected  to  the  state  senate  from  Lari 
mer  co.  on  the  republican  ticket,  and  interested  himself  in  the  passage  of 
the  irrigation  law.  In  1885  he  was  elected  district  attorney  of  the  2d  judi 
cial  district,  consisting  of  Arapahoe,  Larimer,  and  Weld  counties.  He  was 
employed  by  the  Cattle  Growers'  association  on  a  salary  of  $2,500,  and  by 
the  English  Irrigation  co.  He  was  one  of  the  original  members  of  the  Den 
ver  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Frederick  Cramer,  born  in  New  York  in  1833  of  Dutch  ancestry,  was 
taught  the  trade  of  a  millwright.  At  the  age  of  23  he  went  to  Red  river, 
where  he  remained  until  1864,  when  he  came  to  Colorado  and  began  business 
as  a  builder.  He  has  teen  identified  with  mining  in  Boulder  co.  for  many 
years.  He  was  elected  sheriff  of  Arapahoe  co.  in  1865,  a  member  of  the 
board  of  education  in  1868,  and  a  councilman  in  1869.  He  has  acquired  a 
comfortable  fortune,  owning  $70,000  worth  of  real  estate  in  Denver.  He 
married  in  Brooklyn  in  1863,  and  has  5  children. 

J.  J.  Dunagan,  born  in  Mo.  in  1833  and  brought  up  there,  went  to  Iowa 
at  the  age  of  19,  learning  the  carpenter  trade  at  Glenwood.  In  1860  he 


656  LATER  EVENTS. 

came  to  Boulder  co.  Colorado,  engaging  in  mining  and  lumbering  tuitil  1867, 
when  he  went  to  Cheyenne  to  take  building  contracts,  remaining  there  3 
years,  and  going  from  there  to  Greeley,  where  he  kept  a  hotel,  and  frcir.' 
there  to  Longmont,  returning  to  Denver  in  1879,  going  into  the  grocery 
trade,  and  selling  out  to  go  into  a  drug  store.  Meanwhile  he  traded  in  real 
estate,  and  enjoyed  the  profits  of  a  considerable  increase.  He  was  first 
married  in  Iowa,  and  afterwards  in  Evans,  Colorado,  and  has  two  daughters. 

Amasa  C.  Bucknum,  M.  D.,  born  in  Oswego  co.,  N.  Y.,  in  1824,  and 
educated  at  Albany,  removed  to  Mich.,  where  he  began  the  study  of  medi 
cine  in  1845,  graduating  at  Castleton,  Vt,  in  1849.  Returning  to  Jackson 
he  commenced  practice  there,  remaining  until  1880,  though  a  part  of  the 
time  professor  of  physiology  at  Ann  Arbor  university,  and  president  of  the 
Jackson  co.  medical  society.  His  health  failing  he  came  to  Colorado  in 
1880,  where  in  two  months  he  was  able  to  resume  practice.  He  became  a 
member  of  the  state  medical  societies,  and  of  the  American  Medical  asso 
ciation.  He  was  twice  married,  and  has  5  children. 

William  S.  Grimes,  born  in  Wheeling,  Va,  in  1835,  was  educated 
in  Cincinnati  at  Woodworth  college,  and  studied  medicine  in  that  institution. 
He  entered  into  a  successful  practice  in  1857,  but  on  the  commencement  of 
the  civil  war  enlisted  in  the  23d  Iowa  infantry  as  asst  surgeon.  After  the 
battle  of  Pea  Ridge,  he  was  appointed  surgeon  of  the  29th  Iowa  infantry. 
In  1864  he  resigned  on  account  of  an  accident  to  his  eyes,  and  removed  to  Des 
Moins,  where  he  resumed  general  practise  until  1879,  when  he  came  to 
Colorado  on  account  of  asthma  and  the  trouble  with  his  eyes.  His  health 
being  entirely  restored,  he  adds  his  to  the  universal  praise  of  the  climate 
of  Denver. 

C.  C.  Worrall,  born  near  Boston  in  1855,  was  educated  in  England.  He 
came  to  Colorado  with  his  parents  in  1862,  and  in  1865  went  to  New  York, 
St  Louis,  New  Orleans  and  to  Europe.  Returning  to  Colorado  in  a  few 
years  he  engaged  in  selling  drugs,  in  which  business  he  remained  until  1880, 
when  he  abandoned  it  for  lithographing.  In  1886  he  organized  the  Denver 
Lithographing  company,  in  conjunction  with  E.  Rollandet  and  F.  F.  Chisolm, 
the  enterprise  proving  more  successful  than  was  anticipated.  He  married 
in  1883  Miss  Haisington  and  is  permanently  settled  in  Denver. 

A.  W.  Hogle,  born  in  Canada  in  1844,  removed  with  his  parents  to  111.  in 
1849,  and  received  a  common  school  education.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the 
civil  war  he  enlisted  in  Co.  A,  76  111.  regt,  and  was  mustered  out  in  1865  as 
lieutenant  of  Co.  C.  Returning  home,  he  attended  at  the  Commercial  col 
lege  of  Chicago.  In  1869  he  was  elected  treasurer  of  Iroquois  co.  though 
but  25  years  of  age,  giving  a  bond  of  $500,000,  In  1871  he  came  to  Colorado 
for  the  health  of  his  wife,  who  was  entirely  restored.  He  kept  books  for  a 
large  commission  house  and  invested  in  cattle.  In  1880  he  sold  his  cattle 
and  went  into  commission  business,  also  buying  some  mining  property.  In 
1885  he  was  appointed  chief  of  police  of  Denver,  by  Mayor  J.  E.  Bates,  and 
was  instrumental  in  quelling  the  railroad  riots  of  that  year.  He  established 
the  patrol  system,  the  best  for  conducting  fire  and  police  alarms.  He  mar 
ried  Miss  Paul  of  111.  in  1865. 

Ambrose  S.  Everett,  physician,  was  born  in  New  York  in  1841,  studied 
medicine  in  111.  and  graduated  from  the  St  Louis  homeopathic  medical 
college,  in  which  he  afterwards  held  a  professorship,  with  a  general  city 
practise.  His  health  failing,  he  sought  restoration  in  Colorado,  and  would 
now  'not  try  to  live  anywhere  else,'  his  health  and  his  practise  being  entirely 
satisfactory. 

Samuel  S.  Smythe,  born  at  Galena,  III.  in  1838,  graduated  from 
the  Homoepathic  Medical  college  of  Chicago  in  1867.  Re  came  to  Denver 
in  1880  for  the  health  of  his  wife  who  was  dying  of  consumption.  The  cli 
mate  completely  restored  her  and  he  decided  to  remain.  He  engaged  in  the 
practise  of  his  profession,  and  also  in  stock  raising. 

C.  M.  Parker,  was  bora  in  Miss,  in  1838,  and  was  educated  by  a 
private  tutor,  with  a  term  in  college  at  N,  Y,  afterwards.  At  the  commence' 


UNIVERSIT 
BIOGRAPHICAL.  ^ 

ment  of  the  civil  war  he  enlisted  in  the  18th  Miss,  regt  as  a  private,  and  at 
the  end  of  the  year  was  appointed  surgeon,  being  sent  to  Richmond  and 
Savannah  to  have  charge  of  hospitals.  He  married  Miss  S.  J.  Allen  of  Va 
and  settled  at  Darlington,  S.  C.,  but  removed  to  Colarado  for  the  benefit  of 
the  climate  in  1872.  He  became  a  member  of  the  State  Board  of  Health, 
State  Med.  Soc.,  prest  Denver  Med  Soc.,  and  prest  of  State  Board  of  Med.. 
Examiners. 

Norman  G.  Burnham,  born  in  Ohio  in  1829,  was  educated  atNorwalk  acad 
emy,  and  at  the  Ohio  Wesleyan  university,  studying  medicine  in  Cincinnati, 
where  he  graduated  in  1852.  He  was  subsequently  associated  with  Prof.  B.  S. 
Hill,  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Cleveland  Homeopathic  college,  at  which  he 
received  an  honorary  degree  in  1865.  From  1856  to  1859  ho  was  associated 
with  Prof.  H.  P.  Gotchell,  former  dean  of  the  above  named  college,  in  the 
practise  of  medicine  at  Gin.  In  1800  he  removed  to  Indianapolis,  where  he 
resided  11  years.  He  mariied  Mary  K.  Treat,  of  Medina,  O.,  in  1861.  In 
1868-9  he  attended  a  special  course  of  lectures  at  Boston,  visiting  the  hos 
pitals  of  New  York  and  Phila.  In  1871  he  went  to  St.  Louis,  practising  there 
eight  years,  when  his  health  giving  way  he  came  to  Colorado,  where  his 
vigor  was  restored,  and  where  he  renewed  the  practise  of  his  profession. 

Edwin  J.  Roth  well,  a  native  of  Ottawa,  Canada,  born  in  1840,  and 
educated  there  and  at  North  Perth,  migrated  to  Cal.  in  iS64,  then  to 
Boise,  Id..,  following  mining  until  1871,  when  he  began  the  study  of  medicine 
with  his  brother,  W.  J.  Roth  well.  In  1873  he  went  to  Ann  Arbor,  and  took 
a  course  in  the  medical  dept  of  the  university,  graduating  is  1875.  He  also 
took  a  special  course  on  the  eye  and  ear  under  Prof.  Frothingham.  He  com 
menced  practise  in  the  state  of  N.  Y.,  where  he  remained  until  1880,  being 
prest  of  the  Tompkins  co.  Med.  soc.  In  1881  he  came  to  Denver  with  his 
brother,  P.  D.  Rothwell,  with  whom  he  engaged  in  the  practise  of  his  profes 
sion,  and  became  treas.  of  the  Denver  Med.  soc.  He  married  in  Ann  Arbor 
in  1875,  and  has  two  sons  and  two  daughters. 

Arnold  Sedman  was  born  in  Me  in  1839,  receiving  a  collegiate 
education  at  Colby  university.  He  enlisted  in  the  union  army  in  1862,  with 
the  rank  of  orderly  sergt  in  the  Me  infantry,  serving  one  year.  In  1863  he 
commenced  the  study  of  medicine,  at  Newport,  Me,  graduating  from  the 
medical  college  of  Pittsfield,  Mass,  in  1865.  He  practised  at  Dexter  until 
1870,  when  he  married  Miss  Brown  of  Portland,  and  removed  to  Denver, 
where  he  assisted  to  form  the  first  med.  association  of  Denver,  the  same 
year,  and  the  ter.  association  in  1871.  He  was  the  third  president  of  the 
Denver  asso.  and  prest  of  the  state  asso.  in  1878-9;  also  founder  of  the  med. 
dept  of  the  Denver  university,  and  prest  of  the  school  board  for  a  number  of 
years. 

J.  Solomon,  born  in  Ky,  in  1851,  was  educated  and  studied  medi 
cine  at  Shelby ville,  and  entered  the  med.  dept  of  Louisville  university  in 
1877,  graduating  in  1880,  when  he  came  to  Colo  to  settle. 

Mary  Barker  Bates,  M.  D.,  born  in  Cayuga  co.,  N.  Y.,  in  1845,  was  the 
daughter  of  a  prominent  physician,  Ezra  T.  Barker,  with  whom  she  removed 
to  Wis.  at  the  age  of  14  years.  She  was  sent  to  Evanstown,  111.,  to  school, 
and  afterwards  to  Edmunds  college,  N.  Y.,  graduating  from  that  institution 
in  1871,  to  enter  the  Woman's  Medical  college  of  Pa,  from  which  she  grad 
uated  in  1873.  Her  first  practise  was  in  Salt  Lake  City,  where  she  was  phy 
sician  to  Brigham  Young's  family  for  five  years,  her  practice  in  Salt  Lake 
being  worth  not  less  than  SI, 000  nor  more  than  81,700  per  month.  In  1876 
she  married  George  C.  Bates;  and  removed  with  him  to  Leadville,  Colorado, 
where  she  assisted  in  establishing  the  Ladies'  Relief  hospital.  Rheumatism 
compelling  a  change  of  climate,  she  came  to  Denver  in  1881,  where  she 
resumed  practice.  Mr  Bates,  to  whom  she  was  married,  died  in  1886.  He 
was  also  a  native  of  Cayuga  co.,  N.  Y.,  born  in  1815,  a  graduate  of  Herbert 
college,  Geneva,  and  read  law  with  Stephen  A.  Douglass,  in  the  office  of  John 
C.  Spencer.  He  removed  to  Detroit  in  1834,  and  was  appointed  U.  S.  dist 
attorney  for  Mich.,  holding  the  office  for  twelve  year*.  He  was  a  prominent 
HIST.  NEV.  42 


658  LATER  EVENTS. 

whig,  and  made  one  of  the  first,  if  not  the  first  republican  speech  in  Cal., 
where  he  was  sent  as  special  govt  agent  in  1852,  and  where  he  remained 
until  1856.  He  was  instrumental  in  placing  Zach.  Chandler  in  the  U.  S. 
senate.  He  was  appointed  U.  S.  dist  attorney  for  Utah  by  Prest  Grant.  At 
the  time  of  his  death  he  was  engaged  in  writing  a  history  of  the  Bench  and 
Bar  of  the  Northwest.  He  was  the  youngest  member  of  the  Phila  conven 
tion,  which  endeavored  to  nominate  Henry  Clay  for  the  presidency,  and  a 
personal  friend  of  Daniel  Webster. 

Thomas  H.  Hawkins,  M.  D.,  born  in  Ky  in  1849,  removed  with  his 
parents  to  Ind.  when  a  child.  He  received  a  collegiate  education  at  Asbury 
university,  Ind.,  and  after  graduating  from  there,  studied  medicine  in  the 
med.  dept  of  Louisville  university,  and  the  Bellevue  hospital,  N.  Y.,  grad 
uating  from  the  latter  in  1873.  He  practised  in  New  York  until  1879  when 
he  came  to  Colorado  to  restore  failing  health,  and  find  in  the  climate  what 
he  sought,  remained.  He  was  identified  with  the  founding  of  the  Denver 
Medical  college,  and  the  Colorado  State  Woman's  hospital,  founded  the  Den 
ver  Medical  Times,  was  prest  of  the  County  Med.  asso.,  surgeon  of  St  Luke's 
hospital,  and  assisted  in  establishing  the  Ladies'  Relief  hospital,  of  which  h« 
had  charge  during  the  first  year  of  its  existence. 

Leonard  Atkin,  born  in  111.  in  1830,  resided  at  Shipping  Grove  until  1875, 
when  he  came  to  Colorado,  purchasing  an  interest  in  a  rancho  and  living  on 
it  two  years,  when  he  settled  in  Denver,  engaging  in  real  estate  transactions 
and  having  spice  mills.  In  1880  he  sold  out,  and  in  1883  erected  one  of  the 
handsomest  residences  in  the  city  at  that  time,  but  died  soon  after,  leaving 
his  family  a  fortune  of  $200,000. 

George  J.  Hartung,  was  born  in  New  York  in  1854,  and  educated  at 
the  German  public  schools,  and  N.  Y.  college.  He  graduated  from  the 
N.  Y.  college  of  dentistry  in  1876,  practising  for  three  years  with  his 
father  ,  the  oldest  German  dentist  in  New  York.  In  1883  he  came  to  Colo 
for  his  health,  travelling  among  the  mining  camps  until  he  recovered,  when 
he  settled  in  Denver,  being  the  only  German  dentist  in  the  state 


HISTORY  OF  WYOMING. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PHYSICAL  FEATURES. 

BOUNDARIES  AND  SURFACE — THE  HILLS  AND  PLAINS  OF  LARAMIE— GEOLOGIC 
HISTORY— THE  RIVER  PLATTE— BLACK  HILLS— DESERTS  WHICH  ARE  NOT 
DESERTS — MOUNTAINOUS  FORMATIONS  AND  UPHEAVALS — MINERALS  AND 
METALS — FONTANA,  THE  LAND  OF  RIVERS — ROLLING  PLAIN  OF  THE 
NORTHWEST — FORESTS  AND  LAKES— FALLS  OF  THE  YELLOWSTONE — 
SCENES  OF  BEAUTY  AND  GRANDEUR — ATLANTIC  AND  PACIFIC  CREEKS,  AND 
TWO-OCEAN  AND  OTHER  PASSES — SPECIMENS  OF  WORLD  FORCINGS  AND 
WELDINGS— GEYSER  BASINS — MUD  AND  WATER  VOLCANOES— PAINT 
POTS — SULPHUR  MOUNTAIN — SUBTERRANEAN  RUMBLINGS — CLIMATE — 
ANIMATED  NATURE. 

IMAGINE  an  undulating  plain  extending  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Platte  river  westward  over  five  hundred 
miles,  gaining  gradually  in  altitude  until  the  elevation 
has  reached  six  thousand  feet.  Then  extend  a  line, 
still  west,  on  the  forty-first  parallel  to  the  thirty-fourth 
meridian,  thence  north  on  that  longitude  to  the  forty- 
fifth  parallel,  and  east  to  the  twenty-seventh  meridian, 
and  from  there  south  to  the  place  of  beginning.  The 
area  enclosed  is  nearly  100,000  square  miles,  being 
350  miles  in  length  from  east  to  west,  and  230  miles 
in  breadth  from  north  to  south. 

In  a  general  sense  this  territory,  which  I  have  thus 
enclosed  in  arbitrary  boundaries,  is  a  plateau  with  a 
mean  elevation  of  6,400  feet ;  its  lowest  level  is  3,534, 
and  its  highest  altitude  13,858  feet,  the  first  being 
the  channel  of  a  river,  and  the  last  the  summit  of  a 
mountain,  Through  its  western  portion  runs  the 

(659) 


660  PHYSICAL  FEATURES. 

continental  divide,  but  broken  into  several  separate 
ranges,  and  having  a  wide  opening  toward  the  Pacific 
of  little  more  than  1,400  feet  above  the  mean  elevation 
of  the  territory. 

On  this  roughened  plane  stand  many  ridges  and 
groups  of  various  heights.  Beginning  at  the  south- 
east  corner,  we  encounter  not  far  from  the  boundary 
a  semicircular  range,  about  two  thousand  feet  above 
the  general  level,  known  as  the  Laramie  hills,  and 
west  of  these  the  Laramie  plains,  containing  an  area 
of  seven  thousand  square  miles,  and  having  an  alti 
tude  of  seven  thousand  feet.  They  are  bounded  on 
the  west  and  north  by  the  north  branch  of  the  Platte, 
which,  coming  from  the  south,  sweeps  in  a  long  curve 
around  the  northern  base  of  the  Laramie  hills  before 
flowing  eastward,  and  on  the  south  by  the  Medicine 
Bow  mountains,  another  low  range  projecting  over 
the  boundary  of  Colorado,  and  joining  by  a  line  of 
broken  elevations  the  Sweetwater  range,  the  whole 
having  a  northwest  trend,  and  spreading  out  about 
twenty-five  miles.  Crossing  this  line  of  hills,  we  pro 
ceed  westward  over  a  broken  country,  much  of  it  with 
a  red  and  nearly  naked  soil,  to  the  valley  of  Green 
river,  a  favorite  feeding-ground  of  the  buffalo,  and 
which  is  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  Wasatch  range, 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  America,  with  its  sharp 
outlines,  its  glistening  pinnacles,  and  diaphanous  at 
mosphere,  colored  with  the  tints  of  the  violet  and 
rose. 

As  I  havo  said,  the  belt  of  country  passed  over  is 
broken,  not  into  rolling  hills,  as  on  the  great  plains  to 
the  east,  but  more  abruptly,  and  dotted  here  and  there 
with  rocky  buttes.  like  barren  islands  rising  out  of  a 
sea  of  mud  which  had  been  stiffened  by  drought,  or 
with  here  and  there  sand  dunes  in  long  ridges  which 
move  with  the  wind.  As  to  the  geologic  history  of 
this  desert,  it  may  be  variously  conjectured.  Let  us 
say  that  it  is  the  bottom  of  a  sea,  once  drained  to  the 
east  by  the  Platte  river,  These  sands  still  flow  in 


WYOMING,  661 

the  direction  of  its  ancient  waters.  South  of  our 
route  fifty  miles  we  may  trace  it,  moving,  moving, 
ever  moving,  never  two  days  in  the  same  place,  for 
two  hundred  miles,  or  until  it  reaches  the  North 
Platte,  whose  rapid  current  bears  it  down  to  where  it 
obstructs  navigation,  and  makes  this  great  stream 
only  an  irrigating  ditch.  The  width  of  this  river  of 
sand  is  a  mile  and  a  half,  its  depth  two  feet  over  a 
hard  bottom.  On  the  northern  shore  of  the  stream 
stands  a  mass  of  black  lava  five  hundred  feet  high,  of 
a  spheroidal  form.  In  its  centre  is  a  basin  of  living 
water,  and  at  its  foot  a  large  spring,  fed  from  the 
same  source,  about  which  is  a  mound,  serving  as  a 
curb,  rising  ten  feet  above  the  plain.  The  depth  of 
the  spring  is  very  great,  and  the  water,  though  cold 
and  pure,  has  a  taste  of  sulphur.  These  are  some  of 
the  indications  of  the  volcanic  era  in  this  region. 

The  absence  of  any  very  rugged  mountains  on  the 
route  I  have  indicated  suggests  this  as  a  highway 
laid  out  by  the  Great  Intelligence  in  the  latitude  most 
favorable  at  all  seasons  for  that  migration  to  the  shore 
of  the  Pacific  which  modern  times  have  witnessed. 
The  absence  of  water  and  grass  over  a  great  portion 
of  it,  and  the  presence  of  sand,  pushed  this  migration 
northward  along  the  bases  of  the  mountains  that 
fence  in  the  Sweetwater  pass  of  the  great  divide,  and 
it  was  left  to  that  only  less  cunning  artificer,  the  man 
of  science  and  steam,  to  carry  out  the  design  of  the 
creative  mind. 

Entering  the  territory  from  the  northeast,  we  en 
counter  the  Black  hills,  lying  across  the  boundary 
line,  chiefly  in  Dakota,  a  group  of  low,  timbered 
mountains,  embraced  between  the  north  and  south 
branch  of  the  Cheyenne  river.  Other  ranges,  pro 
jecting  from  the  headwaters  of  the  Little  Missouri 
and  other  streams,  roughen  this  northeast  region, 
which  is  also  not  without  its  remarkable  features,  the 
most  noticeable  of  which  is  an  immense  porphyry  up 
heaval,  resembling  in  shape  the  tepees  of  the  aboriginal 


662  PHYSICAL  FEATURES. 

inhabitants  of  the  plains.  The  mass,  which  stands 
upon  a  pedestal  of  milk-white  clay,  fifteen  hundred 
feet  in  diameter  and  five  hundred  feet  high,  on  the 
bank  of  the  North  fork,  is  itself  nine  hundred  feet  in 
diameter  where  it  joins  the  base,  .and  three  hundred 
feet  at  the  summit,  which  is  1,126  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  river.  It  consists  of  seventy-six  columns,  com 
pactly  placed,  of  a  gray,  porphyry  tic  rock  resembling 
granite  with  the  mica  left  out,  the  columns  being  the 
result  of  crystallization.  Standing  alone  in  a  plain, 
several  miles  from  any  other  elevation,  the  effect  is 
that  of  one  of  the  pyramids  of  Egypt  dropped  down 
in  this  not  un-Egyptian  landscape. 

West  of  the  short  ranges,  just  referred  to,  lie  the 
valleys  of  the  Powder  river  and  its  branches,  occupying 
from  50  to  100  miles  in  breadth.  Still  west  of  those 
plains  rises  the  magnificent  Big  Horn  range,  covering 
an  area  50  by  150  miles  in  extent,  and  shooting  up  a 
dozen  peaks  from  9,000  to  nearly  14,000  feet.  Through 
an  extensive  basin  of  broken  country,  beyond  these 
mountains,  flows  the  Bighorn  river  on  its  way  to  the 
Yellowstone,  receiving  numerous  tributaries  both  from 
the  Bighorn  range  on  the  east  and  the  Shoshone  range 
on  the  west.  The  southern  boundary  of  the  Big 
horn  basin  is  Owl  Creek  range,  connecting  with  the 
Wind  River  mountains,  a  line  of  needle  peaks,  which 
trend  northwest  from  the  divide  north  of  the 
Sweetwater,  and  join  the  Shoshone  range.  Still 
further  west,  on  the  border  of  Idaho,  is  the  Teton 
range,  with  some  high  and  inaccessible  peaks,  bounded 
on  the  south  by  the  upper  canon  of  Snake  river,  and 
between  this  and  the  Shoshone  range  are  the  lakes 
which  form  the  sources  of  the  Snake  and  Yellowstone 
rivers.  South  of  the  Teton  range  and  Snake  River 
canon  is  a  chaos  of  mountains,  of  no  great  elevation 
above  the  surrounding  country,  in  divides  or  groups, 
and  covering  a  considerable  extent  of  country.  On 
the  tops  of  some  are  plateaux  from  which  innumer 
able  streams  flow  east,  west,  and  south  to  larger  rivers. 


WYOMING.  663 

One  of  these  principal  streams  is  Green  river,  which 
heads  in  Wind  River  mountains,  and  runs  south  with 
a  slight  bend  toward  the  west.  In  this  semicircular 
valley  lies  16,500  square  miles  of  territory,  irregularly 
shaped,  bounded  on  the  south  by  the  Uinta  range  in 
Utah,  and  having  a  general  elevation  of  7,000  feet. 
This  plateau  reaches  south-east  to  that  long  east- 
and-west  plateau  before  mentioned  as  the  Pacific 
highway,  and  both  have  been  named  Red  desert,  or 
Colorado  desert,  from  the  brick-red  color  of  the  soil, 
and  the  scarcity  of  vegetation.  I  reject  this  nomen 
clature  as  that  of  ignorance;  for  the  detritus  of  the 
mountains  about  it,  which  forms  its  soil,  and  the  sub 
stances  deposited  by  the  seas  and  fresh  water  lakes 
which  once  covered  all  the  country  between  the  Mis 
souri  and  Rocky  range  and  the  range  itself,  is  not  a 
barren  sand,  but  contains  all  the  elements  of  unusual 
fertility,  and  lacks  only  moisture  sufficient  to  quicken 
it. 

Geologically,  the  mountain  masses  are  of  different 
periods  of  upheaval.  The  lower  elevations  are  com 
posed  of  sedimentary  rocks,  from  the  carboniferous 
limestone  to  the  most  recent  tertiary  beds,  jumbled 
with  the  oldest  formations,  which  have  been  thrust 
up  through  them.  In  general,  the  crests  of  the 
higher  ranges  are  of  feldspathic  granite,  syenite 
and  gneiss,  while  lower  down  their  slopes  occur  silu- 
rian,  devonian,  carboniferous,  triassic,  Jurassic,  and 
cretaceous  rocks,  appearing  according  to  the  extent  of 
upheaval  or  the  amount  of  erosive  action.  The  ele 
vated  plateaux  are  mostly  cretaceous,  overlaid  by  ter 
tiary  sandstone,  and  with  gravel  and  drift  showing 
the  action  of  water.  The  story  of  the  creative  and 
destructive  forces  of  the  globe  is  laid  open  where  the 
narrative  is  most  interesting,  showing  us  at  one  point 
on  the  great  highway  all  the  rock  formations,  from  the 
granite  foundations  of  our  world  to  the  latest  creta 
ceous  deposits.  In  the  lower  valleys  dark  loams  pre 
vail,  on  the  plateaux  sandy  loams.  Beneath  the  sur- 


664  PHYSICAL  FEATURES. 

face  lie  extensive  coal  measures,  chiefly  in  the  southern 
portion  of  the  territory,  but  also  in  the  valleys  of  the 
Powder,  Bighorn,  and  Wind  rivers,  and  in  the  Lar- 
amie  mountains  and  plains.  Shales,  bearing  petroleum, 
are  abundant.  Iron,  limestone,  building-stone,  beds 
of  soda  several  feet  in  thickness,  mountains  of  sul 
phur,  mica,  copper,  lead,  silver,  and  gold  crop-up  from 
plains  or  project  from  mountain  sides.  For  the  most 
part  the  country  appears  treeless,  the  timber  being 
confined  to  the  mountains,  the  principal  ranges  of 
which  are  clothed  in  pine,  spruce,  fir,  hemlock  and 
cedar. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  this  high  and  some 
what  bare  region  is  deficient  in  watercourses.  On  the 
contrary  few  countries  have  so  many.  It  might  be 
appropriately  named  Fontana,  as  its  neighbor  was 
Montana,  from  the  great  number  of  rivers  and  river 
sources.  The  Platte  has  not  less  than  forty  small 
tributaries.  The  Sweetwater,  Green,  and  Bighorn 
rivers  all  rise  in  the  Wind  River  mountains,  every 
neighboring  range  sending  down  feeders.  Cheyenne, 
Powder,  and  Tongue  rivers  rise  in  a  divide  in  the 
north-east  corner  of  the  territory;  the  Yellowstone 
and  the  Snake  in  the  north-west  corner. 

This  north-west  portion  is  a  rolling  plain,  of  a  mean 
elevation  of  8,000  feet,  with  short  ridges  and  occa 
sional  peaks  reaching  a  height  of  10,000  feet.  A 
dense  forest  covers  the  greater  portion  of  the  land. 
A  little  south  of  the  centre  is  a  lake  twenty  by  fifteen 
miles  in  area,  irregular  in  form,  giving  a  lengthened 
shore-line,  dotted  with  wooded  islands,  bordered  by 
beaches  radiant  with  sparkling  pebbles,  reflecting  in 
its  clear  depths  pictures  of  the  gray  cliffs  and  green 
woods  which  surround  it.  Out  of  the  north  end  of 
the  lake  flows,  very  gently  for  a  few  miles,  the  Yellow 
stone  river,  which  gradually  becomes  more  hurried, 
forming  impetuous  rapids,  and  fir  ally  shooting  in  a 
sheet  of  snowy  foam  over  a  precipice  140  feet  in 
height,  the  whole  body  of  water  in  its  haste  clearing 


WYOMING.  6G5 

the  brink  and  falling  fifteen  feet  beyond  the  base  of 
the  cliffs.  The  river  here  enters  a  canon  from  200  to 
400  feet  in  depth,  and  for  half  a  mile  foams  and 
sparkles,  leaps  and  plunges  among  the  rocks  to  a 
second  fall  of  397  feet  perpendicular,  where  it  enters 
the  grand  canon  from  1,000  to  2,000  feet  in  depth, 
where  in  darkness,  and  with  sighs  and  groans  unheard 
at  the  surface,  it  rushes  through  twenty  miles  of  rocky 
fissure  before  it  again  emerges  into  light  and  freedom. 
Lesser  canons  and  falls  occur  on  tributary  streams, 
but  none  to  rival  the  Yellowstone  cataracts  and  canons. 
Beauty  as  well  as  grandeur  enters  into  the  effect. 
The  walls  of  the  basin  into  which  the  river  first 
plunges  are  composed  of  rock  and  conglomerate,  held 
together  with  clays  dyed  in  vivid  tints  of  yellow,  red, 
green,  and  purple,  by  the  percolation  of  mineralized 
waters.  Fantastic  shapes,  resulting  from  the  wearing 
away  of  friable  material,  some  grand,  some  mirth- 
provoking,  abound  on  every  hand.  Towers,  spires, 
buttresses,  and  other  architectural  effects  suggest 
ruins  of  man's  creations,  rather  than  the  decay  of  an 
older  world  builded  by  God  himself.  Fostered  by 
spray  from  the  cataracts,  dainty  plants  and  mosses 
flourish  greenly  in  their  vicinity,  decorating  as  for  an 
eternal  festival  every  lofty  archway,  mimic  hall,  and 
simulated  chapel,  and  floating  their  emerald  streamers 
from  every  gaily-painted  obelisk  and  tower. 

Yellowstone  lake,  as  I  have  said,  has  a  lengthened 
shore  line.  It  is,  in  fact,  a  collection  of  narrow  inlets 
with  a  common  centre,  shaped  much  like  an  enormous 
tuber,  with  projecting  knobs  on  every  side.  Into  the 
southeast  one  of  these  bays  flows  the  upper  Yellow 
stone,  which  rises  in  the  Shoshone  range.  It  is  the 
only  feeder  of  the  lake  of  any  size,  and  has  a  small 
fork  to  the  southwest  called  Atlantic  creek.  Heading 
in  the  same  mountains  is  a  feeder  of  Snake  river 
known  as  Pacific  creek,  and  these  two  creeks,  starting 
from  neighboring  sources,  but  taking  opposite  direc 
tions,  furnish  a  pass  which  is  known  as  Two-ocean 


666  PHYSICAL  FEATURES. 

pass,  leading  from  Snake  river  below  Jackson  lake  to 
the  Yellowstone  lake,  via  the  upper  Yellowstone  river. 
Pacific  creek  is  not,  however,  the  source  of  the  sinuous 
Serpent  river  whose  rocky  channel  through  Idaho  has 
been  described,  Shoshone  lake,  or  as  it  should  be 
named,  De  Lacy  lake,  being  the  fountain  head.  Joined 
to  this  lake  by  a  wide  neck  is  a  second,  called  Lewis 
lake,  and  not  far  east,  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Sheridan, 
a  third,  named  Heart  lake,  which  also  sends  a  stream 
to  Snake  river.  Twenty  miles  below  these  head 
waters,  on  the  western  slope  of  the  continental  divide, 
the  Snake  forms  Jackson  lake,  which  is  larger  than 
the  former,  and  has  an  island  of  some  size  in  the 
southern  end.  A  little  way  south  of  Jackson  are 
Leigh  and  Jenny  lakes,  connected  by  a  creek  and 
tributary  to  the  river.  A  park-like  basin  extends 
along  the  Snake  from  the  first  lake  to  the  upper 
canon,  named  by  early  trappers  Jackson  hole.  The 
canon,  a  narrow  defile  twenty  miles  in  length,  through 
which  the  river  foams  and  tosses  frantically,  is  still 
passable  by  following  a  trail  clinging  to  the  precipi 
tous  side  about  a  hundred  feet  above  the  stream. 
From  these  topographical  features  it  will  be  seen  that 
travel  from  other  parts  of  the  before  described  terri 
tory  to  this  northwest  corner  should  be  difficult. 
Walled  away  from  the  remainder  by  the  high  Sho 
shone  range,  and  stopped  by  canons  from  approach  by 
river,  it  is  nearly  inaccessible.  As  to  mountain  passes, 
there  is  the  Toowotee,  at  the  head  of  Wind  river, 
which  leads  to  the  head  of  Black  Rock  creek,  a  trib 
utary  of  the  Snake,  through  Buffalo  fork;  and  south 
of  this,  in  the  Wind  river  range,  Union  pass,  at  the 
head  of  Gros  Yentre,  another  branch  of  Snake  river ; 
east  of  Yellowstone  lake  is  Stinking  river  pass,  at 
the  head  of  the  north  fork  of  that  river,  itself  a  trib 
utary  of  the  Bighorn,  none  of  which  breaking  in  the 
chain  of  environing  mountains  is  available  for  ordinary 
travel.  To  come  to  Yellowstone  lake  we  must  ap 
proach  from  the  north,  and  by  the  Madison  fork  of 


WYOMING.  667 

the  Missouri.  Here  are  revealed  some  of  the  least 
common  processes  of  nature  in  giving  the  finishing 
touches  to  the  work  of  world-making,  not  quite  com 
pleted  in  this  region.  Let  us  approach,  then,  by  the 
Madison  river,  passing  through  an  eight-mile  labyrinth, 
not  gloomy,  or  even  difficult,  but  opening  out  in  some 
parts  to  the  width  of  half  a  mile,  forming  parks 
adorned  with  miniature  forests,  and  having  grassy 
glades  furnished  with  frequent  springs  of  ice-cold 
water,  in  other  parts  contracting  to  a  few  yards  of 
space,  but  always  beautiful  and  cheerful,  as  if  gaily 
conducting  us  to  a  glorious  spectacle  beyond.  As  we 
emerge  from  this  seductive  path  we  come  into  a  valley 
of  no  great  extent,  clothed  in  vegetation,  at  the  upper 
end  of  which  unite  the  streams  which  constitute  the 
headwaters  of  the  Madison  river.  The  name  given 
to  this  verdant  vale  by  those  men  of  simple  and  strong 
speech  who,  in  our  time,  at  least,  first  invaded  its  soli 
tude,  was  Fire  hole,  and  to  the  principal  stream  enter 
ing  it  Fire-hole  river.  Their  reason  for  this  appellation 
was  the  unmistakable  evidences,  visible  in  the  soil  and 
rocks,  of  the  agency  of  fire  in  giving  character  to  it. 
Probably  at  that  time,  too,  these  appearances  were 
even  more  striking  than  at  present,  being  less  con 
cealed  by  vegetation.  Following  up  Firehole  river, 
which  comes  leaping  joyfully  down  from  the  heights 
in  a  succession  of  noisy  cascades,  we  find  the  banks 
lined  with  moisture-loving  trees,  aspens,  cottonwoods, 
and  willows,  coming  finally  to  a  pine  forest,  out  of 
which  we  emerge  rather  suddenly  into  a  region  so 
suggestive  of  a  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone  that  the 
discoverers  above  referred  to  did  not  hesitate  to  call 
it  hell.  Having  begun  to  liken  things  hereabout  to 
the  infernal  regions,  they  named  one  of  the  most  im 
petuous  and  noisy  of  the  affluents  of  the  Yellowstone 
Hellroaring  river,  which  appellation,  with  all  its  oblo 
quy,  still  clings  to  this  stream. 

Over  a  tract  of  country  many  miles  in  extent  vol 
canic  forces  are  still  at  work,     Instead  of  frightful 


668  PHYSICAL  FEATURES. 

eruptions  of  molten  lava,  which  in  the  remote  ages 
poured  down  the  sharp  ridges  of  the  Shoshone  range ; 
instead  of  mountains  being  thrust  up  in  one  place  and 
sunken  in  another  when  their  fiery  contents  had  been 
belched  forth,  we  have  now  on  the  site  of  former 
spectacles  of  indescribable  grandeur  the  milder  sugges 
tion  of  this  past  offered  by  ten  thousand  hot  springs 
and  geysers,  divided  between  two  principal  geyser 
basins.  Intermittent  in  action,  and  differing  in  char 
acter  and  power,  the  display  is  infinite  in  variety,  and 
wonderful  as  varied.  Hot  steam,  which  roars  and 
hisses  as  it  escapes,  loud  rumblings,  discharges  like 
parks  of  artillery  from  the  explosion  of  gases,  and 
nauseous  odors  from  the  minerals  held  in  solution  in 
the  vast  cauldron  whose  outlets  are  these  springs, 
imply  a  region  below  which  even  the  souls  of  Dante 
and  Virgil  would  have  shrunk  from  exploring. 

Yet  this  region  is  most  attractive.  It  contains  the 
largest  spouting  geysers  in  the  world,  each  with  dis 
tinctive  features,  The  Mud  volcano  plays  regularly 
once  in  six  hours;  Grand  geyser,  in  Firehole  basin, 
throws  a  column  of  clear  hot  water  twenty-five  feet 
in  thickness  at  the  base  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
into  the  air  for  twenty  minutes  at  a  time ;  its  neigh 
bor,  the  Fan  geyser,  discharges  in  five  radiating  jets 
to  a  height  of  sixty  feet  for  an  hour.  In  another 
place  the  Giant  plays,  with  a  diameter  of  seven  and  a 
height  of  140  feet,  lasting  three  hours;  the  Giantess, 
with  a  diameter  of  eighteen  and  a  height  of  250  feet, 
lasting  twenty  minutes ;  the  Beehive,  with  a  diameter 
of  twenty  and  a  height  of  219  feet,  lasting  twenty 
minutes;  Old  Faithful,  with  a  diameter  of  six  and  a 
height  of  200  feet,  lasting  twenty  minutes;  Grotto, 
with  a  diameter  of  four  and  a  height  of  sixty  feet, 
lasting  thirty  minutes ;  Castle,  with  a  diameter  of 
five  and  a  height  of  100  feet,  lasting  from  ten  to  thirty 
minutes,  Their  names  have  been  suggested  by  the 
forms  of  the  concretions  about  them.  The  geysers, 
and  many  of  the  hot  springs,  deposit  a  sediment  ac- 


WYOMING.  669 

cording  to  the  minerals  held  in  solution,  which  builds 
up  fantastic  or  beautifully  formed  and  often  brilliantly 
colored  basins.  Some  of  the  dead  geysers  have  left 
behind  huge  paint-pots,  the  residuum  of  long  periods 
of  activity.  Here  and  there  stand  quaint  forms  carved 
by  wind  and  weather  out  of  decaying  volcanic  matter. 
Such  are  Devil's  Hoof  and  Liberty  Cap.  White 
Dome,  The  Castle,  Circe's  Boudoir,  The  Pyramid, 
and  the  Punch-bowl  are  the  curious  shapes  taken  by 
the  same  material  about  the  still  active  geysers.  In 
one  place  is  a  soda,  and  in  another  a  sulphur  fountain 
still  hot  at  a  depth  of  two  feet  from  the  surface ;  in 
another  an  alum  spring,  or  a  chalk  vat;  and  in  still 
another  a  pitch-stone  plateau.  At  intervals  are  groves 
of  pines.  Springs  of  pure  cold  water  are  frequent, 
and  contain  trout,  which  the  angler  may  drop  into  a 
boiling  fountain  without  changing  his  position,  and 
catch  and  cook  his  dinner  at  once.  The  air  is  full  of 
singular  sounds,  rumblings,  roarings,  hissings,  explo 
sions.  Millions  of  diamonds  are  thrown  off  sparkling 
from  the  lofty  shafts  of  water  constantly  shivering 
into  drops;  curling  clouds  of  steam  float  in  and  out 
among  them,  and  countless  broken  rainbows  hang  on 
nothing.  It  is  not  easy  to  depict  a  scene  like  this;  it 
is  too  grand,  too  shifting,  too  altogether  unusual. 

Volcanic  action  is  mainly  confined  to  two  basins 
east  of  the  summit  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  and  a 
little  northwest  of  Yellowstone  lake,  among  the  high 
est  feeders  of  the  Madison  river.  Far  east  of  these, 
however,  on  the  Stinkingwater  fork  of  Bighorn  river, 
is  Colter  hell,  where  similar  phenomenon  is  ex 
hibited  on  a  lesser  scale.  Immediately  about  the 
geyser  basins,  and  to  the  east,  especially  east  of  Yel 
lowstone  lake,  the  forest  is  nearly  continuous,  and  is 
the  home  of  a  variety  of  game.  The  lakes  and  streams 
abound  in  several  kinds  of  fish,  while  their  shores  are 
the  nesting-places  of  numerous  water-fowls.  The 
altitude  of  this  region  is  but  little  more  than  that  of 
the  remainder  of  the  territory,  whose  mean  elevation 


670  PHYSICAL  FEATURES. 

is  6,400.  But  two  peaks  in  all  this  vast  region  of 
mountainous  country  equal  the  height  of  hundreds 
south  of  that  elevated,  broken  plain  which  we  traversed 
a  few  pages  back.  This  greater  uniformity  of  level 
has  its  effect  on  the  climate,  which  is  also  proportion 
ately  uniform.  The  mean  temperature  of  the  geyser 
basins  in  the  extreme  northwest  differs  from  that  of  a 
point  in  the  extreme  southeast  but  a  few  degrees,  the 
altitude  being  1,325  feet  greater  in  the  former,  the 
influences  of  which  elevation  and  the  vicinity  of 
the  snow-peaks  being  overcome  by  the  moderating 
effect  of  the  geysers.  Other  local  causes  produce 
slight  variations  from  the  changes  resulting  from  dif 
ferences  in  altitude ;  but  aside  from  these,  the  ordinary 
summer  heat  is  about  seventy  degrees,  and  the  mean 
winter  temperature  above  twenty  degrees.  On  the 
higher  ranges  the  snowfall  is  heavy,  on  the  plains 
light.  About  once  each  winter  there  are  a  few  days 
when  a  wave  of  cold  sweeps  over  the  whole  east  slope 
of  the  Rocky  mountains,  and  a  blinding  storm  of  snow 
as  dry  as  sand  obscures  the  country  for  hundreds  of 
miles.  Spring  comes  late  and  winter  early,  but  the 
dry  atmosphere  exhilarates  like  wine.  There  is,  indeed, 
on  a  clear  morning,  following  a  still,  cold  night,  a 
brilliant  dawn  followed  by  a  mirage,  which  has  the 
effect  to  elevate  and  bring  into  view  large  tracts  of 
country  not  ordinarily  visible,  being  cut  off  by  inter 
vening  objects.  As  the  sun  rises  the  refraction  ceases, 
and  the  distant  objects  which  had  been  pictured  upon 
the  air  sink  out  of  sight. 

The  creator  does  not  seem  to  have  designed  this 
region  particularly  for  the  use  of  those  worthy  men 
who  cause  two  blades  of  grass  to  grow  where  he 
planted  but  one;  yet  it  has  not  been  left  sterile  to  any 
disproportionate  degree.  Wherever  the  altitude  does 
not  exceed  seven  thousand  feet  the  grains  which  sup 
port  life  may  be  grown.  Those  who  handle  the  plough 
not  being  here,  the  plains,  valleys,  and  even  the 
mountain  sides,  were  set  with  the  richest  of  grasses 


WYOMING.  671 

for  the  fattening  of  innumerable  bison,  that  the  red 
men  might  have  food,  and  the  mighty  beast  suffer. 
Darting  across  the  hunter's  path,  herds  of  the  lithe 
gazelle  added  their  grace  of  movement  to  the  immense 
panorama.  Deer,  sheltering  in  the  enclosed  vales  and 
glades,  fed  together  in  families.  In  the  deep  woods 
bears  of  several  species  had  their  habitat,  and  found 
roots  for  food.  Beasts  of  prey  sent  their  angry  cries 
through  the  forest,  famished  by  the  thirst  for  blood. 
Wolves  howled  like  dogs  to  be  fed.  Mountain  sheep 
climbed  the  seemingly  inaccessible  ridges,  and  kept 
their  sentinels  on  the  loftiest  peaks.  Moose  peered 
over  the  edges  of  cliffs  and  elk  pastured  themselves 
in  the  high  valleys.  Tiny  creatures  of  a  hundred 
form  sdarted  from  woody  coverts,  or  out  of  subter 
ranean  homes,  with  the  busy  air  of  intelligent  com 
munities.  The  cunning  beaver  labored  to  impede  the 
rapid  mountain  torrents  with  dams  that  have  with 
stood  the  freshets  of  centuries,  delighting  in  this  land 
of  numerous  watercourses.  Game  birds  and  song 
birds  had  here  their  favorite  feeding-grounds.  Bugs 
and  butterflies  made  populous  the  dust  and  the  air. 
Even  the  serpent,  emblem  at  once  of  eternal  life  and 
voluntary  evil,  was  not  absent,  taking  up  his  residence 
in  the  underground  habitation  of  the  prairie-dog,  to 
escape  the  blistering  heat  of  the  sands,  where  he 
sometimes  met  that  strange  inmate,  the  owl,  also  hid 
ing  from  the  intense  sunshine  of  the  plains.  So  did 
this  region  abound  with  life  in  ages  when  the  white 
man,  to  the  knowledge  of  the  red  man,  was  not. 


CHAPTER  II. 

EARLY  EXPLORATIONS. 
1650-1850. 

UNFOUNDED  RUMORS  or  SPANISH  OCCUPATION — PRE-HISTORIC  ABORIGINAL 
INHABITANTS — WESTWARD  EXPLORATION — VERENDRYE,  LEWIS  AND 
CLARKE,  LISA,  AND  WILLIAMS — MISSOURI  FUR  COMPANY — HENRY  FORT 
— LONG'S  EXPEDITION— ASHLEY  ON  UTAH  LAKE— OTHER  TRAPPERS  AND 
TRADERS — FORT  BRIDGER — MISSIONARIES  OF  OREGON — THE  GALLANT 
PATHFINDER — BATTALION  OF  MOUNTED  VOLUNTEERS — FORTS  LEAVEN- 
WORTH,  KEARNY,  AND  LARAMIE — SCOTT  AND  HIS  BLUFFS — THE  PATHWAY 
OF  THE  NATIONS. 

IT  has  been  claimed  by  certain  Spanish  authorities 
that  previous  to  1650  their  countrymen  had  penetrated 
into  the  territory  south  of,  but  not  quite  to,  the  Mis 
souri  river,  where  they  found  gold,  and  made  settle 
ments,  opening  canals  for  mining  purposes,  constructing 
arastras,  and  building  houses  of  stone,  and  where  for 
twenty-five  years  they  carried  on  mining  and  fur- 
hunting,  sending  richly-laden  trains  to  New  Mexico. 
About  1650  the  natives,  they  say,  arose  and  killed 
them  all.  There  is  nothing  true  in  this  statement.1 
Some  coloring  has  been  given  to  the  story  by  the 
discovery,  in  1865,  of  what  appeared  to  be  the  stone 

The  Spaniards  had  all  they  could  do  to  hold  their  own  in  New  Mexico 
during  the  17th  century,  without  venturing  800  miles  into  the  wilderness 
among  the  Indians.  There  were  no  such  expeditions  as  represented,  although 
in  order  to  secure  grants  of  land  or  patents  of  nobility  Spanish  adventurers 
related  such  stories  to  the  king.  In  the  18th  century  there  were  not  infre 
quent  expeditions  after  Indians  who  made  forays  into  New  Mexico.  Such 
were  those  of  Valverde,  in  1719,  with  105  Spaniards,  30  pueblo  Indians,  and 
a  company  of  Apaches,  under  Carlana,  captain,  which  went  further  north 
than  any  previous  one;  and  the  expedition  of  Capt.  Villazur  the  same  year, 
on  a  similar  errand.  It  is  doubtful  if  they  went  farther  north  than  the 
Arkansas  river.  Valverdt  y  Coces,  Diario  y  Derrotero,  1719,  by  his  secretary, 
Alouzo  Ruel  de  Aguilar, 
(672) 


WYOMING.  673 

foundations  of  houses,  and  what  might  pass  for  an 
ancient  arastra,  on  the  headwaters  of  Powder  river, 
and  about  Smet  lake. 

But  if  we  explore  the  past  critically,  we  shall  find 
that  at  some  period  anterior  to  the  history  of  the  ex 
isting  aboriginal  races  in  the  country,  and  perhaps 
contemporaneous  with  the  cliff-dwellers  of  Colorado, 
a  people  to  whom  the  present  tribes  of  red  men  were 
as  little  known  as  the  Caucasian  was  at  a  later  period 
to  these,  had  their  habitations  here.  Of  their  pres 
ence  the  traces  are  distinct,  their  relics  being  found 
chiefly  in  the  country  about  the  head  of  the  Yellow 
stone,  and  in  the  Bighorn  and  Wind  river  valleys. 
They  consist  of  steatite  vessels,  bowl-shaped,  and 
neatly  finished,  stone  lance-heads,  knives,  and  scrapers, 
and  sinkers  for  fishing-lines  made  of  volcanic  sand 
stone,  or  of  a  green- veined  marble.  The  workmanship 
of  these  articles  is  different  from  any  found  on  the 
Pacific  or  Atlantic  coasts,  and  unlike  any  in  use  among 
the  present  native  tribes2  inhabiting  Montana  and 
Wyoming.  Other  remains  point  to  a  scarcity  of  tim 
ber  in  the  past  in  that  part  of  the  mountains  where 
timber  is  now  plentiful,  the  driveways  for  game  being 
constructed  of  stone  instead  of  wood,  and  the  occur 
rence  of  small,  circular  enclosures  of  stone  seeming  to 
indicate  that,  if  not  the  foundations  of  houses,  they 
were  used  for  covers  from  which  to  shoot  game. 
Heaps  of  bones,  tools,  ornaments,  weapons,  burial 
cairns,  and  mining  shafts  are  among  the  proofs  of  their 
presence.  At  what  period  they  disappeared  and 
recent  tribes  took  their  place  is  among  the  secrets 

2 1  find  drawings  of  these  articles  in  the  Fifth  Annual  Report  of  P.  W. 
N  orris,  Superintendent  of  the  Yellowstone  National  Park,  1881,  pp.  32-8.  There 
is  mention  of  these  prehistoric  remains  in  The  Reconnaissance  of  Northwestern 
Wyoming,  by  W.  A.  Jones,  U.  S.  engineers,  1875,  a  scientific  report  upon  the 
geography,  meteorology,  geology,  thermal  waters,  botany,  and  entomology 
of  Wyoming.  His  remarks  occupy  pp.  259  to  270.  Recent  discoveries  in 
the  valley  of  Santa  Lucia,  N.  M.,  point  to  a  prehistoric  race  of  which  the 
Wyoming  stone-workers  were  perhaps  a  branch.  Metcalf,  of  Denver,  has  a 
collection  of  their  stone  axes  and  hammers,  breast-plates,  carvings,  etc., 
found  in  a  cavern.  Cotton  batting  and  thread  were  found  among  the  other 

relics, 

HIST.  NEV.    43 


674  EAKLY  EXPLORATIONS. 

which  the  past  refuses  to  disclose.  The  debris  of 
ages  covers  the  silent  witnesses  of  their  existence, 
which  patient  research  is  only  now  bringing  to  light,3 
and  to  them  I  should  refer  the  stone  ruins  credited  to 
Spanish  occupation. 

Exploration  by  white  men  was  begun  in  Wyoming 
in  1743-4,  when  Sieur  de  la  Verendrye  and  his  sons, 
of  Canada,  visited  the  Rocky  mountains  by  the  way 
of  the  great  lakes  and  the  Assiniboine,  Missouri,  Yel 
lowstone,  and  Bighorn  rivers.  Passing  up  Pry  or  fork 
to  the  Stinkingwater,  they  travelled  thence  south  as 
far  as  Wind  river,  being  about  a  year  on  this  part  of 
their  journey,  and  learning  much  about  the  geography 
of  the  country  and  the  customs  of  the  Indian  tribes. 
They  would  have  gone  still  further  south  had  not  the 
Shoshones  told  them  they  would  be  killed  if  they  did 
so  by  parties  of  the  Sans  Arcs  band  of  Sioux,  the 
hereditary  enemies  of  their  nation,  who  were  always 
watching  about  the  South  pass.* 

O  * 

This  is  the  first  we  hear  about  the  celebrated 
opening,  and  as  far  as  it  goes  it  is  authentic,  as  is  also 
that  which  is  said  about  the  Indians.  Other  expedi 
tions  would  have  followed  but  for  the  change  in  the 
ownership  of  trading-posts,  which  after  the  seven 
years'  war  between  France  and  England  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  English,  who  left  exploration  altogether 
to  the  fur  companies.  The  war  of  the  revolt  of  the 
colonies  followed,  at  the  termination  of  which  many 
posts  which  had  first  been  French,  and  had  passed  to 
the  English,  became  a  part  of  the  possessions  of  the 
United  States,  which  government,  as  soon  as  it  was 

3Norris  says,  in  his  Rept  National  Park,  1881,  p.  30,  that  the  most  abun 
dant  remains  exist  outside  of  the  National  park  to  the  north,  which  would 
bring  them  into  Montana.  He  traced  them  from  the  borders  of  the  park, 
below  the  mouth  of  Gardiner  river,  through  Bottler  park,  and  the  Gate  of 
the  Mountains,  to  the  open  plains,  a  distance  of  00  miles.  But  Jones,  in  his 
Reconnaissance,  found  a  stone  circle  on  the  right  bank  of  Little  Wind  river, 
south  of  Butte  springs,  below  Camp  Brown,  three  by  six  feet  in  dimensions. 
Several  others  in  the  Wind  river  region  are  described,  and  the  author  favors 
the  inference  of  religious  ceremonials  connected  with  them,  but  I  am  of  the 
opinion  they  were  connected  with  hunting. 

*Wee  Hht.  Northwest  Coast,  this  series;  also  Granville  Stuart,  in  Contribu- 
tuns  to  the  Historical  Society  of  Montana,  316. 


WYOMING.  675 

able,  after  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  in  1803,  sent  an 
expedition  to  explore  a  path  to  the  Pacific,  in  1804-6, 
which  did  not  reach  the  country  south  o£  the  three 
branches  of  the  Missouri  in  Montana.  The  action  of 
the  government  in  sending  out  Lewis  and  Clarke  still 
further  stimulated  private  adventure,  which  had 
already  begun  to  look  toward  the  Rocky  mountains, 
as  I  have  shown  in  my  History  of  Colorado.  Among 
the  first  of  whom  there  is  any  record  were  two  men 
from  Illinois,  Hancock  and  Dickson,  who  hunted 
beaver  on  the  Yellowstone  in  1804.5  They  remained 
in  the  country  in  1806,  and  were  joined  by  John 
Colter,  one  of  the  members  of  Lewis  and  Clarke's 
company,  who  was  discharged  on  the  Missouri,  below 
the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone,  and  returned  up  the 
river,  wintering  on  the  headwaters  of  Pryor's  fork. 
In  the  spring  of  1807  he  went  through  Pryor's  gap 
of  the  Bighorn  mountains  to  Clarke  fork,  crossing 
thence  by  the  Stinking  water  pass 6  to  the  Yellowstone, 
which  he  forded  between  the  lake  and  the  falls, 
neither  of  which  he  saw,  as  the  information  furnished 
to  the  government,  and  illustrated  in  the  map  pub 
lished  in  1814,  goes  to  show.  He  came  to  Shoshone 
lake,  which  he  called  Lake  Erastus,  and  believed  it 
the  source  of  the  Yellowstone,  no  greater  error  than 
has  been  committed  at  a  much  more  recent  period  by 
much  more  scientific  explorers.7  Then  he  crossed  the 

6 Lewis  and  Clarices  Travels,  638.     London  ed.,  1814. 

6  The  map  accompanying  Lewis  and  Clarke's  narrative  of  their  expedition, 
among  its   other   faults,  makes  Colter  go  through   the   mountains   almost 
directly  west  of  the  confluence  of  the  forks  of  Clarke  river,  which  is  improb 
able,  owing  to  the  nature  of  the  country.     The  Stinking  water  offers  a  pass, 
although  by  no  means  a  good  one.     It  would  bring  him  to  the  Yellowstone, 
where  he  crossed  it,  while  the  more  southern  passes  would  take  him  far  from 
the  geyser  region,  which  he  described  sufficiently  to  make  it  certain  that  he 
was  not  only  at  Colter  hell  on  the  Stinking  water,  but  in  the  upper  geyser 
basin  as  well. 

7  Hayden  believed  it  drained  into  the  Madison.     Why  should  not  men 
be  just?     This  lake,  when  seen  by  De  Lacy,  was  named  after  himself,  he 
having  discovered  that  it  was  the  source  of  Snake  river,  which  properly  en- 
ticled  him  to  the  honor.     Hayden  changed  the  name,  without  any  good 
reason.     It  might  properly  be  called  Colter  lake,  as  he  was,  M'ithout  ques 
tion,  the  first  white  man  to  map  this  region,  and  probably  hia  party  was 
the  first  in 


676  EARLY  EXPLORATIONS. 

Rocky  mountains  to  the  head  of  Green  river ,  and 
back  again  to  the  head  of  Wind  river,  which  he  mis 
took  for  the  main  Bighorn,  and  by  a  northeast  course 
over  mountain  and  valley  came  again  to  the  Stinking- 
water,8  and  back  to  his  camp  of  the  previous  winter, 
in  the  country  of  the  Crows.  Who  accompanied 
Colter  in  this  journey  is  not  known.  It  may  have 
been  his  two  comrades  of  the  year  previous,  or  some 
other  or  others,  but  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  he 
was  alone.  He  remained  many  years  in  the  moun 
tains  ;  his  death  is  unrecorded,  and  he  passes  out  of 
sight  in  this  history.9 

Manuel  Lisa  in  1807  established  a  trading-post  and 
fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Bighorn  river,  and  was  prob 
ably  the  first  to  erect  a  fort  in  this  part  of  the  Rocky 
mountains.  Although  in  Montana,  the  district  from 
which  he  drew  his  peltries  was  equally  in  Wyoming. 
It  is  said  that  even  earlier  Antonio  Mateo,  a  Portu 
guese,  had  a  fort  on  the  head  of  Powder  river.  There 
is  a  tradition  among  mountain  men  that  this  fort  was 
once  invested  for  sixty  days  by  the  Sioux,  and  the 
appearance  of  the  ruins  gives  probability  to  the  story. 

The  first  authentic  expedition  to  the  region  whose 
history  we  are  following  was  by  a  party  under  Ezekiol 

8  It  is  a  slander  to  use  this  non-descriptive  name  for  an  inoffensive  stream. 
The  early  trappers  took  it  from  the  Indians,  who,  in  their  peculiar  fashion, 
called  it  'the  river  that  ran  by  the  stinking  water,'  referring  to  bad-smelling 
hot  springs  on  its  banks. 

9  Lewis  and  Clarke  say  in  their  narrative,  pp.  643-4,  that  Colter  was  once 
near  home,  but  meeting  with  a  hunting  party  going  to  the  mountains  joined 
it,  and  returned  without  seeing  his  friends.     There  is  current  the  story  of 
his  running  the  gauntlet  among  the  Blackfoot,  and  escaping  with  life,  though 
not  without    severe  wounds  and  much  suffering.     Potts,  another  of  Lewis 
and  Clarke's  company,  who  had  returned  to  the  mountains,  was  with  him. 
The  men  were  surprised  while  trapping.     Being  wounded,  Potts  shot  an 
Indian,   when  he  was  instantly  riddled  with  arrows.     Colter  was  seized, 
stripped  naked,  and  given  a  chance  to  run  for  his  life.     Ho  was  pursued  by 
several  hundred  Indians,  the  ground  that  he  had  to  pass  over  being  covered 
with  prickly  pear,  which  lacerated  his  naked  feet.     Such  exertion  did  he 
make  that  the  blood  gushed  from  his  mouth  and  nostrils.     Eluding  his  ene 
mies  by  the  utmost  effort,  he  darted  into  the  river,  and  concealed  himself 
beneath  a  raft  of  driftwood,  lodged  against  an  island.     Although  the  Indians 
were  upon  the  island  and  the  raft  during  the  day,  he  was  not  discovered, 
and  escaped  in  the  night.     Seven  days   afterwards  he  arrived,  famished, 
Mistered  with  the  sun's  heat,  with  his  feet  and  legs  terribly  swollen,  at  the 
fort  of  Manuel  Lisa  on  the  Bighorn,  near  the  Yellowstone,  where  he  waa 
hospitably  received,  and  recovered. 


WYOMING.  677 

Williams,  in  1807.  This  hardy  frontiersman  had  been 
employed  by  the  government  to  lead  an  escort  of 
twenty  men  to  restore  to  his  own  people  a  chief  of 
the  Man  dans,  who,  with  his  family,  had  been  induced 
to  accompany  Lewis  and  Clarke  to  Washington,  in 
1806.  This  duty  performed,  Williams  and  party  con 
tinued  on  to  the  Blackfoot  country,  where  they  began 
trapping,  dividing  their  company  into  two  detach 
ments.  While  on  the  Yellowstone,  near  its  mouth, 
one  detachment  was  attacked  by  one  hundred  Black- 
foot,  and  five  of  their  number  killed,  the  other  five 
escaping  to  camp.  The  company  immediately  moved 
southward  into  the  country  of  the  Crows,  where  one 
of  their  number,  named  Rose,  a  worthless  character 
who  had  attached  himself  to  the  expedition  in  St 
Louis,  determined  to  remain.  Williams,  with  his 
greatly  reduced  party,  proceeded  farther  south,  de 
signing  to  go  to  California  via  the  South  pass,  of 
whose  existence  he  seems  to  have  had  some  informa 
tion.  While  upon  the  headwaters  of  the  North 
Platte,  he  was  again  attacked,  this  time  by  Crows, 
and  lost  again  five  men,  killing,  however,  twenty  of 
the  enemy.  Their  horses  having  been  taken  before 
the  battle,  the  remaining  ten  men  were  set  on  foot, 
and  compelled  to  cache  their  furs  and  other  property 
too  heavy  to  be  carried.  Williams  then  moved  south 
ward  again,  wandering  among  the  mountains  until 
spring,  when  he  had  reached  the  South  Platte,  and 
his  connection  with  this  portion  of  my  history  ceases.10 
The  names  of  those  of  Williams'  party  who  survived, 
besides  himself  and  the  renegade  Rose,  were  Work 
man  and  Spencer. 

In  1808  the  Missouri  Fur  company  was  formed  in 
St  Louis,  of  which  Lisa  was  a  member,  as  well  as 
William  Clark,  Pierre  Choteau,  Sr,  Sylvester  Laba- 

10  See  note  12,  ch.  it.,  of  my  History  of  Colorado  and  History  of  the  North 
west  Const,  vol.  xxviii.,  this  series,  pp.  127-8;  also  The  Lout  Trappers,  by 
David  H.  Coyner. 


678  EARLY  EXPLORATIONS. 

die,  Pierre  Menard,  and  Auguste  P.  Choteau.  They 
sent  Alexander  Henry  up  the  Missouri  to  establish 
posts,  and  endeavor  to  open  commerce  with  the  Ind 
ians  west  of  the  Rocky  mountains.  Henry  was  un 
able  to  obtain  a  footing  among  the  Blackfoot,  but 
crossed  the  divide,  and  erected  a  post  on  the  head  of 
that  branch  of  Snake  river  which  bears  his  name,  a 
day's  journey  above  its  confluence  with  the  mainstream. 
The  Missouri  Fur  company  followed  its  design  with 
varying  fortunes,  and  Fort  Henry  was  abandoned  in 
1810,  the  company  being  dissolved  two  years  later,  to 
be  revived  a  few  years  afterward11  by  Joshua  Pilcher, 
M.  Lisa,  Thomas  Hempstead,  and  Mr  Perkins.  The 


J.    0.    R.    STUMP. 

operations  ot  this  company  were  carried  on  chiefly  in 
southern  Montana,  and  along  the  branches  of  the 
Yellowstone  which  rise  in  and  flow  through  Wyoming. 
No  record  was  kept  of  the  wanderings  of  the  men  who 
served  in  this  or  any  of  the  fur  companies,  but  that 
Powder  and  Bighorn  rivers  were  thoroughly  explored 
by  them  there  can  be  no  doubt.  In  that  extreme 
north\7est  corner  of  the  territory  where  the  Yellow 
stone  heads  still  stands  a  memento  of  one  of  these 
rovers — a  pine  tree  bearing  the  inscription  here  repre 
sented. 

11  In  1814  Henry  was  in  charge  of  a  post  in  the  Willamette  valley.  He 
was  afterward  a  partner  in  the  Northwest  company  of  Canada  and  Oregon. 
Hist.  Northwest  Coast,  this  series,  vol.  xxviii.  p.  129,  note  3. 


WYOMING.  679 

The  first  recorded  expedition  which  entered  Wyo 
ming  from  the  east  was  that  of  Wilson  Price  Hunt, 
in  1811,  who  conducted  to  Oregon  the  overland  part 
of  the  Pacific  Fur  company,  which  founded  Astoria. 
Accompanying  him  were  Robert  McLellan,  Ramsey 
Crooks,  Donald  McKenzie,  John  Day,  and  fifty-five 
others,  all  of  whom  toiled  and  suffered  much  on  their 
rugged  inarch.  They  left  the  Missouri  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Big  Cheyenne,  and  following  the  general  course 
of  that  stream  to  and  along  the  base  of  the  Black 
hills,  travelled  westward  across  Powder  river  valley 
and  Bighorn  mountains  to  Wind  river,  where  they 
turned  south  to  find  grass  and  game,  coming  to  the 
upper  waters  of  the  Colorado,  known  to  trappers  as 
Spanish  river,  whence  they  found  their  way  to  Snake 
river.  The  following  year  McLellan,  Crooks,  Robert 
Stewart,  and  two  Frenchmen,  returning  to  the  east, 
mot  Joseph  Miller,  who  had  been  robbed  by  the  na 
tives  in  the  Arapahoe  country,  presumably  in  south 
ern  Wyoming.  They  fared  no  better  than  Miller, 
having  all  their  horses  stolen,  and  being  compelled  to 
finish  their  journey  to  the  Missouri  on  foot.12  Avoid 
ing  their  former  route  over  mountains,  they  followed 
the  Platte  from  its  headwaters  to  its  mouth,13  being 
the  first  to  travel  that  natural  highway  to  the  Pacific 
afterward  so  generally  pursued.  In  1820  Major 
Stephen  H.  Long,  under  orders  from  the  govern inent, 
explored  the  Platte  valley  as  far  west  as  the  junction 
of  the  North  and  South  forks,  when  he  took  a  south 
erly  course,  and  was  therefore  not  in  Wyoming;  but 
the  result  of  his  expedition  was  to  attract  attention  to 
the  central  overland  route  to  the  mountains,  which 
finally  made  the  Platte,  North  Platte,  and  Sweetwater 
valleys  the  preat  thoroughfare  of  Pacific  travel. 

In  1822,  William  H   Ashley,  a  Virginian  by  birth, 
who  had  miorated  to  Missouri  while  it  was  still  called 

o 

12  Long's  Expedition,  465-6. 

13  Id.,  466.     Long  says  the  narrative  of  this  journey  was  published  m  tl 
Missouri  Gazette,  but  does  not  give  the  year. 


680  EARLY  EXPLORATIONS. 

upper  Louisiana,  where  he  was  the  first  lieutenant- 
governor,  and  brigadier-general  of  militia,14  with  the 
assistance  of  Henry,  erected  a  fort  on  the  Yellowstone. 
The  following  year,  having  formed  with  Astor  the 
North  American  Fur  company,  he  started  up  the 
Missouri  for  this  post  with  twenty-eight  men,  but  was 
attacked  by  the  Rickasas,  and  driven  back,  with  a 
loss  of  fourteen  killed  and  ten  wounded.15  Undaunted, 
he  enlisted  three  hundred  men,  and  in  1824  again 
sought  the  mountains,  following  the  Platte  to  the 
South  pass,  exploring  and  naming  the  Sweetwater, 
and  appointing  a  rendezvous  with  the  Indians  on 
Spanish  river,  which  he  named,  after  a  member  of  his 
company,  Green  river.  He  pushed  his  explorations  to 
Utah  lake,  discovered  first  by  Escalante  in  1776,  but 
seen  by  no  American  before  Ashley,  who  gave  it 
his  own  name.  Here  he  erected  a  post,  and  in 
two  or  three  years  collected  $180,000  worth  of  furs, 
selling  out  his  establishment  in  1826  to  the  Rocky 
Mountain  Fur  company,  formed  that  year  in  St  Louis, 
with  Jedediah  S.  Smith,  William  L.  Sublette,  and 
David  E.  Jackson  at  the  head.  They  had  been 
leaders  under  the  North  American  company,  and  were 
well  equipped  to  succeed  to  the  business,  in  which 
they  were  also  successful  To  them  belongs  the  dis 
tinction  of  having  taken  the  first  wagons  from  the 
Missouri  to  the  mountains,  ten  of  which,  each  drawn 
by  five  mules,  and  two  carts,  rolled  the  whole  distance 
from  St  Louis  to  Wind  river  rendezvous,  the  wagons 
carrying  eighteen  hundred  pounds  each,  and  travelling 
from  fifteen  to  twenty -five  miles  a  day.  Have  I  not 
said  that  this  was  the  great  natural  highway  across 
the  continent  ?  Some  persons  have  tried  to  make  it 

14  Col  A.  G-.  Brackett,  in  Trans.  Wyom.  Acad.  Sciences,  etc.,  1882,  p.  79. 

15  One  of  those  who  escaped  was  Lindsey  Applegate,  a  pioneer  of  Oregon, 
who  made  his  home  at  Ashland  in  the  Rogue  river  valley. 

16  In  Ashley's  service  was  James  P.   Beckwourth,   whose  character  and 
career  have  been  more  than  once  referred  to  in  this  history.     He  claimed  to 
have  been  in  the  mountains  as  early  as  1817,  and  to  have,   in  company  with 
Vaquez,    discovered   and  explored  the  south  Platte,   but  what  year  is  not 
stated.  Montana  Post,  Feb.  23,  18G7. 


WYOMING.  681 

appear  extremely  difficult,  and  to  steal  the  glory 
from  the  creator  and  the  Rocky  Mountain  Fur  com 
pany;  but  here  are  the  facts.  They  reported  to  the 
government  that  there  was  no  obstacle  to  crossing  to 
the  west  side  of  the  Rocky  mountains  with  wagons, 
had  they  desired  to  do  so.  The  next  year  they 
brought  out  fourteen  wagons,  and  the  use  of  wheeled 
vehicles  became  common  on  this  route.  In  the  mean 
time  the  Missouri  Fur  company  had  been  revived,  as 
I  have  said,  under  the  leadership  of  Pilcher,  Lisa, 
Hempstead,  and  Perkins,  and  had  its  trappers  in  the 
country  about  the  South  pass,  although  its  principal 
territory  was  among  the  Sioux,  Ricaras,  and  other 
Missouri  river  tribes.  About  1830  the  Rocky  Moun 
tain  company  was  reorganized,  with  Milton  Sublette, 
James  Bridger,  and  Fitzpatrick  at  the  head,  with 
several  other  partners.  They  had,  together  with  the 
other  fur  companies,  men  enough  in  the  mountains 
about  the  headwaters  of  the  Platte,  Green,  and  Snake 
rivers,  and  on  the  Yellowstone  branches,  to  constitute 
a  regiment.17 

In  1832  Captain  E.  L.  Bonneville,  an  army  officer 
on  leave,  led  a  company  of  110  trappers  to  the  mount 
ains  in  search  of  profit  and  adventure.  He  was 
assisted  by  I.  R.  Walker  and  M.  Serre,  leaders. 
They  travelled  the  Platte  route,  with  a  caravan  of 
twenty  wagons — some  drawn  by  oxen,  which  were 
the  first  "  bull  teams "  on  this  line — laden  with 
Indian  goods,  provisions,  and  ammunition,  which  were 

17  It  would  be  gratifying  to  be  able  to  give  a  list  of  all  the  hunters  and 
trappers  in  Wyoming  previous  to  the  period  of  emigration;  but  these  men 
had  no  individual  importance  in  the  eyes  of  their  leaders,  who  recruited 
their  rapidly  thinning  ranks  yearly,  with  little  attention  to  the  personality 
of  the  victims  of  hardship,  accident,  vice,  or  Indian  hostility,  whose  bones 
often  received  no  burial,  but  bleached  under  sun  and  snow  until  they  crum 
bled  to  dust.  Names  that  have  been  preserved  of  the  more  prominent,  dar 
ing,  or  fortunate  explorers  of  this  territory  during  the  great  fur-hunting 
period  are  comparatively  few.  Among  them  are  Black  well,  Fonteneble, 
Frapp,  La  Jeunesse,  Robert  Campbell,  Kit  Carson,  Godin,  Newell,  Meek, 
p:bberts,  Gantt,  Gervais,  Brown,  Craig,  Sinclair,  Vanderburgh,  Dripps,  Gale, 
Hawkins,  Liggitt,  Anderson,  Ward,  Wade,  Parmalee,  Head,  Robinson,  Rider 
Laris^n,  Russell,  Guthrie,  Walker,  Doty,  Claymore,  Legarde,  Reese,  Nelson, 
Maloney.  Tullock,  Harris,  Black,  Matthieu,  Kipliii,  Boudeau,  Bissonette, 
Adams,  Sabille,  Kellogg,  Galpin, 


682  EARLY  EXPLORATIONS. 

all  taken  through  the  South  pass  into  Green  river, 
being  the  first  wagons  to  roll  down  the  western  slope 
of  the  Rocky  mountains.  Here  he  erected  a  fortified 
camp,  and  remained  in  the  mountains  hunting  furs, 
fighting  Indians,  and  exploring  for  three  years.  He 
wintered  in  1832  in  Salmon  river,  but  spent  the  sum 
mer  of  1833  east  of  the  Rocky  range,  on  the  Bighorn 
and  Powder  rivers,  on  the  latter  visiting  a  "  burning 
mountain,"  where  the  earth  was  hot  and  cracked  in 
many  places,  emitting  smoke  and  sulphurous  vapors, 
and  "  abounding  with  anthracite  coal."  He  also  vis 
ited  Colter  hell,  which  he  found  a  region  similar  to 
that  on  Powder  river.18 

Another  adventurer  in  these  parts  was  Nathaniel 
J.  Wyeth,  who,  in  1832  brought  out  a  party  of 
twenty- two  men,  which  by  desertion  and  loss  was 
reduced  to  half  that  number  while  he  was  at  Pierre 
hole  on  the  head  of  Henry  branch  of  Snake  river.19 
In  1834  he  returned  with  fifty  men,  but  had  no  bet 
ter  fortune  than  before,  competition  with  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  company  on  one  hand,  and  the  American 
company  on  the  other ;  desertion  and  the  Indians 
leaving  him  little  or  nothing  of  his  investments/0 

O  O 

It  does  not  seem  that  it  was  the  custom  of  the  fur 
companies  to  erect  forts,  except  in  case  of  necessity, 
where  the  Indians  were  of  a  predatory  and  hostile 
disposition,  which  was  not  the  character  of  those  on 

18 Irving'*  Bonneville  Adven.,  199.  It  is  remarkable  that  we  hear  nothing 
about  the  geyser  basins  from  the  various  fur-hunting  adventurers.  The  only 
mention  of  this  region,  except  that  which  I  have  given,  is  in  Victor's  River 
of  the  West.  Meek  heard  the  whistling  and  saw  the  steam  from  the  geysers 
one  cold  morning  in  Nov.  1829,  and  likened  it  aptly  to  the  city  of  Pittsburg 
on  a  winter  morning. 

19  The  names  of  some  of    Wyeth's  party  were  John  B.  Wyeth,   Solomon 
H.  Smith,   John  Ball,   Calvin  Tibbetts,  Abbott,  Breck,  Burditt,   St  Clair, 
Trumbull,  and  Whittier.     On  his  second  visit,  besides  his  hired  men,  he  es 
corted  Nuttall  and  Townsend,  naturalists;  Jason  and   Daniel  Lee,   mission 
aries   to   Oregon;  Cyrus   Shepard,    and  C.   M.   Walker.     Two  Englishmen, 
Stewart  and  Ashworth,    also  visited  the  mountains  this  year  with  the  fur 
companies,    travelling  a   part  of  the  time  with   Wyeth.     Stewart  seems  to 
have  been  in  the  mountains  even  earlier,   and  to  have  come  and  gone  year 
after  year.     He  resided  in  New  Orleans.     See  Hist.  Oreyon  and  Hist.  Northwest 
Coast,  this  series. 

20  Hist.  Northwest  Coast,  this  series,  i.  491,  517,  520;  ii.  576-8,  585-7, 


WYOMING.  683 

the  west  side  of  the  mountains  to  any  serious  decree. 
On  account  of  the  Blackfoot  and  Crow  nations,  whose 
habits  were  more  warlike,  a  number  of  forts  were 
established  on  the  Missouri  and  the  main  Yellowstone, 
as  I  have  mentioned  in  my  History  of  Montana,  but 
within  the  territory  which  now  constitutes  Wyoming 
Bonneville  erected  the  first  fortification,  at  the  junction 
of  Lead  creek  with  Green  river,  in  1832  the  remains  of 
which  may  still  be  seen.  The  Indians  becoming  more 
troublesome  as  they  became  better  acquainted  with 
white  men  and  the  temptations  offered  by  their 
wealth,  the  necessity  for  forts  increased.  Rivalry  in 
trade  was  another  incentive  to  building  posts. 

The  first  permanent  post  erected  in  Wyoming  was 
by  William  Sublette  and  Robert  Campbell  in  1834, 
and  was  established  with  the  design  of  monopolizing 
the  trade  of  those  tribes  who  roamed  over  the  coun 
ty,  from  the  Missouri  on  the  northeast  to  the  Sweet- 
water  on  the  west  of  the  Black  hills,  namely,  Arapa- 
hoes,  Cheyennes,  and  Sioux.  Being  strong  and 
warlike  nations,  it  was  necessary,  while  inviting  their 
commerce  to  guard  against  their  attacks. 

The  fort  was  situated  on  Laramie  fork,  an  affluent 
of  the  Platte,  a  clear  and  beautiful  stream,  winding 
through  meadows  where  grew  the  wild  currant  and 
gooseberry,  and  which  was  dotted  here  and  there 
with  groups  of  larger  trees.  It  consisted  of  a  palisade 
eighteen  feet  high,  with  bastions  in  two  diagonally 
opposite  ^corners,  and  a  few  small  adobe  houses  inside. 
It  was  called  Fort  William,  after  Sublette.  In  1835 
the  establishment  was  sold  to  Milton  Sublette,  James 
Bridger,  and  three  other  fur  hunters,  who  had  united 
with  the  American  Fur  company,  after  an  active 
rivalry  of  several  years,  during  which  these  two  pow 
erful  associations,  had  driven  all  the  other  American 
fur  traders  out  of  Wyoming. al  The  fort  was  rebuilt 

21  These  several  leaders  then  put  out  with  detachments  of  trappers  to  hunt 
in  every  direction— Sublette,  Fitzpatrick,  Fontenelle,  Basil  La  Jeneusse,  W. 
M.  Anderson,  Jack  Robinso  and  James  Bridger.  Carlin,  Hist.  Fort  Bridyer. 
MS.,  1. 


684  EARLY  EXPLORATION. 

in  1836  by  the  new  owners,  at  an  outlay  of  $10,000, 
and  was  called  by  a  part  of  the  company  Fort  John, 
but  the  name  never  could  be  made  acceptable  to  the 
majority.  The  clerks  in  the  eastern  office  settled  the 
difference  unintentionally  by  making  out  their  bills 
for  Fort  Laramie,  the  name  of  the  river  on  which  it 
was  situated/2  and  much  more  likely  to  be  understood 
than  William  or  John,  which  might  be  anywhere. 
It  continued  to  be  a  fort  of  the  American  Fur  com 
pany  until  1849,  when  it  was  sold  to  the  government. 
It  had  many  commanders  in  its  time,  the  last  of 
whom  was  Bruce  Husband. 

No  other  permanent  establishment  was  made  before 
1842,  when  Fort  Bridger  was  erected  on  a  delta 
formed  by  several  branches  of  Black  fork  of  Green 
river.  It  was  a  log  fort,  or  block  house,  and  was 
occupied  by  Bridger  during  the  interesting  period  of 
the  earliest  migration  of  settlers  to  the  Pacific  coast. 
He  abandoned  it  in  1853,  being  warned  by  the  Mor 
mons,  who  did  not  desire  a  hostile  fort  in  the  neigh 
borhood  of  their  settlements.23  About  the  same  time 

22  Laramie  was  a  French  trapper,  who  in  the  earliest  fur-hunting  times 
was  killed  by  the  Arapahoes  on  this  stream.  H.  S.  Schell,  History  of  Fort 
Larimie,  MS.,  2.  This  complete  account  of  a  famous  fort  was  furnished  me 
by  the  war  department,  and  contains  extracts  from  military  correspondence, 
and  such  documents  as  bear  upon  the  subject.  I  have  another  History  of 
Fort  Larimie  by  Charles  H.  Cochran,  1st  lieut  7th  infantry  at  that  post.  It 
is  taken  from  the  files  of  the  post,  and  enlarged  with  references  to  books  of 
travel.  Concurrent  accounts  are  found  in  Trans.  Wyom.  Acad.  Sciences,  etc,, 
81,  84.  Carlin  (William  P.,  col.  4th  inf.)  Experiences  in  Wyoming,  MS.,  5-11, 
being  an  account  of  certain  military  operations,  which  I  shall  refer  to  in 
their  proper  place,  written  by  his  own  hand.  Carlin  was  at  Laramie  as  early 
as  1855. 

23 1  am  aware  that  in  Chamber's  Hist.  Fort  Bridger,  MS.,  and  also  in  the 
Trans,  Wyom,  Acad.  Sciences,  81-2,  it  is  said  that  Bridger  sold  a  Spanish 
grant  to  the  Mormons,  Lewis  Robinson  being  named  as  the  purchaser,  and 
88,000  as  the  price.  In  the  Utah  Hand-Book  of  Reference,  73?  it  is  recorded 
that  President  Young  purchased  of  James  Bridger  a  Mexican  grant  for 
thirty  square  miles  of  land  and  some  cabins,  afterwards  known  as  Fort 
Bridger.  This  is  a  mistake,  as  there  were  no  Spanish  grants  in  that  region. 
R.  B.  Marcy,  in  his  Thirty  Years  of  Army  Life,  401,  relates  that  he  fell  in 
with  Bridger  at  Fort  Laramie  in  1857,  as' he  was  returning  from  Washing 
ton,  where  he  had  been  to  lay  his  case  before  the  authorities.  Marcy  tells 
us  that  Bridger  was  an  illiterate  man,  '  tall,  thin,  wiry,  with  a  complexion 
well  bronzed  by  toil  and  exposure,  with  an  independent,  generous,  open  cast 
of  countenance,  indicative  of  brave  and  noble  impulses.'  I  have  a  letter 
from  P.  W.  McAdow  of  Billings,  Montana,  who  knew  Bridger  well.  He 
says  that  Bridger  was  born  in  Washington  in  1807,  and  joined  Ashley's  fur 


WYOMING.  685 

that  FortBridger  was  founded, Sabille  Adams  and  com 
pany  erected  Fort  Platte  on  the  point  of  land  formed 
by  the  junction  of  Laramie  fork  with  the  Platte.  It 
was  never  completed,  having  one  side  open  toward 
the  river. 

Let  us  leave  fur-hunting  and  hunters  and  turn  to 
other  enterprises.  We  cannot  quite  get  away  from 
them  after  all,  for  it  is  in  their  company  that  all  come 
who  venture  to  invade  this  grand  and  virgin  heart  of 
the  continent.  In  1834,  1835,  1836,  1838  and  1839 
parties  of  missionaries,  men  and  women,  crossed  the 


OLD  FORT  BRIDGER. 


plains  and  mountains,  descending  to  the  shores  of  the 
Pacific.  Two  days'  travel  from  the  rendezvous  on 
the  Sweetwater,  the  two  pioneer  white  women  of 
the  Pacific  coast  received  such  a  welcome  as  the  men 
of  the  mountains  knew  how  to  give,  and  were  escorted 
to  the  great  camp  of  that  year  on  Green  river.  For 
a  week,  civilization  in  their  persons,  rested  in  this 


farm  near  WestpWt,  Mo.;  but  the  change  m  his  ha 

and  he  returned  to  the  mountains,  and  resumed  th 

which  he  followed  until  age  compelled  him  to  abandon  it,  when  he  went  to 

live  upon  his  farm,     He  died  at  his  home  near  \\  estport  m  U 


686  EARLY  EXPLORATIONS. 

meadowy  vale,  and  then  passed  on  with  the  great 
English  fur  company  to  the  Columbia." 

Another  devotee  comes,  in  1840,  to  christianize  the 
same  savages  which  other  Christian  men  are  doing 
their  best  to  heathenize.  His  enthusiastic  faith  does 
not  fail  him  however,  and  he  finds  one  nation  at  least 
which  is  approachable  by  spiritual  teaching.  They 
receive  him  joyfully,  pleased  with  the  notion  of 
receiving  knowledge,  for  even  the  savage  had  per 
ceived  that  knowledge  is  power.  This  is  P.  J.  De- 
Smet,  Jesuit,  and  man  of  brains,  which  even  his  nar 
rowing  religion  could  not  deaden,  if  it  could  pervert. 
Promising  to  come  again  prepared  to  teach,  he 
returned  to  St  Louis  with  the  fur  company,  redeem 
ing  his  promise  in  1841,  when  he  established  a  mis 
sion  west  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  among  the  Flat- 
heads,  after  which,  in  1842,  he  once  more  returned  to 
St  Louis  for  recruits. 

On  Smet's  homeward  journey  he  was  escorted  by 
his  Indians  through  the  Hellgate  pass  of  the  Rocky 
mountains,  along  their  eastern  slope  to  the  forks  of 
the  Missouri,  whence  he  journeyed  with  a  single 
companion,  John  de  Yelder,  by  way  of  the  Yellow 
stone  to  Fort  Van  Buren  at  the  mouth  of  the  Big 
horn,  and  thence  to  Fort  Union  at  tha  mouth  of  the 
Yellowstone,  where  he  took  passage  down  the  Mis 
souri  on  one  of  the  American  company's  boats.  On 
a  subsequent  expedition — for  Smet  was  an  almost  con 
stant  traveller — he  discovered  and  named  Smet  lake 
in  the  Bighorn  country,  and  detected  the  presence 
of  gold  in  the  soil  and  rocks  of  Wyoming.25 

24  The  missionary  travellers  above  referred  to,  were  the  Lee  brothers, 
Jason  and  Daniel,  in  1834,  Samuel  Parker  and  Marcus  Whitman  in  1835; 
Mr  and  Mrs  Whitman,  Mr  and  Mrs  Spalding,  and  W.  H.  Gray,  in  1830;  Mr 
and  Mrs  Walker,  Mr  and  Mrs  Eells,  Mr  and  Mrs  Smith,  1838;  Mr  and  Mrs 
Griffin,  Mr  and  Mrs  Mimger,  1839. 

'2J  According  to  Thomas  Sun,  of  Rawlins,  Wyoming,  De  Smet  gave  some 
captivating  accounts  of  thepreciou;  metal;  in  that  Bighorn  region.  Sr.n, 
born  in  Quebec,  was  for  several  years  in  the  service  of  the  American  Fur 
company,  during  which  time  he  became  acquainted  with  the  reverend  trav 
eller,  who  said  he  had  no  doubt  tha1;  thi "  region  was  the  richest  gold  field  in 
the  world,  and  would  be  found  to  be  such  when  the  Indian  hostilities  were 


WYOMING,  687 

In  1841  passed  the  forts  the  first  deliberate  emigra 
tion  to  Oregon  and  California  of  men,  women,  and 
children,  fifteen  in  number.""  The  same  year  passed 
Bidwell's  California  company.  In  1 842  Elijah  White's 
Oregon  company  of  112  men,  women,  and  children, 
and  a  train  of  eighteen  great  Pennsylvania  wagons, 
cattle,  pack- mules,  and  horses.  Bouideau  was  in 
charge  of  Fort  Laramie  at  that  time,  and  gave  the 
emigrants  timely  advice  and  assistance,  although  they 
grumbled  much  at  the  price  of  provisions  in  the 
mountains.  The  trappers  had  done  the  same  before 
them,  and  were  often  half-starved,  while  their  emplov- 
ers  rolled  in  wealth  which  their  toil  had  accumulated. 
In  1843  passed  the  fur  company's  posts  an  army  of 
occupation  destined  for  the  Columbia  river,  consisting 
of  1,000  men,  women  and  children,  with  draft  cattle, 
herds  of  cows  and  horses,  farming  implements,  and 
household  goods.  After  this,  things  were  never 
more  to  be  as  they  were  aforetime  in  the  hunting 
grounds  of  the  Rocky  mountains.  The  beaver  were 
all  but  exterminated;  few  trappers  remained;  the 
Indians  were,  if  not  more  hostile,  at  least  better  armed 
and  more  dangerous ;  immigration  westward  increased  ; 

O  & 

the  state  of  Deseret  was  planted  on  our  border ;  and 
in  a  few  years  gold  was  discovered  in  California,  after 
which  the  great  highway  became  like  a  vast  human 
river  dividing  the  continent  in  twain,  and  bearing  on 
its  bosom  what  argosies  of  human  hopes,  alas  I  how 
often  wrecked. 

If  the  reader  will  turn  to  my  History  of  Oregon,  he 
will  find  there  related  the  long  series  of  political 

sufficiently  quelled  to  allow  of  thorough  prospecting.  He  had  seen  white 
men  who  lived  with  the  Indians,  panning  rich  dirt,  and  had  seen  large  nug 
gets  in  the  hands  of  the  Indians.  Sti-ahorn,  Wyoming,  etc.,  189-90.  De  Smet's 
writings  abo  speak  of  the  mineral  wealth  of  the  country  he  travelled  over, 
but  less  definitely  as  to  locality. 

-c  These  were  Joel  P.  Walker,  wife,  sister,  three  sons  and  two  daughters 
Burrows,  wife  and  child;  Warneld,  wife  and  child,  and  one  Nichols. 
Kelsey  was  the  only  woman  in  the  Bidwell  party,  a.:d  arrived  in  Cal.  a  little 
later  than  Mrs  Walker,  though  the  Walker  company  went  by  the  way  o: 
Oregon. 


688  EARLY  EXPLORATIONS. 

events  which  led  to  sending  a  half  military  exploring 
expedition  to  the  South  pass  in  1842,  in  charge  of 
Fremont,  the  ostensible  design  of  which  was  to  look 
out  positions  for  a  line  of  posts  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia  river  for  the  protection  of  the  American 
fur  companies  from  the  encroachments  of  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company,  and  to  encourage  American  immi 
gration  by  protecting  it  from  the  savages.  He  was 
to  connect  his  explorations  with  those  of  Wilkes  on 
the  Pacific  coast,  but  did  nothing  further  this  year 
than  to  make  a  summer  jaunt27  to  the  South  pass, 
which,  being  a  military  officer  and  not  a  private  citi 
zen,  trader,  trapper,  missionary,  immigrant,  or  what 
not,  he  "discovered,"  naming  its  altitude,  and  ascend 
ing  the  highest  peak  in  the  Wind  River  range,  13,570 
feet,  planted  thereon  the  United  States  flag.  This 
mountain  he  named  Fremont's  peak ;  and  consider 
ing  that  the  government  paid  all  the  costs,  and  that 
he  had  an  experienced  mountain  man,  Kit  Carson, 
for  a  guide,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  eternal 
mountains  might  be  put  to  nobler  use  than  to  perpet 
uate  such  achievements.28  He  did,  however,  in  his 
subsequent  expeditions  actually  explore  some  new 
territory. 

The  first  United  States  soldiers  in  Wyoming  were 
the  detachment  with  Fremont,  making  with  his  guide 
twenty-one  men.  Events  soon  led  to  more.  After 
long  and  often  wearisome  discussions  in  congress,  and 
frequent  appeals  from  the  settlers  in  the  north-west, 
an  act  was  passed,  May  19?  1846,  for  the  establish 
ment  of  military  stations  on  the  route  to  Oregon,29 
appropriating  the  munificent  sum  of  $3,000  to  defray 
the  expense  of  each  such  station,  and  $2,000  each  to 

27  Scents  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  151.     Schell,  Hist.  Fart  Laramie,  MS.,  3-6. 

28 1  find  in  the  report  of  Silas  Reed,  the  first  surveyor-general  of  Wyom 
ing,  the  statement  that  President  Tyler  sent  Fremont  on  this  expedition, 
'over  the  heads  of  all  his  superior  officers  in  the  engineer  corps,'  he  having 
just  married  Jessie  Benton,  to  appease  the  hostility  of  the  great  Missouri 
senator  against  his  administration.  The  explanation  is  plausible,  and  no 
doubt  true.  U.  S.  Misc.  Doc.,  40,  p.  24,  41st  cong.,  3d  sess. 

29 Acts  of 'Cong,,  29,  1st  sess.,  chap.  22,  9  stat.  at  large,  13. 


WYOMING.  689 

purchase  the  consent  of  the  Indians  to  the  occupa 
tion  of  the  ground. 

In  order  to  carry  into  effect  this  act,  the  president 
made  a  requisition  upon  the  state  of  Missouri  for  a 
battalion  of  five  companies  of  mounted  volunteers.39 
The  Oregon  battalion,  as  it  was  called,  being  raised 
rather  late  in  the  summer  of  1847,  halted  about  the 
middle  of  September  at  a  point  on  the  Missouri  known 
as  Table  creek,  near  the  present  site  of  Nebraska 
City,  going  into  camp,  and  naming  the  cantonment 
after  General  Stephen  W.  Kearny.  A  detachment 
was  however  sent  forward  to  select  and  lay  out  a  site 
for  a  post  to  be  occupied  in  the  spring.  The  point 
selected  was  on  the  south  bank  of  Platte,  just  below 
the  head  of  Grand  island  and  three-fourths  of  a  mile 
from  the  river.  This  station,  which  was  300  miles 
northwest  of  Fort  Leavenworth,  and  200  from  Camp 
Kearny,  was  named  Fort  Childs,  in  honor  of  General 
Thomas  Childs,  of  Cerro  Gordo  fame,  which  name 
was  changed  to  Kearny,  by  the  department  on  the 
abandonment  of  the  former  camp.31  The  volunteer 
battalion  encamped  at  the  place  designated,  without 
erecting  quarters,  and  when  relieved  about  the  first 
of  November  by  two  companies,  I  and  G  of  the 
regiment  of  mounted  riflemen  first  raised  for  this  ser 
vice,  and  afterwards  diverted  to  Mexico,  returned  to 
Fort  Leavenworth.  Upon  Captain  C.  T.  RufF,  now 
in  command  of  the  suppositions  post,  devolved  the 
difficult  task  of  building  quarters  for  the  garrison, 
without  brick  or  lumber,  in  the  cold  and  snows  of 
winter.  Sod  huts  were  made  to  answer  the  purpose 

30  This  was  bat.  cos  A,  B,  C,  D,  and  E,  454  men.  It  was  commanded  by 
Lieut-col  Ludwell  E.  Powell.  The  other  com.  officers  were  captains  D.  Mc- 
Causland,  James  Craig,  Andrew  W.  Sublette,  R.  M.  Stewart,  and  W.  H. 
Rodgers.  First  lieuts,  A.  Lefairro,  Thos  L.  Mara,  F.  M.  Imprey,  and  H. 
Smith.  Second  lieuts,  J.  S.  Jones,  H.  Thomas,  R.  J.  Watson,  and  S.  Lin- 
gelfelter.  Brevet  second  lieuts,  S.  Mackett,  Thos  L.  Young,  W.  Mara,  and 
J.  M.  Searcy.  The  adjt  of  the  command  was  First  Lieut  T.  J.  Todd;  med. 
officer,  Asst  Surg.  J.  AValker;  quar,  Capt  Stewart  Van  Vliet,  of  the  regular 
army;  engineer,  'Daniel  P.  Woodbury,  of  the  U.  S.  engineer  corps.  Schell, 
Hist.  Fort  Laramie,  MS.,  8-9. 

,  Rifle  Regiment,  MS.,  2-3. 

HIST.  NEV.    44 


690 


EARLY  EXPLORATIONS 


of  houses ;  the  nearest  post-office  where  any  news  or 
communications  from  the  department  could  be  received, 
being  at  Linden,  Atchison  county,  Missouri,  an  expe 
rienced  post-rider  was  necessary  to  carry  the  mail  to 
and  from  that  point,  over  200  miles  distant ;  most  of 
the  horses  of  the  squadron  were  sent  to  Leavenworth 
to  be  wintered,  forage  and  shelter  being  lacking;  and 
altogether  the  founding  of  the  first  fort  beyond  the 
Missouri  frontier  was  a  rude  and  distasteful  experi 
ence.  One  of  the  first  recommendations  of  Captain 
Ruff  to  the  adjutant-general  was  that  he  be  permitted 


FORT  LARAMIE  IN  1849. 

to  issue  provisions  to  emigrant  parties  in  distress. 
Instructions  were  accordingly  given  to  sell  to  distressed 
travellers  supplies  out  of  the  surplus  stores,  and  hence 
forward  the  government  rescued  many  a  perishing 
family  whom  misfortune  had  robbed  of  its  outfit  in 
the  midst  of  the  wilderness.  Fort  Kearny  thus 
became  a  household  word  in  all  the  Pacific  north-west. 
It  was  discontinued  as  a  military  post  in  May  1871, 
and  the  garrison  removed  to  Omaha  barracks. 

In  the  spring  of  1849  measures  were  taken  to  estab 
lish  the  second  and  third  of  the  line  of  forts  contem- 


WYOMING.  691 

plated  for  the  protection  of  travel  across  the  conti 
nent,  and  Lieutenant  Wood  bury  of  the  engineer  porps 
was  authorized  to  purchase,  should  he  think  best,  the 
fort  of  the  American  Fur  company  at  Laramie  fork 
for  the  second.  This  was  done,  Woodbury  paying 
$4,000"  for  the  property  as  it  stood,  and  other  build 
ings  being  added  for  men  and  horses,  the  first  one, 
afterwards  known  as  "  bedlam,"  being  constructed  of 
lumber  brought  from  Fort  Leavenworth.  It  took 
123  days  for  official  papers  to  go  to  the  adjutant-gen 
eral's  office  in  New  York  and  back  to  Laramie,  which 
made  it  necessary  that  much  discretion  should  be 
lodged  with  post  commanders. 

When  the  regiment  of  mounted  riflemen,  being  fully 
recruited  and  equipped,  after  its  return  from  Mexico, 
was  started  on  its  march  to  Oregon  in  the  spring  of 
1849,  under  tColonel  Loring,  it  was  joined  at  Fort 
Kearny  by  Ruff's  squadron,  which  was  replaced  by 
one  company  of  1st  dragoons,  and  two  companies  of 
6th  infantry.  On  coming  to  Laramie,  Major  Win- 
slow  F.  Sanderson,  four  officers,  and  fifty-eight  men 
were  detached  to  garrison  this  post/3  In  July  and 
August  they  were  reenforced  by  one  company  of 

^Cochran,  in  his  Hitil.  Fort  Laramie,  24,  says  that  Woodbury  had  no 
authority,  there  being  no  appropriation,  etc. ;  but  that  is  a  mistake,  as  con 
gress  had  appropriated  85,000  in  1840,  for  each  fort,  and  as  the  suggestion  of 
purchase  came  from  the  adjutant-general,  which  was  all  the  authority  he 
needed.  See  letter  of  Adjt-gen.  R.  Jones  to  Maj.-gen.  D.  E.  Twiggs,  in 
Schema  Hist.  Laramie,  MS.,  23-7,  37-8. 

™Carlin,  Experiences  in  Wyoming,  MS.,  5.  Major  S.  P.  Moore  surgeon, 
Capt  Thomas  Duncan  comdg  co.  E,'  1st  Lieut  Daniel  P.  Woodbury  engineer 
corps,  1st  Lieut  Thomas  (I.  Rhett,  post-adjt  quartermaster.  On  the  20th  of 
July  Capt  Benjamin  S.  Roberts,  co.  C,  mounted  rifles,  2  officers,  and  GO  men 
joined  the  post.  Wash.  L.  Elliott  was  Istlieut.  On  the  12th  of  August  2nd 
Lieut  Levi  C.  Bootes,  co.  fl,  6th  infantry,  2  officers,  and  33  men  were  added 
to  the  garrison.  They  had  for  transportation  an  ox  train  and  were  three 
months  on  the  road.  The  1st  sergeant,  Leodgar  Schnyder,  is  still  at  the 
fort,  where  he  is  ordnance  sergeant.  Steele,  in  his  Rifle  Regiment,  MS..  2-3, 
says  that  Roberts  was  in  command,  which  is  an  error.  Steele  was  a  surgeon 
in  the  regiment.  In  the  summer  of  1850  the  mounted  rifles,  co.  left  the  post, 
which  was  garrisoned  for  a  year  by  a  single  co.,  G,  6th  infantry.  Rev. 
Richard  Vaux  was  schoolmaster  at  Fort  Laramie  from  1850  to  1861. 
served  with  distinction  in  the  civil  war,  becoming  brevet  brig. -gen.,  and  was 
retired  in  1873.  Rhett,  a  South  Carolinian,  joined  the  confederate  army,  as 
also  did  Major  Moore,  where  he  became  surgeon -general.  Cochran,  Hut.  Fort 
Laramie,  MS.,  27. 


692 


EARLY  EXPLORATIONS. 


mounted  rifles,  and  one  of  6th  infantry,  comprising, 
together,  115  men.  Major  Sanderson  was  relieved 
in  October  1850  by  Captain  William  S.  Ketchum  of 
the  Gth  infantry,  who  commanded  until  July  1852.34 
Ketchum  was  not  happy  in  his  position,  and 
obtained  leave  of  absence,  when  Lieutenant  Garnett  of 
the  same  regiment  took  command,  retaining  it  until 
May  1854,  when  he  was  ordered  elsewhere,  and  the 


EXPLANATIONS. 
E7573  Stone  Buildings. 
3  Adobe. 

-Ado"be  lined. 
Frame-lathed  4  Plastered. 
Pure  She!)  Traiue. 
~~n  Concrete. 


100  200  300  400  500  600 


FORT  LAKAMIE  IN  1874. 

garrison  was  reduced  from  170  men  to  a  portion  of  one 
company  and  a  single  officer,  2d  Lieutenant  Hugh  B. 
Fleming,  no  reinforcements  being  sent  until  Novem 
ber,  when  B  and  D  companies  of  the  Gth  infantry, 
numbering  111,  men  arrived  under  Lieutenant  Colonel 
William  Hoffman,  who  assumed  command  of  the 
post. 

Gradual  changes  had  taken  place  in  the  appearance 
of  Fort  Laramie  ;  old  buildings  had  been  removed  and 

34  According  to  Cochran,  Ketchum  was  always  in   a  quarrel  with  his  sub 
ordinates.     Sanderson  died  in  1853. 


WYOMING.  693 

new  ones  erected,  until  1862,  when  the  present  maga 
zine  was  constructed  in  part  out  of  the  adobes  used  in 
the  old  fort.  It  has  been  occupied  continuously  from 
1849  to  the  present,  as  a  military  post,  and  has  been 
the  scene  of  many  notable,  and  some  exciting,  events. 
For  many  years  it  was  the  actual  capital  of  a  large 
extent  of  territory.30  The  history  of  the  further 
march  of  the  mounted  rifle  regiment  which  founded  it 
is  fully  given  in  my  History  of  Oregon. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  American  Fur 
company  retired  from  the  territory  upon  the  advent 
of  troops.  They  simply  removed  to  Scott  Bluffs, 
sixty  miles  distant  from  their  former  fort,  where  they 
continued  to  trade  with  the  buffalo  hunting  Indians 
for  a  number  of  years,  and  where  their  presence  was 
influential  in  the  suppression  of  difficulties  between 
the  military  and  Indians,  and  in  the  making  of  treat 
ies.36  Dripps  was  in  charge  in  1851. 

A  trading  establishment  was  also  maintained  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  Fort  Laramie  by  Ward  and 
Guerrier.  In  fact  the  trading  companies  remained 
upon  the  ground  so  long  as  a  skin  or  a  robe  could  be 
purchased,  or  until  treaties  and  annuities  had  rendered 
hunting  less  necessary,  and  the  wars  between  the 
aboriginal  and  invading  races  had  caused  the  removal 
of  the  Indians  to  reservations. 

35  In  a  communication  from  Gen.  Carlin,  col  4th  infantry,  who  was  sta 
tioned  at  Fort  Laramie  when  a  lieut  in  the  6th  inf.  reg.,  in  1855,  I  find  the 
names  of  Bissonette,  Baudeau,  John  Richard,  Sr,  G.  P.  Beauvais,  Seth  E. 
Ward,  post-sutler,  and  Todd  Randall,  who  lived  at  or  near  the  fort  at  that 
period.    Experiences  in  Wyoming,   MS.,   is  Gen.  Carlin's  contribution  to  my 
work.     He  left  the  Laramie  country  in  1858,  and  came  to  Cal.,  where  he  was 
for  some  time  at  Benicia.     In  1882  he  was  again  for  a  short  time  in  Wyom 
ing  at  Fort  A.  D.  Russell. 

36  Scott  Bluffs  are  a  perpetual  monument  to  the  tragedy  of  the  death  from 
starvation  of  a  man  of  that  name  deserted  by  his  companions  on  Laramie 
fork,  being  too  ill  to  travel,  and  the  whole  party  without  food.     He  lived  to 
crawl  60  miles,  and  leave  his  bones  in  this  place.     These  bluffs  are  among 
the  many  curious  and  interesting  geological  phenomena  of  the  *ort 
region,  being  fantastic  shapes  in  indurated  clay  and  sandstone,  having  gra 
architectural  effects.     Chimey  rock  and  Independence  rock    much  fc 
west,  have  long  been  famous  features  in  the  topography  of  the  count 
Independence  rock  in  the  Sweetwater  valley  was  thus  named  from  the >  cir 
cumstance  of  its  being  ascended  by  a  party  who  there  celebrated  the  anni 
versary  of  American  independence,  on  the  4th  ot  July, 


CHAPTER   III. 

SETTLEMENT   AND  GOLD-HUNTING. 

1847-1863. 

PATHWAY  TO  THE  PACIFIC — COMING  OF  THE  LATTER-DAY  SAINTS— MILITARY 
MEN— PROSPECTING  FOR  GOLD— AN  ANGRY  ENGLISHMAN — BRIDGBR  AND 
HIS  FORT — MORMON  WAR — THE  LATTER-DAY  SAINTS  ABANDON  WYO 
MING — MOVEMENTS  OF  ARMY  FORCES — GOVERNMENT  EXPEDITION — 
ROADS  ORDERED  OPENED— PLACER  GOLD  DISCOVERED — THE  MORRISITES 
— INDIAN  HOSTILITIES— MILITARY  MEN  AND  FRONTIERSMEN— LKGBNDS 
OF  THE  WIND  RIVER  MOUNTAINS— SWIFT  PETRIFACTIONS. 

IT  is  remarkable  that  a  section  of  country  more 
travelled  over  than  any  other  between  the  great 
plains  and  the  Pacific  ocean,  should  have  remained 
unsettled  for  nearly  half  a  century,  the  only  white 
men  there  being  traders  and  military  men.  The  first 
who  came  to  spy  out  the  land  for  settlement  were 
men  professing  a  new  religion,  which  their  neighbors 
did  not  like,  who  sought  to  found  an  empire  in  the 
mountains  which,  in  time,  should  reach  to  the  shores 
of  the  Pacific.  Their  pioneers,  headed  by  Brigham 
Young  and  Heber  C.  Kimball,  numbered  143  men, 
with  a  train  of  seventy-three  wagons,  which  arrived 
at  Fort  Laramie  June  1,  1847,  while  it  was  yet  a 
trading  post.  Passing  on  to  Great  Salt  lake,  they 
selected  a  spot  on  its  border  where  a  city  was  to  be 
founded,  and  on  the  23d  of  July  plowed  the  first 
ground  ever  broken  for  seed  in  all  the  regions  west  of 
the  Platte  and  east  of  the  Sierra  Nevada.1 

In  1848  passed  Brigham  Young  again  with  over 

*It  is  said  in  the  Utah  Hand-book  of  Reference,  65,  that  Bridger  '  consid 
ered  it  impossible  to  bring  a  large  population  into  the  great  basin  until  it 
could  be  ascertained  that  grain  could  be  raised  there.  So  sanguine  was  he 
that  it  could  not  be  done  that  he  said  he  would  give  $1,000  for  a  bushel  of 
corn  produced  there.' 
(604) 


WYOMING.  695 

1,200  men,  women,  and  children,  and  397  wagons  ; 
H.  C.  Kimball  with  662  persons  and  226  wagons,  and 
W.  Richards  with  526  persons  and  169  wagons. 
There  was  a  large  migration  to  Oregon  also  that  year, 
and  out  of  these  thousands  not  one  cared  to  tarry  on 
the  North  Platte.  In  1849  1,400  emigrants  for  Salt 
Lake  passed  Forts  Laramie  and  Bridger,  and  an 
unknown  great  number  bound  to  the  gold  mines  in 
California. 

In  this  year,  also,  came  Captain  H.  Stansbury  and 
Lieutenant  J.  W.  Gunnison,  who  surveyed  the  valley 
of  Salt  lake,  by  order  of  the  government.  And  every 
year  thereafter  emigration  passed  beyond,  pausing 
only  to  purchase  supplies.  There  are  indications  that 
at  some  time,  probably  after  the  discovery  of  gold  in 
California,  some  persons  had  turned  aside  to  prospect 
in  the  mountain  streams,  but  of  their  fate  nothing 
definite  is  known.2  It  is  remembered  that  frequent 
efforts  to  discover  gold  were  made  by  persons  passing 
along  the  Sweetwater. 

The  private  expedition,  in  1854-6,  of  Sir  George 
Gore,  of  Sligo,  Ireland,  from  the  Missouri  river  at  St 
Louis  to  the  headwaters  of  Powder  river  has  been 
mentioned  in  my  History  of  Montana.  The  baronet 
had  forty  retainers,  fourteen  dogs,  one  hundred  and 

2  Such  a  party  was  one   of  300  men   from  Council  Bluffs,  led  by  Capt. 
Douglas  of  St  Joseph  valley,  Mich.,  who  in   1852  set  out  for  Cal.     At  Fort 
Laramie  30  men  left  the  main  company  to  prospect  in  the  mountains  to  the 
north,  agreeing  to  overtake  and  report  to  the  captain  at  Humboldt  river. 
Eight  of  them  did  overtake  the  company  as  promised,  reporting  that  they 
had  found  gold  upon  two  streams,  which  from  the  description  are  believed 
to  be  Rapid  and  Spring  creeks,  in  the  Black  hills,  and  desiring  the  company 
to  return  to  this  place.     But  it  was  already  late  in  the  season,  and  the  Ind 
ians  along  the  route  were  troublesome,  which  decided  the  reunited  company 
to  push  forward  to  Cal.     The  22  men  left  were  never  heard  from,  ai 
supposed  to  have  perished.  Sfrakoni,   Wyoming   Black  Htib,  etc.,  220. 
1876  some  prospectors  on  Battle  creek,  Black  hille  region,  m  an  old  shaft 
which  they  opened,  at  20  feet  from  the  surface,  under  10  feet  of  earth,  found 
a  shovel  and  pick,  the  handles  of  which  were  decayed,  and  the  iron  much 
rust-eaten.     On  the  same  stream  were  found  a  skull,  under  3  feet  of  ear 
and  near  by  a  pair  of  silver-bowed  spectacles.     There  were  several  prosp< 
holes  in  the  vicinity,  in  some  of  which  trees  six  inches  in  diameter  w 
growing.     On  Whitewood  creek  a  hammer  and  small  poll-pick  were 
15  feet  from  the  surface,  and  a  hatchet  in  another  place    all  imbedded  in 
earth  and  rusting  to  decay.     Whether  these  were  relics  of  the  Council 
party,  or  some  other,  vill  probably  never  be  known. 


696  SETTLEMENT  AND  GOLD -HUNTING. 

twelve  horses,  six  wagons,  twenty-one  carts,  and  twelve 
yoke  of  cattle.  He  spent  the  first  winter  at  Fort 
Laramie,  hunting  in  the  vicinity.  The  following 
year,  procuring  James  Bridger  for  a  guide,  he  trav 
elled  north,  making  his  headquarters  on  Powder  river 
for  a  season,  after  which  he  built  a  fort  near  the 
mouth  of  Tongue  river,  which  he  occupied  until  the 
autumn  of  1856,  when  he  left  it  to  return  to  St  Louis. 
His  only  object  in  seeking  the  mighty  solitudes  of 
the  heart  of  the  American  continent  was  the  gratifi 
cation  of  that  savage  instinct  preserved  with  so  much 
care  by  the  landed  aristocracy  of  Great  Britain,  the 
love  of  the  chase,  to  secure  themselves  in  the  enjoy 
ment  of  which  the  land  is  kept  from  the  homeless 
poor.  Whether  he  grew  more  savage  under  this  in 
dulgence  I  do  not  know,  but  he  was  furious  enough 
at  what  he  considered  the  extortion  of  the  North 
American  Fur  company,  with  which  he  had  contracted 
for  boats,  to  burn  all  his  Indian  goods,  wagons,  and 
supplies  in  front  of  Fort  Union,  guarding  the  flames 
from  plunder  while  they  were  consumed,  and  even 
throwing  the  irons  of  the  wagons  into  the  Missouri 
river,  rather  than  pay  the  price  asked  for  boats.  His 
horses  and  cattle  were  sold  for  little  to  vagabond 
white  men,  or  given  to  the  Indians,  and  having  thus 
cut  himself  ofT  from  any  possible  return  to  civilization 
that  year,  he  wintered  in  the  lodge  of  a  Crow  chief 
at  Fort  Berthold,  purchasing  fifty  beeves  at  thirty 
dollars  a  head,  rather  than  pay  fifty  dollars  a  head 
for  six,  which  was  all  he  needed.  That  transaction 
was  purely  in  accordance  with  the  reasoning  of  his 
race.  He  returned  to  St  Louis  by  steamboat  in 
1857. 

Bridger,  before  engaging  as  guide  with  Gore,  had 
disposed  of  his  post  on  Green  river  to  the  Mormons, 
who  were  the  first  actual  settlers,  to  the  number  of 
fifty -five,3  in  what  is  now  a  portion  of  Wyoming,  but 

3  According  to  the  Utah  Hand-book  of  Reference,  73,  John  Nebeker,  Isaac 
Bullock,  and  53  others  were  located  at  Fort  Supply,  in  Green  River  county, 


WYOMING.  697 

was  then  considered  to  be  in  Utah.  Fort  Supply,  as 
they  had  named  the  former  trading-post,  was  intended 
as  a  station  where  passing  emigrations  could  be  fur 
nished  with  provisions.  It  was  abandoned  on  the 
advent  of  a  command  of  United  States  troops  in  the 
vicinity,  the  occupants  retiring  to  Salt  lake.  The 
army  taking  possession  consisted  of  the  fifth  and  tenth 
regiments  of  infantry,  and  Phelps'and  Reno's  batteries 
of  artillery,  under  the  immediate  command  of  Colonel 
E.  B.  Alexander.  It  marched  by  the  Platte  route, 
and  passing  Laramie  arrived  at  Henry  fork  of  Green 
river,  thirty  miles  east  of  Fort  Supply,  early  in  Octo 
ber,  where  it  went  into  camp.4  While  awaiting  orders 
from  Washington,  the  Mormon  militia  destroyed  five 
supply  trains  of  twenty-five  wagons  each,  leaving  men 
and  animals  short  of  provisions  and  forage.  Soon 
afterward  General  A.  S.  Johnston  arrived,  and  moved 
camp  to  Black  fork,  establishing  Camp  Scott,  two 
miles  south  of  the  present  Fort  Bridger.  In  the  fol 
lowing  spring  the  Mormon  settlers  of  Green  river 
valley  were  called  in,  "  except  a  few  men  in  every 
settlement  to  burn  everything  in  case  the  troops,  upon 
their  arrival  in  the  valley,  should  prove  hostile."  The 
government  retained  possession  of  the  valley,  Fort 
Supply  having  been  as  much  as  possible  destroyed, 
and  when  Major  William  Hoffman  arrived,  in  the 
spring  of  1858,  with  reinforcements  and  ample  sup 
plies,  the  present  military  post  was  erected,  the  former 
name  restored,  and  Hoffman  placed  in  command, 

in  Nov.  1853.  These,  then,  were  the  first  settlers  after  Bridger,  though  it  is 
stated  by  some  that  Louis  Robinson  was  the  first  settler.  He  is  called  a 
Mormon,  though  he  is  said  to  have  come  to  the  country  in  1832  from  North 
Carolina,  via  Taos,  N.  M.,  and  had  probably  never  heard  of  the  Latter-day 
saints  before  they  appeared  at  Fort  Bridger  in  1847.  '  Uncle  Jack  Robinson 
a  warm  personal  friend  of  Bridger,  and  an  old  resident,  has  been  confounded 
with  Louis  Robinson,  who  may  have  been  one  of  the  55  settlers  sent  by 
Brigham  Young.  He  kept  a  ferry  on  Green  river  in  1860.  Con.  Hist.  Soc. 
Mont.,  220,  222. 

*  The  Utah  Hand-book  of  Reference,  p.  75,  informs  us  that  on  the  8th  Sept 
'Captain  Van  Vliet,  of  Gen.  Harney's  staff,'  visited  Salt  Lake  City,  and  had 
an  interview  with  President  Young,  and  after  a  few  days  spent  in  that  place 
proceeded  to  Washington,   'where  he  used  his  influence  m  favor  of  the 
saints. ' 


698  SETTLEMENT  AND  GOLD-HUNTING. 

while  Johnston  marched  the  greater  portion  of  the 
army  from  Green  river  to  Salt  lake,  and  established 
Camp  Floyd  in  that  vicinity.  This  was  the  end  of 
Mormon  occupation  in  Wyoming.0 

From  about  this  period  frequent  government  expe 
ditions  touched  at  Laramie,  and  deflected  to  whatever 

5 Lieut  Joseph  H.  Taylor,  1st  cavalry,  was  the  first  post-adjutant  at  Fort 
Bridger;  Lieut  B.  F.  .Smith,  6th  inf.,  the  first  depot  quartermaster.  On  the 
17th  of  Aug.,  1858,  Lieut-col  E.  R.  S.  Canby,  inaj.  10th  infantry,  relieved 
Major  Hoffman,  who  rejoined  the  6th  inf.,  which  soon  after  marched  to  Cal. 
Canby  was  relieved  March  7,  1860,  by  Maj.  R.  C.  Gatlin,  7th  inf.,  and  went 
to  N.  M.  In  June  Gatlin  also  was  Bordered  to  N.  M.,  and  Capt.  Alfred 
Gumming,  10th  inf.,  took  command,  who  was  in  turn  relieved,  Aug.  9th,  by 
Capt.  Frank  Gardner,  same  regiment.  When  the  civil  war  broke  out,  Cum- 
ining  joined  the  confederate  army.  In  May  1861  Capt.  Jesse  A.  Gore,  10th 
inf.,  was  placed  in  command.  When  the  troops  were  required  at  the  east 
during  the  rebellion,  Col  Cooke,  2d  cav.,  in  command  at  Camp  Floyd,  aban 
doned  that  post,  and  repaired  to  Fort  Bridger,  where  the  bulk  of  the  sub 
sistence  and  quartermasters'  stores  were  sold  at  auction,  and  purchased  by 
the  Mormons.  It  was  estimated  that  $4,000,000  worth  of  goods  were  sold 
for  $100,000.  Utah  Hand-book  of  Reference,  78.  After  this  both  garrisons 
were  marched  to  Fort  Leavenworth,  leaving  only  a  few  men,  whose  terms  of 
service  were  nearly  expired,  at  Fort  Bridger,  under  Capt.  J.  C.  Clarke,  4th 
art.,  who  in  Dec.  1861  was  ordered  east,  leaving  orderly  sergt  Bogee  at  the 
post,  with  a  handful  of  privates.  For  about  a  year,  at  a  critical  period, 
considering  the  civil  war,  and  the  Mormon  and  Indian  hostilities,  Bogee 
remained  in  charge.  The  Mormons  setting  up  a  claim  to  the  land,  on  the 
ground  of  a  conveyance  from  Bridger,  Post-trader  W.  A.  Carter  organized  a 
volunteer  company  of  mountain  men  for  the  protection  of  property  at  the 
fort.  In  Dec.  1862,  Capt.  M.  G.  Lewis,  3d  Cal.  inf.  vols,  arrived  at  the  post 
and  assumed  command;  and  during  the  war,  and  until  July  1866,  it  was 
garrisoned  by  Cal.  and  Nev.  vols,  who  performed  the  hard  service  of  guard 
ing  the  mails,  escorting  travellers,  and  fighting  Indians.  Bvt  maj.  A.  8. 
Burt,  capt.  18th  inf.,  took  command,  when  the  vols  were  mustered  out,  the 
garrison  consisting  of  F  and  H  companies  1st  battalion,  18th  inf.  During 
the  construction  of  the  Union  Pacific  R.  R.  a  garrison  of  5  companies  of  the 
36th  inf.,  under  Bvt-col  Henry  A.  Morrow,  was  stationed  at  Fort  Bridger, 
and  much  of  the  time  employed  in  guarding  the  engineers,  and  the  overland 
stage  route  for  200  miles  east  of  Green  [river.  Maj.  J.  H.  Belcher,  post- 
quartermaster,  had  many  improvements  made  during  that  period.  From 
May  1878  to  June  1880  the  post  was  abandoned.  When  reestablished  the 
garrison  consisted  of  F  and  H  companies,  4th  inf.  In  1881,  post-trader 
Carter  caused  a  road  to  be  constructed  over  the  mountains  from  Fort  Thorn- 
burg  in  Utah  to  a  mail  station  35  miles  south  of  Fort  Bridger,  to  facilitate 
communication.  In  1883,  additional  barracks  and  quarters  were  commenced, 
and  the  garrison  increased,  consisting  then  of  B,  C,  and  G  companies  of  the 
Oth  inf.,  under  command  of  Lieut-col  T.  M.  Anderson,  same  regiment.  In 
June  of  the  same  year  a  battalion,  consisting  of  two  companies  from  Fort 
Bridger,  two  from  Fort  Fred  Steele,  under  Maj.  I.  D.  De  Russy,  4th  infan 
try,  repaired  and  improved  the  road  to  Fort  Thornburg.  In  Aug.  1884,  the 
garrison  at  Fort  Bridger  was  increased  by  companies  D  and  H,  21st  inf.,  and 
Col  Anderson  was  relieved  by  Lieut-col  Alexander  Chambers  of  that  regiment, 
to  whose  Hwt.  Fort  Bridyer,  MS. ,  I  am  indebted  for  most  of  the  above  account 
of  its  services  in  the  history  of  Wyoming.  Snrg.-gen.  Circ.,  8,  316-24;  V.  S. 
Misc.  Doc.,  40,  pp.  29-30,  41st  cong.,  3d  sess.;  'U.  S.  If.  Com.  Kept,  520,  iii., 
43d  cong.,  1st  sess.;  Hayden,  Rept,  1870,  p.  55. 


WYOMING.  699 

course  they  had  been  destined  for.  Captain  E.  G. 
Beckwith,  third  artillery,  who  took  charge  of  the 
survey  of  a  railroad  route  near  the  forty -first  parallel, 
after  the  massacre  of  Captain  Gunnison  and  party  in 
1853,  explored  the  valley  of  Green  river  and  the 
streams  issuing  from  the  Uinta  mountains.  In  1857, 
Johnson's  army  encamped  in  Green  river  valley,  and 
their  supplies  being  cut  off  by  the  Mormons,  Captain 
K.  B.  Marcy,  with  forty  men,  in  the  month  of  No 
vember,  proceeded  from  Fort  Bridger  to  the  foot  of 
the  mountains  between  Gre'en  and  Grand  rivers,  up  a 
canon  to  the  top  of  the  range,  to  Grand  river,  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Uncompahgre,  up  Eagle-tail  river 
to  Coschetopes  pass,  and  to  Fort  Massachusetts, 
where  he  obtained  what  was  required,  and  returned 
the  following  June  by  way  of  the  route  east  of  the 
mountains,  and  through  the  South  pass.  Captain 
Marcy's  success  is  a  proof  both  of  the  courage  of  the 
man,  and  the  excellence  of  the  climate  which  spared 
his  life  on  so  terrible  a  journey.6 

In  1857  came  William  M.  Magraw,  who  had  se 
cured  a  contract  from  the  government  to  open  a  road 
through  the  South  pass,  as  if  that  road  had  not  been 
in  constant  use  by  emigrants  for  fourteen  years.  But 
being  a  government  expedition,  it  was  accompanied 
by  naturalists,7  whose  reports  were  of  value  to  science, 
and  through  science  to  more  material  objects.  In 
1858  Captain  J.  H.  Simpson,  of  the  topographical 
engineers,  explored  and  opened  a  road  from  Fort 
Bridger  to  Camp  Floyd,  and  thence  the  following 
year  to  Carson,  Nevada,8  eking  out  the  survey  of 
Colonel  Steptoe  of  1855. 

In  July  1859  Captain  W.  F.  Keynolds,  of  the  topo- 

«Marcu,  Thirty  Years  of  A  rmy  Life,  2*24-49. 

M   G.  Cooper,  surgeon  of  the  wagon-road  expedition,  was  naturalis 
the  previous  expedition    of  I.   I.   .Stevens,  via   the  Missouri  river  to  Tuget 
sound    1853.  C.  Drexler  was  taxidermist  in  1857.  Cooper  returned  to  Wash 
intrton  the  same  season,  but  Magraw  and  Drexler  wintered  on  Wind  river, 
moving  to  Camp  Scott  in  March,  where  the  latter  made  a  large  collection  < 
birds.   Smitlisonian  Rept,  1858,  p.  50. 

8  Simpson  Explor.  Greet  Basin,  7,  24-5. 


700 


SETTLEMENT  AND  GOLD-HUNTING. 


graphical  engineers,  under  orders  from  gover 
Ted  an  expedition  from  Fort  Pierre,  on  the  Mi 
river,  to   the    Black  hills,  and  having  explore* 
northeastern  and  northern  portion  of  this  range,  ir 
on  to  Powder  river  and  the  Bighorn,  exploring 
country  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Yellowstone 
Missouri,0  with  Bridger  for  a  guide.     Reynolds 
accompanied  by  a  scientific  corps  under  Hayden, 
had  previously  explored  the  Platte  valley  for  some 


L 


TRAILS  IN  WYOMING. 

distance.  They  were  escorted  by  a  single  company 
of  soldiers,  under  Maynadier  and  Lee,  and  made  a 
favorable  report  on  the  country. 

Men  were  by  this  time  earnestly  looking  for  gold, 
and  the  report  went  forth  that  gold  had  been  discov 
ered  in  the  Bighorn  mountains  by  this  expedition. 
But  Reynolds,  afraid  of  losing  his  escort  by  desertion, 
forbade  the  discoverer  to  reveal  the  truth  to  any  but 
himself  and  Hayden,  which  reticence  caused  the  local- 

9  U.  S.  Jvur,,  300;  37  cong.,  3  sess.  Mullan,  Military  Road  Rept,  27. 


WYOMING.  701 

ity  to  be  lost ;  and  although  there  had  been  before, 
and  have  been  since,  several  reputed  discoveries  in 
this  range,  there  has  never  been  any  mining,  for  until 
within  recent  years  the  Indians  made  it  such  desper 
ate  hazard  that  few  would  venture,  and  those  who 
ventured  seldom  returned  to  reveal  any  discoveries 
they  had  made,  and  the  country  remained  practically 
unexplored.10 

Colorado  was  swarming  with  gold-seekers,  and  Mon 
tana  was  known  to  be  rich  in  auriferous  deposits;  why 
not  this  region  lying  sandwiched  between  them  ? 
This  was  the  question  asked  by  thousands  who  trav 
ersed  it,  few  of  whom  failed  to  strike  a  pick  here  and 
there  as  they  passed,  or  to  curiously  examine  the  sands 
of  every  stream  crossed  in  their  wanderings. 

A  party  of  twelve  men  who  left  Missouri  for  Mon 
tana  in  1863  travelled  the  route  up  the  Cheyenne 
river  to  the  Black  hills,  where  they  prospected,  and 
took  out  in  three  days  $180  in  placer  gold  ;  after 
which,  the  season  being  late,  they  proceeded  to  their 
destination,  and  finding  plenty  of  the  precious  stuff  in 
Montana,  did  not  return.  In  later  years  the  same 
persons  failed  to  rediscover  the  spot  where  they 
washed  out  their  first  gold.11 

I  have  referred  in  my  History  of  Montana  to  an 
expedition  in  1863  which  left  Bannack  City  for  the 
purpose  of  exploring  the  country  drained  by  the  Yel 
lowstone  for  gold  mines  and  town -sites.  The  party 
travelled  up  the  Bighorn  river,  finding  no  gold,  but 
losing  several  of  their  party  by  Indian  attacks,  and 
traversing  the  Wind  river  country,  came  to  the  Sweet- 
water  at  °  Pacific  City,"  a  trading-house  at  the  foot 

10  A  small  party  of  Canadian  Frenchmen  in  1862  left  the  stage  station  at 
the  crossing  of  the  Sweetwater  to  go  to  the  Bighorn  mountains,  having  in 
vain  endeavored  to  induce  others  to  join  them.  They  were  never  heard  of 
more.  They  were  J.  Dubois,  J.  Patneese,  and  three  brothers.  There  was 
no  old  trapper  or  guide  in  the  country  who  did  not  have  a  tale  of  gold  dis 
covery  to  relate,  but  they  could  not  be  induced  to  reveal  them  either  because 
they  were  untrue  or  that  they  feared  the  Indians. 

"  G.  T.  Lee  of  Central  City,  Black  hills,  was  one  of  the  party.  StraJiorn, 
Wyoming  Black  Hills,  86,  222. 


702  SETTLEMENT  AND  GOLD-HUNTING. 

of  Rocky  ridge,  where  they  overtook  a  train  guarded 
by  a  few  soldiers,  who  were  stationed  at  South  pass. 
Along  the  road  at  intervals  of  about  eighty  miles 
were  found  small  squads  of  troops  for  this  service. 
They  met  here  a  Mormon  who  had  been  to  Devil's 

Eite  for  a  cargo  of  soda,  which  he  was  taking  to  Salt 
ake,  this  being  the  first  recorded  export  of  any  min 
eral  from  Wyoming.  At  Rock  creek  la  they  found  a 
lieutenant  and  twenty  soldiers,  a  telegraph  station, 
and  a  few  residents.  Walter  Cook,  the  telegraph 
operator;  Louis  Slivers,  who  had  located  at  this  place 
with  the  intention  of  farming,  but  had  lost  all  his 
stock  and  goods  by  the  Indians,  and  every  growing 
thing  by  the  grasshoppers;  a  blacksmith,  and  a  trader 
constituted  the  settlement ;  but  the  place  was  popu 
lous  during  the  season  of  travel,  and  business  was  at 
its  height  when  the  expedition  passed.  It  visited 
Fort  Bridger,  finding  on  Ham's  fork  of  Green  river 
several,  wood  and  stone  houses,  a  good  stone  corral  and 
barn,  with  plenty  of  hay;  signs  of  the  advance  of  civ 
ilization  which  had  but  little  chance  to  live  except 
under  the  walls  of  a  fort.  At  the  post  the  company 
were  entertained  by  the  California  minstrels,  a  soldier 
troupe,  which  gave  a  concert,  charging  fifty  cents 
admission.  They  also  met  there  General  Conner, 
who,  on  hearing  of  the  sufferings  which  had  befallen 
the  exploring  party  by  the  Indians,  did  not  show  them 
much  sympathy.  Conner  had  at  that  time  many 
lodges  of  the  natives  in  the  vicinity  of  the  fort,  hav 
ing  compelled  them  to  bring  in  and  deliver  up 
stolen  horses.  As  a  consequence  many  white  men 
were  there  hoping  to  recover  their  property,  only  a 
moiety  of  which  was  restored.13  From  Fort  Bridger 

12  James  Stuart,  in  his  journal  of  the  expedition,  says  that  he  had  found 
gold  on  this  creek  three  miles  above  the  crossing  in    1860.   Con.   Hist.  Soc., 
Montana,  218. 

13  Stuart  mentions  meeting  on  the  Sweetwater  and  Green  river,  Hardesty 
and  Alexander,  freighters,  with  a  large  train  for  Salt  lake;  William  McAdow 
going   to  Montana;  Josh  Terry,  Peter  Myrtle,   Granger,   Louis   Robinson, 
'  Uncle  Jack'  Robinson,   Monsieur  Boivert,    Dick  Hamilton,  John  Sharpe, 
and  W.  A.  Carter,  afterward  probate  judge  of  Uinta  county,  besides  many 
others  not  known  to  him. 


WYOMINU.  703 

the  company  returned  to  Bannack  by  the  immigrant 
road  via  Soda  springs,1'  Red  Rock  valley,  and  Horse 
prairie,  having  made  a  circuit  of  1600  miles  without 
finding  any  diggings,  yet  not  convinced  that  they  did 
not  exist.  In  the  two  following  years  efforts  were 
made  to  effect  a  more  satisfactory  exploration  of  the 
Bighorn  region  by  Montana  companies,  none  of  which 
were  able  to  hold  their  own  against  the  Indians. 

The  Bighorn  country  having  yielded  nothing  to  the 
hasty  search  which  alarmed  and  distressed  prospect 
ors  had  made,  rumors  were  started  of  rich  diggings 
on  Wind  river,  a  feeder  of  the  Bighorn,  coming  down 
from  Wind  river  mountains,  and  four  several  com 
panies  from  Idaho  took  the  field  in  1866,  determined 
to  remain  in  the  country  long  enough  to  make  a 
thorough  survey  of  its  mineral  resources,  while 
another  from  Montana  joined  its  forces  with  theirs. ls 

14  A  half  mile  above   Soda  springs  Stuart  found  a  town  laid  out  by  the 
Morrisites,  seceders  from  the  Mormon  church.     They  had  about  20  houses 
built,  and  were  erecting  others  in  expectation  of  a  train  of  their  brethren  to 
arrive  in  three  days.      Most  of  them  were   Welsh  and  Danes.     They  were 
poor  and  miserable,  even  to  the  point  of  beggary.     The  year  before,  in  June, 
a  posse  from  Salt  Lake  had  besieged  for  three  days  a  camp  of  Morrisites  on 
Weber  river,  and  after  killing  Morris  Banks  and  four  others,  and  having  two 
of  the  attacking  posse  killed,  carried  the  remainder  of  the  camp  as  prison 
ers  to  the  city.    Utah  Hand-Book  of  Reference,  79.     The  presence  of  a  com 
pany  of  Cal.  volunteers  stationed  near  the  new  settlement  to  protect  the 
immigration  prevented  violence  toward  this  camp  in  1863,  and  the  organiza 
tion  of  Idaho  in  that  year  was  another  safeguard. 

15  The  Idaho  companies  were  led  as  follows:  Capt.  Bledsoe,  45  men;  Capt. 
Jeff.  Standifer,  49  men;  Capt.   D.   C.    Patterson,  95  men;  Capt.  Bailey,  53 
men.     In  Patterson's  company  were  Henry  Hughes,  Jerry  Fitzgerald,  C.  F. 
Nichols,  John  Arling,  Charlez  Merrill,  Charles  H.   Young,  George  Podgett, 
R.  C.  Coombs,  George  Stonerood,   Benjamin  White,   McCraw,    Hawthorne, 
Thompkins,     and   others.   Idaho    World,    Aug.    18,    1866.     The  Montaniaus 
joined  Standifer,   who  had  atone  time  115  men  in  his  company,  and  who 
kept  on  in  the  direction  of   Wind    river,   while  the  former,  desiring  to  go 
to  the  Bighorn,  where  two  forts  had  been  erected  that  year,  75  of  the  company 
took  that  direction.     This  party  had  the  usual  experience  of  intruders  in 
that  region.     On  the  13th  of  Sept.  Col  J.  N.  Rice  of  Idaho  and  J.  W.  Smith 
of  Helena,  Mont.,  were  killed  while  absent  from  camp  hunting.  Their  bodies 
were  not  discovered  for  two  days.     They  were  at  this  time   18  miles  from 
Fort  Philip  Kearny,  and  one  of  the  party  being  ill,   the  explorers  turned 
aside  to  leave  him  at  this  post.     Twenty-six  of  the  men  engaged  at  the  fort 
to  help  guard  hay -cutters,   who  could  not  work   for  fighting  Indians,  who 
shot  among  them  and  burned  their  hay-stacks.     This  with  other  desertions 
reduced  the  Bighorn  prospecting  company  to  16,  a  party  too  small  to  safely 
get  out  of  the  country.     But  a  detachment  of  26  soldiers  being  sent  to  Fort 
C.  F.  Smith  with  the  mail,   they  joined  this  escort,  which  was  glad  of  re 
cruits.     When  within  45  rnilea  of  Fort  C.   F.  Smith  they  were  attacked  in 


704  SETTLEMENT  AND  GOLD-HUNTING. 

They  travelled,  as  Stuart's  company  had  done,  about 
1600  miles,  prospecting  Bighorn,  Wind  river,  Medi 
cine  lodge,  and  the  streams  at  the  head  of  the  Yellow 
stone  and  Snake  rivers,  finding  nothing  worthy  of 
attention  by  miners  16  except  at  the  head  of  the  Stink- 
ing water,  where  some  of  Standifer's  party  reported 
finding  good  prospects,  and  the  following  spring 
returned  to  that  region.17 

Wind  river  mountains  and  valley  were  from  earli 
est  times  much  talked  of  by  white  and  red  men. 
Many  legends  were  current  concerning  the  mountains, 
among  which  was  one  that  in  some  places  timber,  ani 
mals,  and  even  men  were  petrified  in  the  very  sem 
blance  of  life,  and  these  places  were  shunned  by  the 
natives,  who  feared  being  turned  to  stone.  This 
legend  probably  gave  rise  to  the  absurd  story  told  by 
a  Rocky  mountain  trapper  that  he  had  seen  a  tree 
petrified  with  all  its  branches  and  leaves  perfect,  with 
the  birds  on  it  turned  to  stone  in  the  act  of  singing. 
The  story  was  considered  tough,  even  by  mountain 
men  ;  but  does  not  the  account  of  Lot's  wife  equal  it? 

The  valley,  about  eight  miles  wide,  and  between 
150  and  200  miles  in  length,  was  regarded  as  one  of 
the  choicest  spots  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Rocky 
mountains.  The  river  was  rapid  and  clear,  its  banks 
adorned  with  stately  cottonwood  trees,  while  the 
mountain  sides  were  covered  with  forests  of  pine. 
The  soil  was  dark  and  rich,  the  climate  mild,  and  game 
abundant.  Vast  herds  of  buffaloes,  antelopes,  deer, 
and  elk  roamed  through  it.  At  the  upper  end  was  a 

camp  by  a  large  number  of  Indians,  and  compelled  to  intrench  themselves. 
The  battle  lasted  for  two  or  three  hours,  when  the  Indians  were  finally 
driven  off.  During  the  fight  a  soldier  was  wounded,  and  a  number  of  horses 
captured.  The  following  day  they  were  again  surrounded,  attacked,  and 
forced  to  fight  their  way  out,  which  they  did  with  no  serious  casualties, 
though  compelled  to  abandon  their  mining  tools  and  provisions  in  order  to 
mount  all  the  men.  They  arrived  at  Fort  C.  F.  Smith,  where  they  were 
able  to  procure  from  private  individuals  s.  supply  of  food,  and  whence  they 
returned  to  Virginia  City  in  company  with  another  small  party  of  freighters. 
Virginia  Montana  Post,  Oct.  27,  1866. 

16  Owyhee  Avalanche,  Oct.  27,  1866. 

17  Virginia  Mont.  Post,  March  16,  1867. 


WYOMING.  705 

hot  sulphur  spring.18  It  was  these  attractions  which 
had  made  it  a  favorite  wintering  ground  of  the  natives 
and  the  fur  companies,  and  which  now  made  it  desir 
able  that  a  reason  should  be  found  for  making  settle 
ments  in  it.  The  Bighorn  valley  also  was  found  to 
be  an  excellent  grazing  country,  which  in  1866  was 
covered  with  immense  herds  of  buffalo,  pointing  to 
uses  to  which  it  could  be  devoted  by  home- building 
men.  In  short.  Green  river,  Sweetwater,  Wind  river, 
and  Bighorn  valleys  were  beginning  to  be  regarded 
as  desirable  for  mining  and  grazing,  if  not  for  agricul 
ture,  when  the  usual  check  was  placed  upon  settle 
ment  by  the  bloody  protests  of  the  native  population. 

**  Suxetwater  Miner,  Feb.  22,  1868. 
HIST.  Nav.    45 


CHAPTER  IV. 

INDIAN  WARS. 
1841-1868. 

EMIGRANT  PARTIES — CHEYENNES  AND  Sioux — FORCE  AT  FORT  LARAMIE — 
FLEMING'S  ATTACK— GRATTAN'S  DEFEAT— A  BLOODY  WAR— LIFE  AT 
FORT  LARAMIE — MOVEMENTS  OF  THE  CHEYENNES  AND  ARAPAHOES — 
EFFECT  OF  COLORADO  IMMIGRATION  AND  CIVIL  WAR — CONTINUED 
DEPREDATIONS — PEACE  PROPOSALS— GOLD-HUNTING  ON  THE  BIGHORN— 
CARRINGTON'S  EXPEDITION — FETTERMAN'S  DEFEAT — AFFAIRS  AT  THE 
FORTS — CONTINUED  HOSTILITIES — TREATY  COMMISSION. 

THE  immigration  of  1842  would  have  fared  ill  but 
for  the  presence  of  Fitzpatrick  of  the  American  Fur 
company,  who  used  his  powerful  influence  and  con 
summate  skill  to  prevent  a  slaughter.  Not  that  the 
112  had  done  anything  to  offend  the  Indians,  but 
that  the  Cheyennes  and  Sioux  were  becoming,  with 
their  little  and  unfortunate  knowledge  of  the  white 
race,  their  whiskey,  their  improved  weapons,  and  their 
wrongs,  real  or  fancied,  a  foe  to  all  whom  they  met, 
red  men  or  white,  who  were  not  in  alliance  with 
them.  More  than  that,  in  August  1841,  they  had 
fought  a  party  of  sixty  men,  led  by  Frapp,  on  the 
head  waters  of  Snake  river,  losing  ten  warriors,  though 
killing  Frapp  and  four  trappers.  During  the  follow 
ing  spring  the  Sioux  had  cut  off  two  small  parties, 
one  in  the  Black  Hills,  and  another  on  the  Bighorn. 
Still  they  were  not  satisfied,  and  a  party  of  350  braves 
followed  the  immigrants,  overtaking  them  near  Inde 
pendence  rock,  but  the  courage  and  tact  of  their 
guide  averted  a  catastrophe  which  might  have  delayed 
the  settlement  of  Oregon  for  another  decade,  and 

(706) 


WYOMING.  707 

altered  the  political  history  of  the  northwest  territory.1 
This  company  was  permitted  to  pass,  with  the  assur 
ance,  however,  that  in  future  the  path  would  be  found 
closed  which  led  through  their  country.  On  this 
account,  also,  Fremont  a  little  later  was  compelled  to 
secure  the  services  of  a  well  known  guide  and  inter 
preter.  But  the  next  year  what  had  the  doughty 
Sioux  warriors  to  say?  for  here  came  1,000  white 
men,  women,  and  children,  with  hundreds  of  wagons, 
and  great  herds  of  cattle  and  horses,  such  as  they  had 
never  dreamed  of  seeing,  whom  they  could  neither 
turn  back  nor  kill.  Destiny  was  too  strong  for  them, 
and  they  retreated  to  their  villages  to  consider  what 
could  now  be  done.  A  tribe  of  red  men  had  some 
times  been  exterminated  by  persistent  and  watchful 
hostility  ;  they  would  try  what  could  be  accomplished 
toward  exterminating  these  audacious  white  people. 
Their  efforts  in  this  cause  led  to  the  occupation  of 
Fort  Laramie  as  a  military  post,  in  order  to  save  the 
annual  immigrations  from  plunder  and  massacre. 
While  three  companies  of  troops  were  at  the  fort, 
comparative  order  was  maintained. 

In  1851,  Kirkpatrick  having  been  appointed  Indian 
agent,  a  treaty  was  entered  into  between  the  United 
Slates  government  and  the  Sioux,  Arapahoes,  and 
Cheyennes,  of  the  North  Platte,  by  which  the  terri 
tory  of  these  bands  should  be  that  contained  between 
the  100th  and  107th  meridians  of  longitude,  and  the 
39th  and  44th  parallels  of  latitude,  embracing  122,500 
square  miles.  They  were  to  receive  annuities  of  the 
value  of  $50,000,  and  to  preserve  friendly  relations 
with  citizens  of  the  government.3  The  number  of 
warriors  belonging  to  the  Ogalalah  and  £rule  Sioux, 
and  the  Arapahoes  and  Cheyennes  within  this  agency, 
was  estimated  to  be  2,000,  while  the  whole  number 
was  computed  to  be  5,500.  To  hold  in  check  this 
hostile  force  -for  despite  treaties  these  savages  were 


Fremont  Exped.  1842-3-4,  U^J&J^7^£Z™  155~57 
.  Kept,  185*5,  94;  Id,,  1859,  13/-8;  Id,,  1862,  229, 


708  INDIAN  WARS. 

never  friendly — after  the  first  two  years  there  was 
but  a  handful  of  soldiers,  under  young,  and  of  course 
inexperienced  officers.  As  soon  as  the  Indians  became 
aware  of  the  reduction  of  the  garrison,  they  became 
extremely  insolent,  refusing  to  obey  the  regulation 
which  expelled  them  from  the  limits  of  the  post  after 
"  retreat,"  a  hand  to  hand  conflict  being  necessary  to 
eject  them.  For  this  insult  to  savage  dignity  they 
made  a  demonstration  on  the  fort,  which  only  the 
promptitude  of  the  little  garrison,  and  the  good  offi 
cers  of  Fitzpatrick  prevented  becoming  a  bloody 
affair.3 

The  single  company  left  at  Fort  Laramie  was  in 
1852  reduced  to  twenty -five  able  men.  An  attempt 
was  made  by  Lieutenant  Fleming  with  twenty-three 
men  to  arrest  an  Indian  who  had  fired  on  a  sergeant 
in  charge  of  the  ferry  over  Laramie  river.4  He  went 
to  the  village  of  the  band,  halted  his  command  and 
sent  an  interpreter  to  inform  the  chief  of  the  nature 
of  his  errand,  who  being  absent,  the  young  braves 
declared  for  war,  sooner  than  submit  to  arrest. 
Flaming  advanced  with  five  men,  leaving  the  rest  in 
reserve.  Shots  were  exchanged,  four  Indians  killed, 
and  two  captured.  This  ended  the  encounter  for  this 
occasion. 

The  following  year  brought  matters  to  a  crisis.  A 
Mormon  emigrant  complained  at  the  fort  that  one  of 
the  band  of  Wahsahshe  Sioux,  who  sustained  but  a 
bad  character,  had  killed,  and  caused  to  be  eaten,  one 
of  his  cows.  Fleming  sent  Lieutenant  G rattan,  a 
young  Vermonter,  late  from  West  Point,  to  take  the 
offender  in  charge,  an  errand  of  so  delicate  a  nature 
that  only  a  mature  and  discreet  officer  should  have 
been  entrusted  with  it.  There  had  been  no  attempt 

zCochran,  Hist.  Fort  Laramie,  MS.,  34-5. 

*The  first  bridge  over  the  Laramie  was  built  in  1849  by  private  persons 
who  collected  toll.  It  was  used  only  during  the  season  of  high  water,  which 
lasted  three  months.  In  1850  more  than  40,000  head  of  cattle  crossed  it. 
In  1853  it  was  swept  away,  and  a  flatboat  ferry  substituted  for  4  or  5  years. 
A  new  bridge  was  erected  in  1857,  and  removed  in  1870  half  a  mile  up 
stream.  This  was  afterward  swept  away, 


WYOMING.  709 

on  the  part  of  the  Indians  to  conceal  the  act,  which 
Bear,  the  head  chief,  had  himself  reported  at  the 
post,  but  apologized  for  the  rascal,  saying  he  had  shot 
the  cow  in  a  fit  of  anger  at  his  lack  of  success  in  hunt 
ing,  and  after  it  was  killed  it  might  as  well  be  eaten. 

It  would  not  do,  however,  to  establish  such  a  prece 
dent,  and  Grattan  was  ordered  to  take  twenty-eight 
men  and  two  howitzers,  the  Indians  being  numerous 
and  well  armed,  and  bring  this  Indian  to  the  fort. 
He  proceeded  to  the  camp  of  Bear,  nine  miles  away, 
and  finding  strenuous  objections  offered  to  the  arrest, 
and  that  the  Indians  were  attempting  with  sullen  and 
angry  demeanor  to  surround  him,  ordered  a  volley  to 
be  fired.  The  chief  fell  mortally  wounded,  and  one 
of  his  braves  was  killed.  Immediately  the  Indians 
returned  the  fire  Grattan  ordered  the  cannon  dis 
charged,  but  being  too  elevated  they  inflicted  no 
injury  on  the  enemy.  In  another  moment  the  com 
mand  was  closely  hemmed  in  by  enraged  savages,  and 
soon  all  lay  dead  and  mutilated,  except  one  man,  who 
escaped  in  a  dying  condition  to  the  fort,  unable  to  give 
an  intelligent  account  of  the  battle.5 

Thus  perished  the  greater  part  of  the  garrison  of 
Fort  Lararaie  in  the  summer  of  1854,  which  was  the 
commencement  of  a  long  and  costly  war  with  the 
Sioux. 

Having  achieved  this  victory  over  the  soldiers  the 
Indians  proceeded  to  the  trading-houses  of  James 
Bordeaux  and  P.  Chateau,  Jr,  and  Co.,  both  of  which 
they  robbed,  the  inmates  with  difficulty  escaping 
from  their  fury.  On  the  following  day,  however,  the 
Indians  moved  off  toward  the  Black  hills,  and  going 
east  put  themselves  in  communication  with  the  Yanc- 
tonnais  and  other  bands  of  Sioux  in  that  direction, 
which  they  stirred  up  to  make  war  on  the  white  peo 
ple,  it  being  their  openly  avowed  intention  to  let  no 
white  man  escape. 

5Carlin,  Experiences  in  Wyormny,  MS.,  2-3;  Ind.  A/.  Kept,  1854,  88; 
Cochrans  Hist.  Fort  Laramie,  MS.,  36. 


710  INDIAN  WAES. 

Measures  were  taken  at  the  war  department  to 
punish  the  participators  in  the  Grattan  defeat,  but 
owing  to  the  lateness  of  the  season  nothing  more  was 
done  that  year  than  to  strengthen  the  garrison  at 
Laramie  with  three  companies  of  the  6th  infantry 
under  Major  William  Hoffman,  who  assumed  the 
command.  In  the  spring  of  1856,  it  was  further 
reenforced,  but  there  being  no  cavalry  at  the  post 
little  could  be  done  except  to  defend  certain  fixed 
points.  During  the  spring  the  Sioux  captured  all  the 
mules  belonging  to  the  quartermaster's  department, 
which  the  infantry  did  not  and  could  not  recover. 
At  the  same  time  the  Sioux  were  carrying  out  their 
threats,  murdering  mail  carriers,6  and  continuing  hos 
tilities,  and  General  Harney  with  1,500  troops  marched 
up  the  Platte,  striking  a  village  of  Brule  Sioux  under 
Little  Thunder  at  Ash  Hollow,  100  miles  southeast 
of  Laramie,  September  3d,  killing  many  women  and 
children  and  a  few  warriors.7  Harney  marched  to 
Fort  Laramie,  and  then  to  Fort  Pierre,  where  in  the 
spring  of  1856  he  held  a  peace  council  with  all  the 
Sioux  bands,  in  which  various  promises  were  made  on 
both  sides,  which  were  afterward  forgotten  or  repu 
diated.  They  served  only  to  secure  a  temporary  truce 
during  which  the  belligerents  became  somewhat  bet 
ter  acquainted  with  each  other.  Fort  Randall  was 
also  established  this  year  by  order  of  General  Harney 
in  the  Yankton  country  to  watch  the  movements  of 
the  Sioux. 

*Cochran's  Hist.  Fort  Laramie,  MS.,  41.  It  became  necessary  to  send 
escorts  with  them,  who  met  midway  between  Kearny  and  Laramie.  In 
1856  this  guard  consisted  of  an  officer  and  20  men,  who  were  from  15  to  20 
days  en  route.  The  mail  contractors  sometimes  failed  in  the  winter  to  go 
through  from  Independence  to  Salt  Lake,  and  if  there  was  news  of  any  im 
portance  a  military  express  carried  it.  Prices  for  transportation  were  so 
high  that  army  pay  could  hardly  be  made  to  meet  expenses.  Commissary 
whisky  was  among  the  indispensables.  The  government  limited  the  amount 
issued  to  an  officer  monthly  to  2  gallons.  Soldiers  suffered  with  scurvy. 
An  attempt  at  gardening  was  made  in  1851,  which  failed  through  lack  of 
water.  A  hospital  was  erected  in  1856,  which  was  enlarged  in  1868,  and 
served  until  1872,  when  the  fort  was  rebuilt.  There  was  a  sawmill  at  Lara 
mie  peak  belonging  to  the  post  quarter-master  in  1856. 

7  Cartons  Experiences  in  Wyominy,  MS.,  4, 


WYOMING.  711 

Meantime  the  Cheyennes  were  giving  employment 
to  the  garrisons  of  the  only  two  posts  between  the 
Missouri  and  the  Rocky  mountains.  They  were  bad 
enough,  no  doubt,  before  they  were  furnished  with 
an  incentive  to  worse  things  by  an  indiscreet  military 
power.  At  the  upper  Platte  bridge,  126  miles  north 
of  Laramie,  was  stationed  a  company  of  infantry  to 
prevent  the  natives  from  burning  it.  The  officer  in 
command,  now  a  brevet  major-general,  ordered  the 
arrest  of  three  Cheyennes  whom  he  suspected  of 
wrongfully  retaining  one  of  four  American  horses 
which  they  had  in  their  possession,  three  of  which 
had  been  given  up.  The  Indians  attempted  to  escape, 
and  being  shot  at  by  the  guard,  one  was  killed,  one 
ran  away,  and  the  third  remained  a  prisoner  in  irons 
for  many  months.  The  second  night  after,  a  white 
man  was  killed  near  Fort  Laramie,  and  soon  the 
Cheyennes  of  the  North  Platte  left  that  agency  and 
joined. the  southern  Cheyennes,  who  were  committing 
depredations  on  the  travelled  routes  across  the  plains. 

A  residence  at  Fort  Laramie  in  1856-7  was  the 
opposite  of  agreeable.  To  tramp  along  the  roads  in 
s  a  miner,  and  be  cut  off  from  all  communication  with 
the  world  through  the  winter  months  in  poor  quarters 
was  the  sum  of  it.  A  reward  was  offered  for  sharp- 
shooting  which  gave  the  men  something  to  do,  and 
improved  the  efficiency  of  the  riflemen.  The  offi 
cers  discussed  the  presidential  campaign,  the  result 
of  which  was  not  known  to  them  until  April  follow 
ing  the  election.  They  read,  played  cards,  and  con 
sumed  their  allowance  of  liquor.  Think  of  the 
excitement  of  receiving  the  first  mail  after  nearly  six 
months  of  imprisonment  in  midcontinent,  and  thank 
God  and  nature  for  steam  and  electricity. 

In  the  summer  of  1857  an  expedition  against  the 
Cheyennes  was  organized  partly  from  Leavenworth 
and  partly  from  Laramie,  under  Colonel  E.  V.  Surn- 
ner,  of  the  1st  dragoons,  who  had  his  camp  near  old 
Fort  St  Vrain  on  the  south  Platte.  In  July  he 


712  INDIAN  WARS. 

marched  to  the  Smoky  Hill  branch  of  Kansas  river, 
where  he  met  the  Cheyennes  near  a  small  lake  which 
they  deemed  enchanted,  so  that  if  they  dipped  their 
hands  in  the  water  they  became  invulnerable.  Under 
this  belief  they  met  the  troops  with  the  firmness  of 
faith,  advancing  steadily  and  in  order,  chanting  their 
war  song,  and  looking  for  divine  interposition  as  much 
as  ever  did  the  heroes  of  Homer.  But  when  the  order 
was  given  to  the  dragoons  to  charge  with  sabres,  their 
confidence  deserted  them,  and  they  fled  in  the  utmost 
terror.  They  lost  nine  of  their  principal  warriors  on 
the  field,  and  a  number  died  of  their  wounds  in  flight. 
Sumner  then  marched  to  Bent's  fort  on  the  Arkansas, 
to  the  relief  of  Indian-agent  Miller,  who  was  at  that 
place  with  the  annuity  goods  and  no  protection.  He 
ordered  the  ammunition  destroyed,  the  arms  and  goods 
packed  in  wagons  to  be  carried  out  of  the  Cheyenne 
country,  and  the  subsistence  stores  turned  over  to  the 
commissary,  that  nothing  might  be  left  which*  could 
be  of  use  to  the  enemy.  This  was  accomplished  only 
in  time  to  prevent  the  killing  of  the  few  persons  at 
Fort  Bent,  and  the  spoliation  of  its  contents,  as  the 
Arapahoes  informed  the  agent  would  have  been 
effected  the  night  following,  bufc  for  Sumner's  arrival. 
The  effect  of  Sumner's  expedition  was  to  intimidate 
the  Cheyennes,  who  did  not  at  once  recover  from  the 
stroke.  Late  in  September  Major  Lynde  arrived  at 
Fort  Laramie  with  two  companies  of  the  seventh  in 
fantry  en  route  to  Utah,  but  which,  owing  to  the 
belief  that  the  troops  could  not  get  through  the  moun 
tain  passes  before  they  were  closed  by  snows,  went 
into  winter  quarters  at  this  post,  Hoffman  leaving  for 
Leavenworth  with  three  hundred  men  of  the  sixth, 
and  Lynde  taking  the  command.  In  the  summer  of 
1858  he  was  joined  by  four  companies  of  his  regiment, 
with  headquarters,  staff,  and  band,  all  leaving  Laramie 
in  August  for  Utah.8  Different  companies  were  pre- 

8  Major  John  Sedgwick  was  in  command.     The  Mormon  difficulty  had 
been  settled  before  he  reached  Pacific  springs,  where  he  was  turned  back  to 


WYOMING.  713 

viously  encamped,  some  at  Muddy  springs,  and  some 
on  the  South  Platte,  this  display  of  force  being  not 
without  its  influence  in  keeping  the  Indians  quiet. 
The  garrison  at  Laramie  was  now  composed  of  a  por 
tion  of  the  tenth  infantry,  and  two  companies  of  the 
second  dragoons,  whose  principal  duty  was  to  furnish 
escorts. 

The  immigration  to  Colorado  which  began  in  1858 
was  a  new  element  in  the  problem  of  peaceful  relations 
with  the  Indians.  The  uneasiness  occasioned  by  this 
unexpected  migration  to  territory  claimed  by  the 
Arapahoes  and  Cheyennes  led  to  the  resumption  of 
hostilities  on  the  plains.  In  1860  Sedgwick  was  in 
the  field  pursuing  these  savages,  and  Bent's  fort  on 
the  Arkansas  was  occupied  by  a  garrison  of  United 
States  troops,  as  I  have  already  related  in  my  account 
of  the  Indian  wars  of  Colorado.  When  the  regular 
troops  were  called  away  to  fight  in  the  struggle  of 
the  government  against  disunion,  volunteers  were  sent 
to  garrison  forts  and  protect  travel.  The  first  volun 
teers  at  Laramie  were  two  troops  of  the  4th  Iowa 
cavalry,  one  of  the  6th  Ohio  cavalry,  and  one  of  the 
8th  Kansas  infantry.  Changes  were  frequent  in  gar 
risons.  The  1st  Ohio  cavalry,  independent  battalion, 
commanded  by  Thomas  L.  Mackey,  the  llth  Ohio 
cavalry,  under  Colonel  Collins,  the  7th  Iowa,  and  the 
6th  Michigan  cavalry  were  at  different  times  stationed 
at  Fort  Laramie. 

The  Indians  were  not  slow  to  perceive  that  the 
government  was  embarrassed  by  the  civil  war,  nor 
loath  to  take  advantage  of  its  temporary  disablement; 
hence  the  onslaught  of  1862  in  Minnesota,  and  the 
general  uprising  which  followed,  extending  to  the 
Rocky  mountains,  and  even  to  the  shores  of  the  Co 
lumbia.  Wyoming  being  still  unsettled  suffered  only 

Fort  Riley.  This  post,  located  at  the  junction  of  the  two  forks  of  the 
Kansas  river,  in  1852,  was  first  called  Camp  Centre,  from  its  geographical 
position,  but  afterward  named  in  honor  of  Gen.  B.  C.  Riley. 


714  INDIAN  WARS. 

through  its  itinerant  population,  attacks  upon  travel 
lers,  the  robbery  of  supply  trains,  and  occasional  mur 
ders,  the  war  being  chiefly  carried  on  east  of  the  forks 
of  the  Platte,  where  the  booty  was  richest,  being 
government  trains,  and  merchant  supplies  for  Colo 
rado  and  New  Mexico.  In  1863  Fort  Halleck  was 
established  a  little  west  of  the  Medicine  Bow  moun 
tains,  on  the  route  of  the  overland  mail.  The  year 
1864  was  one  of  the  bloodiest  of  that  period.  General 
Alfred  Sully  had  made  an  expedition  into  the  Sioux 
country  via  the  Missouri  with  three  thousand  troops, 
having  to  fight  the  entire  Sioux  nation  of  15,000  at 
Deer  Stand,  where  their  loss  was  585  in  one  day, 
Sully's  loss  being  slight.  In  the  Bad  lands  he  had 
another  battle,  killing  twelve  of  the  Indians  at  the 
crossing  of  the  Little  Missouri.  For  three  days 
thereafter  he  had  a  marching  fight,  the  Indians  en 
gaging  him  so  hotly  to  prevent  his  coming  on  their 
principal  camp,  which  was  in  his  route.  At  the  end 
of  the  three  days  they  disappeared,  and  went  south 
toward  the  Black  hills,  and  when  Sully  came  upon 
their  village  he  found  it  deserted.  He  burned  it,  and 
pushed  on  to  Fort  Union,  returning  to  Sioux  City  to 
winter. 

Meantime  the  Arapahoes  were  doing  deadly  work 
in  the  territory  west  of  Fort  Laramie.  Surveyor- 
general  Burr  of  Utah,  Peter  Dodson,  Boswell,  and 
ten  others  set  out  in  1864  to  explore  the  Bighorn 
country,  but  were  driven  back,  being  attacked  by  the 
Arapahoes  at  Medicine  Bow.  In  the  battle  seven 
Indians  were  killed.  Their  band  retreated,  but  com 
ing  upon  an  immigrant  train  killed  two  men  by  burn 
ing  them  alive,  bound  to  their  wagon  wheels.  On 
the  Platte,  above  Fort  Laramie,  they  attacked  a  large 
train,  killing  five  men,  and  of  every  company  that 
passed  over  the  route  they  took  toll  in  cattle  and 
horses,  amounting  during  a  season  to  many  times  a 
congressional  appropriation,9  besides  the  glory  of  it. 

9Ind.  Aff.  Rcpt,  1864,  252,     Larimers  Capture  and  Escape,  39-57,  is  an 


WYOMING.  715 

In  August  of  this  year  Fort  Sedgwick  was  established, 
at  the  junction  of  Lodge  Pole  creek  with  the  south 
fork  of  the  Platte. 

The  Sioux  having  moved  in  large  numbers  into  the 
region  of  the  Black  hills  and  Powder  river,  were  the 
ready  allies  of  the  Cheyennes  in  their  depredation's. 
In  January  1865  they  advanced  upon  the  new  post, 
which  was  commanded  by  Nicholas  J.  O'Brien,  a 
young  officer  in  the  7th  Iowa  cavalry,  with  a  company 
of  thirty-seven  men.  The  Sioux  were  led  by  Man- 
afraid-of-his-horses,  Spotted  Tail,  and  Two-face,  and 
the  Cheyennes  by  White  Antelope.  O'Brien  charged 
a  division  of  the  savages  with  a  part  of  his  command, 
while  his  subordinate  officers  engaged  those  on  his 
right  and  left.  The  Indians  returned  the  charge  four 
or  five  hundred  strong,  and  again  the  troop  dashed  at 
them  and  into  their  midst,  losing  in  killed  and  wounded 
almost  half  their  number.  The  artillery  being  finally 
brought  to  bear  on  the  besiegers,  and  a  third  charge 
being  made,  the  natives  retreated.10 

On  the  2d  of  February  the  Indians  renewed  the 
attack,  and  succeeded  in  burning  Julesburg,  the  junc 
tion  of  the  overland  mail  line  with  the  Denver  branch, 
and  the  headquarters  of  the  telegraph  management 
for  the  plains,  established  in  1861.  They  destroyed 
at  the  same  time  fifty-five  miles  of  the  telegraph  line. 
On  the  13th  they  attacked  a  detachment  of  140  men 
under  Lieutenant-colonel  Collins  at  Rush  creek, 

account  of  the  battle  at  Little  Box  Elder  in  1864,  with  the  story  as  above 
indicated,  of  one  man's  experience. 

19  O'Brien  was  born  in  Wexford,  Ireland,  in  1839,  and  came  to  the  U.  S. 
in  1848.  In  1863  he  organized  a  company  of  the  7th  Iowa  cavalry,  and  was 
commissioned  capt.,  and  repoited  to  Gen.  McKane  at  Omaha,  who  sent  him 
to  Cottonwood  springs  to  build  a  post  (Fort  McPherson),  and  in  the  follow 
ing  year  to  Laramie  and  to  Julesburg  to  build  Fort  Sedgwick.  He  was  with 
Conner  in  his  Powder  river  expedition,  as  chief  of  artillery,  and  established 
Fort  P.  E.  Conner,  afterward  Fort  Reno.  He  returned  to  Iowa  and  was 
married  in  the  autumn,  reporting  .at  Fort  Reno  in  Dec.,  being  commissioned 
major,  and  being  mustered  out  the  following  year  on  expiration  of  service. 
He  took  a  land  claim  near  Fort  Sedgwick.  When  the  railroad  reached  that 
point  he  settled  in  Julesburg,  being  one  of  the  first  officers  of  the  town,  and 
subsequently  mayor;  but  soon  removed  to  Cheyenne,  where  he  remained. 
He  has  held  the  offices  of  dept.  U.  S.  marshal,  sheriff,  citv  councilman  and 
member  of  the  8th  legislature. 


716  INDIAN  WARS. 

eighty -five  miles  north  of  Julesburg,  with  a  force  of 
2,500.  Collins  had  one  twenty-four-pound  brass  gun, 
with  which,  and  with  constant  fighting,  he  held  them 
off  for  twenty-two  hours,  losing  but  three  men  killed 
and  eight  wounded.11 

In  April  they  again  attacked  125  troops,  under 
Collins,  stationed  at  Mud  springs,  to  the  number  of 
1,500  Sioux  and  Cheyennes.  The  troops  defended 
themselves  for  twenty-four  hours,  when,  reenforce- 
ments  arriving  with  artillery,  the  Indians  retreated. 
They  lost  a  considerable  number,  and  the  troops 
eleven  wounded  and  two  killed. 

The  hostilities  of  1864  were  repeated  in  1865.  In 
four  weeks  of  July  and  August  the  Sioux  and  Chey 
ennes  killed  and  captured  forty-five  white  persons 
between  Sage  creek  and  Virginia  Dale.12  An  expedi- 

11  There  was  some  very  brave  fighting  in  this  engagement.  Acting-lieut 
Robert  F.  Patton,  with  7  men  from  his  co.  B.,  llth  Ohio  cav.,  and  8  vol 
from  the  other  companies  made  a  charge  to  drive  a  detachment  of  50  Indians 
which  had  stolen  up  to  within  350  yards  of  camp.  The  squad  was  armed 
only  with  revolvers,  and  charged  through  all  right,  but  were  cut  off  by  300 
Indians.  The  men  in  charge  of  the  gun  were  afraid  of  using  it  on  the 
enemy  lest  they  should  hit  their  comrades;  but  by  firing  to  the  right  and 
left,  made  a  diversion  which  enabled  Patton  to  charge  back.  The  last  shot, 
by  George  W.  Hoover,  saved  Patton's  life.  With  empty  revolvers  the  little 
command  returned,  minus  two  of  their  number,  who  were  killed.  The  inci 
dents  of  this  battle  and  some  others  are  related  in  a  dictation  of  Hermann 
Haas,  who  participated.  Haas  was  born  in  Prussia  in  1840,  emigrating  to 
America  in  1849.  He  served  in  the  union  army  nearly  4  years  as  a  member 
of  the  1st  Ohio,  co.  B.  He  arrived  at  Laramie  in  1862,  and  was  discharged 
at  Omaha  in  1865.  The  service  was  guarding  the  road  and  telegraph  line 
from  South  pass  to  Julesburg,  carrying  the  weekly  mail  for  the  government, 
and  scouting  in  the  Powder  river  country.  He  took  the  brass  gun  and  40 
men  from  Laramie  to  Mud  Springs  station  to  reenforce  Collins  previous  to 
the  attack  above  referred  to.  In  July  1862,  while  going  with  a  command  to 
Devilgate  to  remove  the  stages  to  a  more  southern  route,  via  Bridger  pass, 
at  Seminole  gap,  two  soldiers  were  found  to  be  drunk,  whereupon  the  officer 
in  command  ordered  all  the  whiskey  poured  out  on  the  ground,  from  which 
incident  the  pass  of  these  mountains  took  its  name  of  Whiskey  gap.  After 
being  mustered  out  of  service  Haas  located  himself  at  Fort  Laramie  in 
charge  of  the  government  wagon  and  blacksmith  shops,  removing  afterwards 
to  Cheyenne  and  engaging  in  the  same  business  for  himself.  He  has  taken 
an  active  part  in  the  history  of  that  city;  was  elected  to  the  first  territorial 
legislature,  and  reflected  in  1873,  1875,  and  1877.  Was  delegate  at  large  in 
1875. 

18  John  H.  Finfrock,  born  in  Ohio  in  1836,  was  educated  in  Richland  co., 
afterwards  studied  medicine  at  the  university  of  Mich.,  Ohio  Medical  col 
lege,  and  Long  Island  hospital.  He  entered  the  union  army  as  hospital 
steward,  and  was  afterward  captain  of  Ohio  volunteers;  also  serving  as  asst 
surgeon  from  1863  to  1865.  He  was  sent  to  Fort  Halleck  in  the  latter  capac 
ity  iu  1863,  being  one  of  those  who  rescued  one  of  the  Collett  family.  He 


WYOMING.  717 

tion  was  organized  under  General  P.  E.  Conner,  to  go 
against  these  Indians  in  their  own  country  on  Pow 
der  river.  It  was  hoped  that  Conner,  who  had  a 
great  reputation  amongst  the  Indians  as  a  fighting 
general,  would  be  able  to  clear  the  road  to  Montana, 
via  Powder  and  Bighorn  rivers.  He  had  with  him 
parts  of  the  6th  and  7th  Michigan  cavalry,  and  200 
Pawnee  and  Omaha  scouts,  the  ordinance  being  under 
Colonel  Cole  of  the  2d  Missouri  artillery.  Proceed 
ing  to  the  head  of  Tongue  river  with  Bridger  and 
other  mountain  men  for  guides,  the  officers  seemed  to 
have  forgotten  their  errand,  and  to  have  imagined 
themselves  upon  a  summer  hunt  on  the  plains.  Con 
gress  had  appropriated  $20,000  for  the  purpose  of 
holding  peace  negotiations  with  the  Sioux  and  their 
allies,  and  General  Sully  was  marching  across  the 
northern  part  of  Dakota,  anxious  to  gain  the  consent 
of  Indians  to  a  treaty  looking  to  the  relinquishmerit 
of  the  valley  of  the  Platte,  and  of  all  that  country 
where  contact  with  the  white  people  seemed  inevita 
ble.  But  Pope  was  averse  to  peace,  advocating 
slaughter. 

In  October  General  Wheaton  decided  to  send  mes 
sengers  to  the  Sioux,  to  inform  them  that  other  tribes 
were  making  peace,  and  should  they  desire  to  do  s6 
the  opportunity  would  be  offered  them.  Having 
made  this  decision  he  left  Laramie  for  Omaha,11  leav 
ing  Colonel  Henry  E.  Maynadier  to  carry  out  his 
designs.  No  white  man  could  be  found  who  would 
undertake  to  deliver  the  message,  the  proposition 
being  finally  conveyed  to  them  by  friendly  Indians, 
who  after  three  months  returned,  bringing  with  them 
Swift  Bear's  band.  This  chief  professed  pleasure  in 
being  able  to  make  peace  and  to  come  to  the  fort  for 

had  a  son,  William  Edwin  Finfrock,  born  at  Fort  Halleck,  Oct.  16,  1865, 
whom  he  thinks  is  the  first  white  person  born  in  Wyoming.  He  settled  at 
Laramie  City  in  1868.  He  was  coroner,  probate  judge,  and  county  physician. 
He  was  member  of  the  city  council  in  1872-3,  county  supt  of  public  schools  m 
1880,  and  was  appointed  in  1880  one  of  the  board  of  penitentiary  commis 
sioners  of  which  board  he  was  president  for  two  years. 
13  Hi*6.  Colorado,  420,  this  series. 


718  INDIAN  WARS. 

provisions  and  clothing  for  their  families,  and  reported 
that  Red  Cloud,  chief  of  the  Ogalallas,  was  also  on 
his  way  to  Laramie.  On  the  1st  of  June  the  com 
missioners  appointed  assembled  at  Fort  Laramie, 
namely  E.  B.  Taylor  superintendent,  Henry  E.  May- 
nadier  commandant  at  Fort  Laramie,  E,.  N.  McLaren 
of  Minnesota,  Thomas  Wistar  of  Philadelphia,  and 
two  secretaries,  Charles  E.  Bowles  and  Frank  Leh- 
mer.  After  the  hesitancy  and  delay  always  affected 
by  Indians  on  similar  occasions,  the  Brule  and  Ogalalla 
Sioux  collected  a  majority  of  their  people,  although 
Red  Cloud  declined  to  be  present,  and  agreed  to  the 
terms  of  a  treaty. 

One  of  the  most  important  of  the  conditions  im 
posed  upon  the  Sioux  was  that  the  route  commonly 
known  as  the  Bozeman  road,  leading  from  Platte 
bridge  to  Bozeman  in  Montana,  should  be  secure  from 
hostilities.  Into  this  arrangement  the  northern  Chey 
enne  and  the  Arapahoes  expressed  their  willingness 
to  enter.  But  a  loop-hole  of  escape  from  responsibil 
ity  was  left  open  by  the  defection  of  Red  Cloud, 
who  had  a  numerous  following,  and  who  was  still  at 
liberty  to  commit  depredations,  while  the  greater 
number  were  clothed  and  fed  as  wards  of  the  gov 
ernment. 

While  the  council  was  in  progress  the  migration  to 
Montana  was  at  its  height.  Red  Cloud  had  made 
this  a  cause  of  disaffection.  Why  had  they,  the  com 
missioners,  asked  for  what  they  had  already  taken  ? 
Before  the  commission  closed  came  a  military  expedi 
tion  of  magnitude — 700  troops  with  over  200  mule- 
teams,  besides  ambulances  for  officers  and  their  fami 
lies,  a  band,  and  everything  necessary  to  a  complete 
establishment  in  a  new  country,  under  Colonel  H.  B. 
Carrington,  18th  infantry,  commander  of  a  new  dis 
trict.  This  is  said  to  have  been  the  drop  too  much  to 
Red  Cloud,  who  with  300  warriors  sallied  forth  on 
the  heels  of  the  expedition  to  prevent  the  treaty 
having  effect. 


WYOMING.  719 

Efforts  had  been  made  in  the  early  part  of  the  sea 
son  by  the  military  authorities  to  keep  prospecting 
parties  out  of  the  Bighorn  country,  and  with  toler 
able  success. "  But  immigrant  and  freight  trains  could 
not  be  turned  back,  and  must  be  guarded.  As  Car- 
rington  advanced  into  the  Powder  River  country  he 
began  to  learn  what  he  had  to  encounter.  At  Fort 
Reno,  which  was  garrisoned  by  two  companies  of  the 
5th  United  States  volunteers  only,  were  found  three 
immigrant  trains  waiting  instructions  as  to  their  fur 
ther  advance  under  the  escort  of  the  military  expe 
dition.  Notwithstanding  this  large  number  of  people, 
civil  and  military,  all  the  horses  and  mules  belonging 
to  the  fort  settlers  were  run  off  in  open  daylight,  and 
although  the  troops  pursued  as  quickly  as  possible  for 
thirty-five  miles,  not  a  hoof  was  recovered.  The  only 
reward  of  their  exertion  was  the  capture  of  an  Ind 
ian  pony  so  heavily  laden  with  presents  received  at 
the  late  treaty  council  that  it  could  not  keep  up  with 
the  herd. 

Relieving  the  companies  at  Fort  Reno,  where  Cap 
tain  Proctor  remained  with  one  company  to  guard  the 
stores  until  they  could  be  removed,  Carrington  pro 
ceeded  north  to  select  the  site  of  a  post  in  the  Big 
horn  country,  which  was  to  be  district  headquarters, 
finding  on  the  second  day's  march,  at  Rock  creek, 
notices  left  by  trains  which  had  been  attacked  at  this 
place,  within  the  previous  week,  losing  considerable 
stock.  Arriving  at  Piney  fork  the  position  was  taken 
on  that  stream  and  the  dimensions  of  Fort  Philip 
Kearny  staked  off  July  loth. 

While  on  the  road  Red  Cloud's  adherents  had  sent 

14  A  company  of  116  men  was  raised  in  Colorado  and  Wyoming  to  pros 
pect  the  Bighorn  mountains  for  gold,  but  they  were  met  near  Gray  Bull 
creek  by  troops  from  Reno  who  forbade  then  further  progress,  when  the 
majority  of  the  company  turned  back.  W.  L.  Kuykemlall,  however,  who 
was  the  leader  of  the  expedition,  evaded  the  troops  and  with  about  !  !0  men 
pushed  on  and  reached  Bozeman.  He  was  the  means  of  rescuing  a  party 
which  had  been  robbed  of  its  stock  and  had  two  men  killed.  Uniting  their 
forces  they  finished  their  journey  without  any  further  serious  losses.  Her 
man  G.  Nickerson,  since  probate  judge  of  Fremont  county,  was  one  of  the 
rescued  travellers.  I  shall  have  more  to  say  of  him  by  and  by. 


720  INDIAN  WARS. 

Carrington  a  command  to  leave  the  country,  saying 
that  Fort  Reno  in  that  case  should  not  be  disturbed, 
but  that  no  other  post  should  be  established  in  the 
country.  Carrington  responded  by  inviting  them  to 
meet  him,  which  the  Cheyennes  did  on  the  16th,  but 
no  Sioux  were  present,  Red  Cloud  having  already 
turned  back  to  intercept  travel.  The  Cheyennes 
accepted  some  presents  of  food  and  clothing  and 
promised  to  remain  at  peace,  which  for  a  time  they 
appeared  to  do. 

However,  on  the  next  morning  the  herds  belonging 
to  Major  Hammond's  command,  which  was  destined 
for  the  upper  Yellowstone,  in  the  vicinity  of  Boze- 
man,  were  stampeded,  and  in  the  effort  to  rescue  them 
two  soldiers  were  killed  and  three  wounded.  On  the 
return  of  the  detachment  they  came  upon  six  muti 
lated  bodies  of  a  trading  party  killed  within  a  few 
miles  of  the  post,  though  the  wife  of  a  principal 
trader  was  a  Sioux.15 

The  abandonment  of  Fort  Reno  had  been  contem 
plated  in  the  establishment  of  Fort  Philip  Kearny,  as 
Fort  Casper  had  been  erected  on  the  Sweetwater,  and 
a  fort  was  to  be  built  both  on  the  Bighorn  and  Yellow 
stone  rivers.  But  the  condition  of  the  country  was 
such  that  Reno  must  not  only  not  be  abandoned,  but 
must  be  strengthened,  and  the  Yellowstone  post  was 
given  up,  while  a  company  was  sent  to  reenforce  Cap 
tain  Proctor  instead.  Early  in  August  Lieutenant- 
colonel  N.  C.  Kinney  and  Captain  Burrows  left  Fort 
Philip  Kearny  with  two  companies  to  establish  the 
Bighorn  post,  Fort  C.  F.  Smith,  which  reduced  the 
force  at  Carrington' s  post  to  five  companies,  two-thirds 
of  which  was  composed  of  raw  recruits.  The  labor 
of  erecting  a  strong  fort,  with  sufficient  quarters  for 
eight  companies,  which  was  expected  would  be  fur 
nished,  the  material  all  to  be  obtained  in  the  forest ; 

15  These  traders,  long  known  at  Fort  Laramie,  were  Louis  Gazzons  and 
Henry  Arrison.  The  other  four  were  probably  herders.  The  Sioux  wife  and 
half-breed  family  were  allowed  to  escape. 


WYOMING.  721 

and  of  cutting  wood  and  hay  in  preparation  for  a  long 
severe  winter,  was  added  to  the  duty  of  guarding 
trains,  carrying  mail,  and  escorting  detachments  of 
soldiers,  or  parties  of  citizens,  while  engaged  in  unmili- 
tary  labor. 

Carrington  had  represented  to  the  commander  of 
the  department,  General  P.  St  George  Cooke,.  that 
the  status  of  the  Indians  in  his  district  was  that  of 
war,  and  had  made  his  situation  known  to  the  adjutant- 
general  of  the  army ;  but  it  was  December  before  he 
was  reenforced,  and  then  only  by  a  handful  of  poorly 
armed  raw  recruits.  Ammunition  was  at  length 

O 

wanting  for  the  practice  of  the  recruits,  or  even  for 
defence,  in  case  of  an  attack,  while  at  Laramie,  where 
no  trouble  was  apprehended,  twelve  companies  were 
stationed.  In  the  midst  of  several  thousand  hostile 
Indians  was  a  small  garrison  of  untried  men,  without 
the  means  of  making  war  if  forced  to  it.16  The  con- 

O 

dition  of  the  three  posts  on  the  Bozeman  road  was 
really  that  of  a  state  of  seige  from  July  to  January 
requiring  the  greatest  caution  to  prevent  capture. 
The  history  of  Fort  Philip  Kearny  during  the  autumn 
and  winter  was  one  of  a  careful  defence.  The  attacks 
on  the  timber  trains,  hay-cutters,  woodmen,  and 
escorts  were  unintermitting.  Serious  as  was  the  loss 
in  cattle  and  horses  to  a  community  so  isolated,  the 
frequent  loss  of  life  was  yet  more  painful. 

By  the  10th  of  October  there  were  not  forty  horses 
left  with  which  to  mount  mail  carriers,  escorts,  and 
pickets.  On  the  last  of  the  month  the  garrison  flag 
floated  for  the  first  time  from  the  flag-staff  of  Fort 
Philip  Kearny.  The  skirmishing  on  the  wood  road, 
of  so  frequent  occurrence  that  it  was  no  longer  in  the 
nature  of  a  surprise,  had  resulted  in  no  loss  of  life  for 
some  time,  when,  on  December  6th,  in  defending  a 

16Cochran  in  his  Hixt.  Fort  Laramie,  MS.,  says:  As  many  as  12  com 
panies  of  cavalry  and  infantry  were  stationed  at  Fort  Laramie.  The  cavalry 
came  late  in  autumn.  One  troop,  under  Lieut  Bingham,  was  ordered  on 
escort  duty  with  a  train  to  Fort  C.  F.  Smith.  Bingham  was  killed  while  at 
Fort  Philip  Kearny.  His  regt  was  the  2d  cavalry,  under  Palmer 
HIST.  NEV.  46 


722  INDIAN  WARS. 

wood  train  Lieutenant  Bingham,  of  the  cavalry,  and 
Sergeant  Bowers  were  killed,  and  the  road  had  become 
so  dangerous  toward  Fort  C.  F.  Smith  that  it  had 
been  determined  not  to  attempt  sending  mails  in  that 
direction.  Thus  the  toils  tightened  around  a  devoted 
garrison. 

On  the  forenoon  of  the  21st  of  December  an  alarm 
was  signalled  by  the  pickets  on  the  wood  road,  and 
that  the  train  had  corralled  for  safety,  waiting  for 
relief.  A  detail  was  quickly  organized  consisting  of 
seventy-eight  officers  and  men,  the  command  being 
given  by  his  own  request  to  Lieutenant-colonel  Fet 
terman.  There  was  a  general  disposition  to  volun 
teer,  both  among  officers  and  citizens  employed  at  the 
post,  and  a  general  feeling  of  exasperation  in  all  minds, 
which  led  to  the  catastrophe  which  followed.  Before 
the  command  started  a  few  Indian  pickets  appeared 
on  Lodge  Trail  ridge,  and  a  few  at  the  crossing  of 
the  Bozeman  road  below  the  fort,  who  were  scattered 
by  case  shot  dropped  among  them.  But  the  main 
force  was  entirely  concealed,  and  a  few  shot,  more  or 
less,  would  not  interfere  with  the  execution  of  a  well- 
considered  plan.  A  surgeon  sent  to  join  the  com 
mand  hastily  returned  with  the  report  that  the  train 
had  been  relieved  and  gone  on  to  the  woods,  but  that 
Fetterman  was  on  the  ridge  to  the  north  out  of  view, 
and  surrounded  by  a  large  force  of  Indians.  Soon 
the  sound  of  rapid  firing  came  from  the  valley  of 
Peno  creek  beyond  the  ridge,  and  then  it  became  evi 
dent  that  Fetterman  had  been  drawn  into  an  unex 
pected  engagement  by  Indian  cunning,  aided  by  the 
desire  to  avenge  the  death  of  Lieutenant  Bingham, 
or  had  been  in  some  inconceivable  manner  entrapped 
into  disobeying  orders.  A  relief  party  was  dispatched 
with  additional  officers,  surgeons,  ambulances,  and 
even  the  prisoners  in  the  guardhouse  were  placed  on 
duty  to  give  all  the  available  force  for  action  should 
further  aid  be  required  to  repulse  the  Indians.  The 
wood  train  was  ordered  in,  and  when  all  was  done 


WYOMING.  723 

there  were  but  119  men  besides  those  with  Fetterman. 

Meantime  the  relief  party  reached  a  point  of  obser 
vation  just  as  an  ominous  silence  followed  the  crack 
ling  noise,  increasing  in  intensity  for  half  an  hour, 
of  rifle  discharges.  They  beheld  the  valleys  below 
them  filled  with  2,000  Indians,  yelling  and  inviting 
them  to  descend,  but  not  a  soldier  was  to  be  seen. 
Not  an  officer  or  man  of  Fetterman's  command 
remained  alive.17  Tired  of  their  bloody  work,  with 
their  own  dead  and  wounded,  the  Indians  withdrew 
at  nightfall,  and  about  half  the  dead  soldiers  were 
brought  into  the  fort  after  dark.  On  the  following 
day  the  remainder  were  found,  and  a  pit  fifty  feet  in 
length  received  all  of  the  eighty-one  victims,  but  a 
few  whose  families  claimed  them  for  burial  elsewhere.18 
On  the  night  of  the  21st  a  miner  named  Philips  car 
ried  dispatches  to  Fort  Reno,19  whence  the  news  was 
dispatched  to  Fort  Laramie,  where  it  arrived  in  the 
midst  of  the  festivities  of  Christmas  eve.20 

Early  in  January  Carrington  received  orders  to 
remove  district  headquarters  to  Fort  Casper,'1  and  at 

17  Tram.  Wyom.  Acad.  Sciences,  etc.,  1882,  87;  Wyom.  Territorial  Affairs, 
MS.,  15-16;  Wyom.  Indians  and  Settlers,  MS.,  49-50;  Montana  Post,  Feb.  9, 
1867;  U.  S.  Sen.  Jour.,  575-6,  585;  39th  cong.,2d  sess.;  S.  F.  Alta  CaL,  Feb. 
15,  and  28,  1867. 

18 The  officers  killed  in  this  battle  were  Col  Fetterman,  Capt.  Brown  of 
Ohio,  and  Lieut  Grummond,  making  with  Bingham  and  Daniels,  five  com 
missioned  officers  killed  while  Fort  Philip  Kearny  was  building,  and  over 
90  men.  William  Daly,  now  a  resident  of  Rawlins,  was  employed  with  the 
quartermaster  in  erecting  Fort  Philip  Kearney,  and  was  the  first  carpenter 
in  that  section.  He  was  employed  by  the  government  at  Fort  McPherson, 
Neb.,  in  1867-8.  From  there  he  came  to  Cheyenne,  where  he  took  contracts 
for  putting  up  railroad  buildings  in  1869,  and  was  afterward  supt  of  con 
struction  of  the  N.  P.  R.  R.,  between  Cheyenne  and  Ogden  until  1873,  when 
he  went  into  lumber  and  contracting  at  Rawlins.  It  is  the  opinion  of  Daly 
that  the  Indians  might  have  taken  the  fort  on  the  21st  of  Dec.  That  they 
did  not  pursue  their  victory  further  was  in  consonance  with  their  cust<  lary 
intermittent  violence. 

"Phillips  was  one  of  the  Standifer  party  which  I  have  before  mentioned 
as  wintering  at  Fort  Phil.   Kearny.     Two    others,   Wheatley  and  ] 
were  with  Fetterman's  command,  and  were  killed.     It  required  a  stout  heart 
to  carry  dispatches  through  the  Indian  country  at  that  time. 

29  Cockran,  Hist.  Fort  Laramie,  MS. 

'^The  18th  infantry  regiment  built  Fort  Casper  soon  after  the  close  of  1 
war.     It  had  been  a  detached  service  station  to  protect  the  m:al     fhev  bi 
rebuilt,  or  repaired  forts  Halleck,  Laramie,  Sedgwick,  Reno,  Philip  Kearny, 
Fetterman,  and  Bridger,  several  of  them  "jail  stations  previously,  all  * 
the  limits  of  what  is  now  Wyoming,  besideg  Fort  C.  F,  Smith  in  Montana, 


724 


INDIAN  WARS. 


the  same  time  Brigadier-general  H.  W.  Wessels, 
arrived  with  two  companies  of  cavalry,  and  took  com 
mand  at  Fort  Philip  Kearny.  The  cold  was  so  severe 
that  in  the  three  days'  journey  to  Reno  all  were  in 
danger  of  perishing,  women,  children,  officers  and  men, 
some  of  the  teamsters  suffering  amputation  of  the 
hands  and  feet  on  reaching  the  fort.  After  getting 
to  Fort  Casper,  the  orders  were  to  go  to  Fort  Mc- 
Pherson,  and  again  headquarters  journeyed  through 
winter  weather  to  within  ninety-seven  miles  of  Fort 
Kearny. 

The  spring  of  1867  opened  with  a  renewal  of  hos 
tilities.  The  military  authorities  near  the  eastern  end 
of  the  infested  line  of  road,  endeavored  to  prevent  the 
killing  of  small  parties  by  ordering  all  such  detained 
at  Fort  McPherson,  which  was  near  the  junction  of 
the  North  and  South  Platte,  until  they  were  organ 
ized  into  companies  of  not  less  than  thirty  men,  and 
by  furnishing  escorts  if  danger  seemed  to  threaten. 
A  large  number  of  troops  had  been  sent  into  the 
department,  with  the  design  at  first  of  sending  an 
expedition  against  the  Sioux  who  were  in  force 
between  Fort  Philip  Kearny  and  Fort  C.  F.  Smith,27 
but  being  chiefly  infantry  they  were  unable  to  pursue 

and  McPherson  in  Nebraska.  There  was  also  a  sub-post  of  Fort  Laramie  at 
Scott  Bluffs,  called  Fort  Mitchell.  Abaraka,  70,  270;  Sturyis,  Common  Sense 
View  of  the  Sioux  War,  22-3. 

22  The  commander  of  the  department  of  the  Platte  in  1867  was  Gen.  C.  C. 
Augru.  Early  in  the  year  Gov.  I.  N.  Palmer  commanded  at  Fort  Laramie, 
but  later  Maj.  G.  W.  Rowland.  After  a  number  of  changes  the  distribution 
of  troops  was  as  follows: 


POSTS. 

COMMANDERS 

COMD 
OFFICERS 

SUBAL 
TERNS. 

ENLISTEE 
MEN. 

Ft  Laramie  
Ft  D.  H.  Russell  
Ft  Sanders  

MajorG.W.  Rowland.  .. 
Brig.  -gen.  J.  D.  Stevenson 
Maj.  -gen.  John  Gibbons 

19 
17 

10 

7 
9 
4 

386 
310 
168 

Ft  Reno  ... 

Maj  James  Van  Voast 

7 

3 

°51 

Ft  Phil.  Kearny  
FtC.  F.  Smith  (Mont) 
Ft  Bridger 

Maj.  -gen.  J.  E.  Smith.  .  .  . 
Brig.  -gen.  L.  P.  Bradley  . 
Col  H  R  Mizner 

12 
10 
4 

4 

7 
2 

269 
347 
106 

Ft  Sedgwick  
Ft  Morgan,  (Colo).... 

Brig.  -gen.  J.  H.  Potter  .. 
Maj.  W.  H.  Powell  

15 
4 

1 

246 

98 

The  troops  employed  in  the  department  were  the2d  cavalry,  the  4th,  10th, 


WYOMING.  723 

well  mounted  Indian  forces,  which  appeared  in  the 
most  unexpected  places,  and  were  off  as  soon  as  their 
mischief  was  perpetrated.  The  damage  done  to  prop 
erty  this  year  was  greater  than  since  1863-4  when 
Colorado  suffered  so  severely,  and  the  country  was 
again  cut  off  from  communication  with  the  east  by 
telegraph,  while  overland  wagon  trains,  and  even 
railroad  trains  were  interrupted.  In  May  the  stage 
lines  refused  to  carry  passengers,  their  horses  which 
were  not  stolen  being  withdrawn  from  the  road,  sev 
eral  of  their  stations  burned,  and  some  of  their 
drivers  killed  and  wounded.  The  public  survey  was 
interrupted,  and  the  whole  region  in  a  state  of  arrested 
growth.23  The  Montana  route,  over  which  the  Sioux 
pretended  to  be  so  much  excited,  was  untravelled,  no 
citizen  trains  venturing  upon  it.  General  Augur, 
commanding  the  department  of  the  Platte,  reported 
that  it  was  a  daily  struggle  still  to  keep  open  the  route 
from  forts  Laramie  to  C.  F.  Smith,  for  the  passage 
of  government  trains,  without  having  to  guard  citizen 
trains.  Thirty  wagons  owned  by  J.  R.  Porter  of 
Plattsmouth,  Nebraska,  carrying  government  supplies 
to  Fort  Philip  Kearny,  escorted  by  Major  Powell, 
Lieutenant  Guiness,  and  forty  men,  was  attacked 
near  that  post  by  a  large  force  of  Indians,  with  whom 
they  fought  for  three  hours,  until  relief  reached  them 
from  the  fort,  in  the  shape  of  two  full  companies  arid 
a  howitzer.  The  train  was  saved,  but  all  the  mules 
and  horses  captured,  and  Lieutenant  Guiness  killed. 
Thirty  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  government  prop 
erty  was  destroyed  en  route  for  Fort  C.  F.  Smith; 
three  months  having  been  spent  in  attempts  to  get  it 

13th,  18th,"  22d,  27th,  30th,  31st,  and  36th  infantry.  Fort  Fetterman  was 
erected  this  year  by  the  4th  and  18th  infantry  under  Major  and  brevet  Col 
W.  McE.  Dye,  at  the  mouth  of  Sage  creek,  where  the  road  to  Montana  left 
the  Platte.  It  had  a  garrison  of  472  men,  and  19  com.  officers.  Two  com 
panies  also  were  encamped  near  Laramie,  under  Maj.  C.  H.  Carleton,  during 
summer,  which  went  into  garrison  late  in  the  autumn.  Kept  Sec.  H  r,  i.  4.18, 
440;  40th  cong.,  2dsess.;  Cochrans  Hist.  Fort  Laramie,  MS.,  65;  Mont.  Post., 
July  20,  1869. 

^Communication  of  Gen.  Sherman  to  the  asst  adjt-gen.  of  the  army,  in 

Sept.  Sec,  War,  i.  65-8, 


726  INDIAN  WARS. 

to  its  destination  from  Julesburg.24  No  attempts  were 
for  some  time  afterward  made  to  reach  this  post  with 
supplies,  and  its  abandonment  was  suggested  as  a 
means  of  restoring  peace. 

Early  in  1867  congress  resorted  to  the  customary 
commission  to  settle  the  Indian  question,  and  General 
John  B.  Sanborn,  General  W.  T.  Sherman,  General 
W.  S.  Harney,  General  C.  -C.  Augur,  N.  J.  Taylor,, 
John  B.  Henderson  and  S.  F.  Tappan  were  appointed. 
To  subsist  friendly  Indians  $300,000  were  appropri 
ated,  and  half  that  amonnt  for  other  expenses.  After 
a  month  spent  in  endeavors  to  have  a  general  council, 
a  treaty  promising  much,  and  requiring  some  submis 
sion  to  government,  was  drawn  up,  signed  by  a  few  of 
the  so-called  friendly  Indians,  April  29th,  and  given 
in  charge  of  the  military  authorities  at  Laramie,  who 
were  to  use  every  means  to  induce  the  chiefs  of  the 
Sioux,  Arapahoes,  and  Cheyennes  to  sign  it.  That 
they  were  in  no  haste  the  above  narrative  proves. 
General  Augur  reported  against  abandoning  the  line 
of  posts  erected  to  guard  travel  on  the  Bozeman  road, 
urging  the  importance  to  the  people,  and  the  loss  to 
the  government  of  the  money  expended  in  erecting 
and  maintaining  them,  to  say  nothing  of  the  moral 
effect  on  the  Indians.  No  understanding  was  arrived 
at,  while  the  summer  passed  in  war,  and  the  winter 
was  spent  in  holding  one  of  the  northern  posts  on  the 
Missouri  in  a  state  of  siege  and  annoying  others.  In 
the  spring  of  1868,  two  years  having  been  spent  in  a 
warfare  exhausting  to  the  means  of  the  Indians,  their 
courage  began  to  fail  them.  Now  was  the  time  for 
the  peace  commissioners  to  score  a  triumph.  The 
treaty  left  at  Fort  Laramie  with  instructions  to  the 
interpreter  to  make  the  meaning  clear  to  every  Indian 
of  any  consequence  who  came  about  the  fort,  began 
to  get  his  signatures.  In  the  first  place,  in  May,  a 
band  of  Ogalallas  arrived  with  two  chiefs,  who  signed 

s*  U.  S,  Mess,  and  Doc.  Abridyt,  390,  40th  cong.,  2d  sess. 


WYOMING,  727 

the  treaty.  The  commanding  officer  then  Issued  to 
them  an  ample  supply  of  provisions,  and  the  Indian 
agent  blankets,  cloth,  cooking  utensils,  knives,  guns, 
and  ammunition.  In  a  few  days  they  departed,  and 
others  came  of  the  Sioux  bands,  then  many  Arapa- 
hoes.  All  signed  the  treaty,  and  received  arms  and 
ammunition  in  addition  to  food  and  clothing.  But 
Red  Cloud  and  Spotted  Tail  held  aloof,  waiting  to 
have  their  will,  saying  that  when  the  posts  on  the 
Bozeman  road  were  abandoned  they  would  sign  the 
treaty.  In  August  the  posts  were  abandoned,25  the 
troops  from  C.  F.  Smith,  Philip  Kearny,  and  Reno 
being  assigned  to  other  stations.  Though  they  may 
have  been  glad  to  leave  the  wilderness  behind  them, 
there  were  few  if  any  who  were  not  reluctant  to  quit 
the  country  with  the  Fetterman  defeat  unavenged. 
Still  Red  Cloud  did  not  sign  until  November,  and 
Spotted  Tail  not  at  all. 

After  being  fed,  clothed,  and  supplied  with  arms, 
the  Sioux  and  their  allies  cast  about  for  a  provocation 
to  further  hostilities,  and  this  they  found  in  the  condi 
tions  of  the  treaty.  The  country  set  apart  for  their 
exclusive  use  by  its  terms  extended  from  the  east 
bank  of  the  Missouri  river  where  the  46th  parallel 
crosses  it  down  to  the  Nebraska  line;  thence  west 
across  the  Missouri  and  along  the  Nebraska  line  to 
the  104th  meridian  ;  thence  north  to  the  46th  parallel 
and  east  to  the  place  of  beginning,  "together  with  all 
existing  reservations."  Upon  this  territory  none  but 
officers  and  agents  of  the  government  should  intrude. 
It  was  also  stipulated  that  the  country  north  of  the 
Platte  and  east  of  the  Bighorn  mountains  should  be 
held  as  unceded  Indian  territory,  which  no  white  per 
son  should  be  permitted  to  occupy  without  the  con 
sent  of  the  Indians.  On  their  part  they  premised  to 
remain  at  peace,  to  relinquish  all  claim  to  the  lands 
north  of  the  Platte  which  was  outside  of  their  reser- 

*Mon£.  Post,  May  2d,  and  July  31,  1868;  compiled  Laws  of  Wyom.,  1876, 
Ixxii. 


728  INDIAN  WARS. 

vation,  except  to  hunt;  not  to  oppose  railroad  con 
struction,  except  on  the  reserved  lands,  not  to  attack 
any  persons  travelling  or  at  home,  not  to  steal  cattle 
or  horses,  not  to  capture  white  women  or  children, 
and  not  to  kill  or  scalp  white  men.  Should  the  gov 
ernment  build  a  road,  it  would  pay  for  the  land  taken  ; 
and  benefits  were  to  be  bestowed  such  as  the  govern 
ment  bestows  upon  all  treaty  tribes.26 

The  offence  given  was  in  an  order  of  the  president 
of  the  peace  commission,  General  Sanborn,  that  after 
the  signatures  of  all  the  chiefs  had  been  obtained,  the 
Sioux  and  their  allies  should  no  longer  be  permitted 
to  come  to  Fort  Laramie,  as  it  was  not  within  the 
boundaries  of  their  reservation.  But  the  distance  to 
Fort  Randall,  where  they  were  directed  to  go  for  sup 
plies,  was  considerable,  and  the  dissatisfaction  great  in 
proportion.  They  were  unwilling  to  submit  to  the 
inconvenience  so  rigorously  imposed  upon  the  people 
of  Montana.  Depredations  continued  to  be  com 
mitted  upon  travellers,  and  upon  the  few  settlers  near 
the  forts,  and  along  the  line  of  the  Union  Pacific 
railroad,  which  was  now  approaching  completion,  and 
for  the  safety  of  which  Fort  Frederick  Steel e  was 
erected  this  year,  near  the  present  site  of  Rawlins. 
Meanwhile  Red  Cloud  and  Man-afraid-of-his-horses 
retired  to  Powder  river  from  which  they  could  follow 
the  chase,  invade  the  Crow  country  as  they  should 
feel  inclined,  while  the  Cheyennes  were  warring  against 
their  own  race27  on  the  plains.  And  there,  for  a  space, 
I  will  leave  them,  to  turn  to  the  progress  of  affairs 
connected  with  the  existence  of  Wyoming. 

™  Deer  Lodge,  Northwest,  Sept.  5,  1874;  Helena,  Mont.  Post,  May  29,  1868. 

27  In  the  autumn  of  1868,  35  Kaw  Indians,  being  on  a  buffalo  hunt  60 
miles  southwest  from  Fort  Lamed  on  the  Arkansas,  they  were  attacked  by 
60  Cheyennes,  the  battle  continuing  for  two  honrs.  The  Cheyennes  los*t 
heavily,  the  Kaws  being  warlike  and  brave.  Returning  to  the  Kaw  agency 
with  45  captured  horses,  they  were  again  attacked  by  the  Cheyennes,  who 
had  been  reenforced  to  100,  who  beseigedthe  agency  for  48  hours,  killing  9 
of  the  Kaws  and  capturing  all  the  horses  and  stock.  I  have  this  account 
from  George  W.  Hunkers,  of  Buffalo,  Wyoming,  who  was  present  in  both 
battles.  Munkers  was  born  in  Mo.,  in  1852,  and  brought  up  in  Kansas.  At 
the  early  age  of  10  years  he  was  employed  as  interpreter  on  the  Kaw  reser- 


WYOMING.  729 

vation,  and  was  sent  to  Fort  Sill,  and  other  posts,  to  negotiate  for  the  restor 
ation  of  white  captives,  in  which  he  was  successful.  *He  afterward  travelled 
with  a  party  of  Indians  to  exhibit  their  war-dances,  under  the  management 
of  P.  J.  Barnum.  In  1873  he  went  to  Col.,  engaging  in  mining  and  freight 
ing  in  the  San  Juan  country.  Subsequently  he  constructed  1,1  miles  of  tlte 
Denver  and  New  Orleans  railroad,  and  7  miles  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington, 
and  Quincy  railroad.  His  next  enterprise  was  in  town -building,  having 
acted  as  manager  in  the  affairs  of  Robert  Foote,  in  starting  the  growth  ot 
Buffalo  in  the  Powder  river  country.  His  wife  is  a  daughter  of  J.  P. 
Mather,  a  pioneer,  who  erected  the  first  grist-mill  in  Johnson  co.  He  was 
elected  town  trustee  in  1883,  and  was  always  an  influential  member  of  the 
commonwealth. 


CHAPTER  V. 

POLITICAL,  SOCIAL,  AND  MATERIAL  AFFAIRS. 

1867-1888. 

UOLD  DISCOVERY  —  SOUTH  PASS  CITY  ORGANIZED  —  ORGANIZATION  OP 
COUNTIES—  FOUNDING  OF  CHEYENNE — ADVANCE  IN  TOWN  LOTS— BAD 
ELEMENT  —  VIGILANCE  COMMITTEES  —  NEWSPAPERS  ESTABLISHED  —  A 
MAGIC  CITY  —  THE  NAME  WYOMING  —  TERRITORIAL  ORGANIZATION  — 
FEMALE  SUFFRAGE — JUDICIAL  DISTRICTS— COUNTY  SEATS  AND  COUNTY 
OFFICERS— ELECTIONS — LAW  MAKING— MILITARY  POSTS — ADMINISTRA 
TION  OF  GOVERNOR  CAMPBELL — THAYER,  HOYT,  AND  HALE — MASSACRE 
OF  CHINESE— "LEGISLATION. 

HITHERTO  the  territory  which  was  the  scene  of  so 
many  adventures,  and  so  much  activity  of  an  itinerant 
character,  had  no  permanent  population,  no  political 
organization,  and  no  name.  It  was  spoken  of  as 
the  North  Platte,  with  the  sub-titles  of  the  Sweet- 
water,  the  Wind  River  Valley,  the  Bighorn  Country, 
or  the  Black  Hills.  Really  it  was  a  part  of  Da 
kota,1  but  had  never  been  districted,  and  possessed 
no  local  machinery  of  government.  Originally  it 
was  a  part  of  the  Louisiana  purchase,2  confirmed 
by  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo  in  1846.  I 
have  referred  in  a  previous  chapter  to  the  fruitless 
attempts  to  discover  the  precious  metals,  which  from 
time  to  time  were  put  forth  in  this  region,  while  Col 
orado  and  Montana,  Idaho,  Utah,  and  Nevada  were 
pouring  their  millions  of  treasure  into  the  lap  of  a 
luxurious  civilization.  Notwithstanding  the  repeated 
failures,  it  was  no  surprise  when  in  the  summer  of 
1867,  upon  the  sources  of  the  Sweetwater,  gold  was 
found  in  paying  quantities  by  prospectors,  among 

lZab)-iskie,  Land  Laws,  848,  777;  Slaughter,  ^ife  in  Colo  and  Wyom.,  MS., 
6. 

2  US.  H.  Misc.  Doc.,  45,  pt  4,  vol.  2.  105,  47th  cong.,  2d  sesa. 


WYOMING.  731 

whom  were  Henry  Ridell,  Frank  Marshall,  Harry 
Hubbell,  Richard  Grace,  and  Noyes  Baldwin,  who  dis 
covered  the  Cariso  lode  and  made  the  first  locations 
at  South  pass.  When  the  news  reached  Salt  Lake, 
a  company  of  about  thirty  men  repaired  to  South  pass 
prepared  to  winter  there  while  they  prospected.  Their 
camp  was  surprised  by  a  band  of  hostile  Arapahoes, 
looking  for  plunder.  In  the  first  onset  they  killed 
Lawrence,  the  captain  of  the  party,  and  drove  the 
prospectors  to  the  Sweetwater,  where,  after  killing 
another  man,  they  abandoned  the  pursuit,  it  was  sup 
posed  because  they  feared  to  meet  the  Shoshones  in 
whose  country  they  were.  The  miners  being  on  foot, 
could  not  overtake  them  if  they  would;  nevertheless 
there  were  soon  700  persons  on  Willow  Creek,  con 
stituting  the  municipality  of  South  Pass  City,  which 
was  laid  out  in  October.  From  the  Cariso  $15,000 
was  taken  out  by  crushing  in  hand  mortars  before 
winter  set  in.  The  Atlantic  ledge,  six  miles  north 
east  of  Cariso,  was  considered  a  very  important  mine. 
Miners'  Delight,  two  miles  northeast  of  the  Atlantic, 
was  even  more  promising,  while  the  Summit,  King 
Solomon,  Northern  Light,  Scott  and  Eddy,  Lone  Star 
State,  Hoosier  Boy,  Copperopolis,  Mahomet,  Cali 
fornia,  Elmira,  Colonel  Mann,  and  Jim  Crow  were 
regarded  as  valuable  discoveries.  Late  in  the  autumn 
placer  mines  were  also  found,  which  yielded  flatter 
ingly.  They  were  in  gulches  running  into  Willow 
Creek,  which  was  a  branch  of  the  Sweetwater  head 
ing  in  Wind  River  mountains,  and  flowing  south. 
The  Dakota  was  the  first  gulch  discovered,  after  which 
followed  half  a  dozen  others.  A  ditch  five  miles  in 
length  was  partly  constructed,  before  cold  weather  set 
in,  which  was  to  carry  water  to  Dakota  gulch.  A 
sawmill  was  also  in  operation  before  the  winter.  Be 
sides  the  population  at  South  Pass  City,  there  were 
several  mining  districts  each  with  its  hundred  or  more 
inhabitants.  °Such  is  the  magic  progress  which  gold 
inspires. 


732  POLITICAL,  SOCIAL,  AND  MATERIAL  AFFAIRS. 

In  January  the  county  of  Carter  was  organized,8 
with  HubbelJ  as  recorder,  and  John  Murphy  as  sheriff. 
By  the  middle  of  February,  although  the  snow  was 
deep  and  drifted,  parties  from  Salt  Lake  struggled 
through  in  order  to  be  on  the  ground  with  the  opening 
of  spring.4  In  April  another  town  of  300  miners  had 
sprung  up  four  miles  northeast  of  South  Pass  City,  in 
the  midst  of  a  quartz  district  situated  on  Rock  Creek; 
and  soon  a  third  town  called  Hamilton  was  started 
four  miles  north  of  that.  Game  of  many  kinds  was 
plenty,  and  water  power  convenient,  but  the  first  set 
tlers  pronounced  against  the  prospect  of  raising  farm 
products  in  that  section.  Business  was  good  if  the 
merchants  could  get  their  goods  upon  the  ground, 
which  was  difficult/ 

The  Indians  continued  to  infest  the  roads,  making 
travel  dangerous;  and  notwithstanding  detachments  of 
troops  were  stationed  at  intervals,  who  patrolled  the 
highway  or  pursued  depredating  parties,  a  number  of 
persons  were  killed  in  the  summer  of  1868,  and  again 
in  1869.  A  newspaper  called  the  Sweetwater  Miner  was 
started  at  Fort  Briger  in  Feburary  1868,  by  Warren 
andHastings,  which  was  active  in  promoting  immigra 
tion  to  this  region.  The  existence  of  a  mother  lode  was 

3  Named  after  W.  A.  Carter  of  Fort  Bridger. 

*  J.  F.  Staples,  John  Able,  John  M.  Neil,  William  F.  Berry,  John  Hoi- 
brook,  James  Leffmgwell,  Frank  McGovern,  John  Eaves,  Peter  Brade,  Louis 
Brade,  Alexander  and  bro.,  H.  A.  Thompson,  Jeff.  Standifer,  Kit  Castle, 
George  Hirst,  W.  Matheney,  Chris.  Weaver,  and  Moses  Sturman  passed 
Fort  Bridger  in  February,  and  Col  Morrow,  in  command,  was  forced  to  pub 
lish  a  special  order,  warning  citizens  not  to  expect  to  obtain  supplies  from 
that  post.  Wyoming  Scraps,  13. 

5  Worden  Noble  was  the  first  merchant  in  these  parts.  He  was  born  at 
Sackett's  Harbor  in  1847,  and  came  to  Fort  Laramie  in  1866,  taking  a  situa 
tion  as  book-keeper  for  E.  Coffee  &  Caney.  He  went  to  South  pass  in  the 
spring  of  1868,  when  he  was  attacked  by  Indians.  He  remained  here  mer 
chandizing  one  year,  when  he  commenced  contracting  for  Camp  Stambaugh, 
afterward  a  permanent  post,  and  continued  in  this  business  for  7  years,  after 
which  he  engaged  in  stock-raising  near  Lander,  being  a  pioneer  in  this  busi 
ness.  In  1880,  he  removed  to  the  Shoshone  agency.  In  1880,  he  erected  a 
quartz-mill  at  Atlantic  City,  doing  custom  work  as  well  as  reducing  his  own 
ores.  He  organized  the  Nevada  Clover  Valley  Land  and  Cattle  co.  at  Gol- 
conda,  Nev.,  with  a  capital  of  $500.000,  and  60,000  acres  of  land,  of  which 
he  became  president,  and  also  engaged  in  sheep  raising  in  1882.  In  1877  he 
was  elected  to  the  upper  house  of  the  Wyoming  legislature  from  Sweetwater 
co.,  and  was  county  commissioner  from  1871  to  1877i 


WYOMING.  733 

questioned,  and  various  opinions  exist  among  the  best 
informed  miners  regarding  the  value  of  the  quartz  in 
the  Sweetwater  country.  The  country  rock  is  slate, 
and  the  gold  where  found  is  free  milling;  but  the  rock 
is  what  miners  designate  as  spotted,  or  pockety,  and 
consequently  not  altogether  profitable6  to  work, 
although  considerable  metal  has  been  taken  out  of 
this  region. 

Contemporaneously  with  the  first  mining  on  the 
summit  of  the  Rocky  mountains  in  Dakota,  the  pro 
gress  of  railroad  construction  had  brought  to  the 
North  Platte  country  a  working  and  a  vagabond  pop- 


RAILROAD  BUILDERS'  FORT. 

illation,  one  to  prey  upon  the  other,  and  together  they 
formed  several  communities  on  the  line  of  the  road, 
the  most  important  of  which  was  Cheyenne,  situated 
at  the  base  of  the  Laramie  range,  in  the  vicinity  of 
several  military  posts,  at  the  point  nearest  Denver 
and  its  banking  facilities,  and  where  the  railroad  com 
pany  placed  its  shops,  which  alone  gave  it  a  valuable 
business  from  the  start.7 

At  this  point  in  July  1867  the  land  agent  of  the 
Union  Pacific  railroad  erected  a  rude  structure,  which 
had  for  company  several  canvas  houses.  Lots  sold 

6  The  Bullion  mine,  discovered  at  Lewiston,  on  the  Sweetwater,  by  H.  G. 
Nickerson,  in  1868,  was  considered  a  good  mine.  The  Buckeye,  discovered 
in  1869,  on  the  north  Sweetwater.  yielded  in  1871,  $25,000  in  a  10-stamp  mill. 
Louis  P.  Vidal  located  the  Buckeye  Extension.  John  D.  Woodruff  located 
a  claim  in  1870,  which  he  abandoned,  out  of  which  another  locator  took 

~''  R^pt  Sec..  Int.,  in  U.  S.  Mess.  &  Doc.  Abridgt,  655,  1867-8;  Byers  Centen 
nial  State,  MS.,  36-7, 


734  POLITICAL,  SOCIAL,  AND  MATERIAL  AFFAIRS. 

at  a  good  figure  at  this  early  period,8  and  the  popula 
tion  rapidly  increased.  A  city  government  was  formed 
in  the  autumn  of  1867,  with  a  good  police  system  and 
a  determination  on  the  part  of  the  permanent  inhabi 
tants  to  prevent,  if  possible,  the  disorders  which  had 
attended  the  early  development  of  cities  in  the  sur 
rounding  mining  territories.  That  it  was  found  im 
possible  without  resorting  to  the  vigilant  system  was 
not  the  fault  of  the  founders.  Cheyenne  received 
many  settlers  from  Colorado.9 

The  first  actual  settler  at  Cheyenne  was  J.  R. 
Whitehead,  followed  the  same  day  by  Thomas  E. 
McLeland,  Robert  M.  Beers,  and  three  others,  with 
their  families.  The  railroad  company  sold  lots  for 
$150,  one  third  cash,  and  the  same  lots  sold  one  month 
later  for  $1,000,  increasing  in  price  at  the  rate  of  $1,000 
per  month  during  the  summer.  In  August  the  city 
government  was  formed,  H.  M.  Hook  being  chosen 

8  One  of  the  first  permanent  settlers  in  Cheyenne  was  Morton  E.  Post, 
who  located  himself  in  the  Platte  valley,  75  miles  below  Denver,  removing 
to  Cheyenne  in  1867.  Purchasing  two  lots  of  the  land  agent,  he  was  return 
ing  to  Denver  to  make  arrangements  for  building,  when  he  fell  in  with  a  man 
at  Willow  springs,  who  had  made  a  coal  discovery,  and  was  afraid  to  return 
to  it  on  account  of  Indians  in  the  vicinity,  but  being  very  anxious  about  it, 
persuaded  Post  to  return  with  him.  He  found  the  coal  mine  16  miles  from 
Cheyenne,  and  staked  off  claims.  In  August  he  erected  a  store  at  the  corner 
of  17th  and  Ferguson  streets,  selling  the  fractional  parts  of  his  two  lots, 
which  cost  him  $600,  for  $5,600.  In  1877,  he  purchased  a  gold  mine  in 
Deadwood,  and  erected  the  first  quartz-mill  in  that  section,  making  the  first 
shipment  of  gold  bullion  from  the  Black  hills.  In  1878,  he  opened  a  banking- 
house,  under  the  style  of  Stebbins,  Post  &  Co.,  in  the  Deadwood  country. 
He  was  elected  a  commissioner  for  Laramie  county  in  1872,  together  with 
T.  Dyer  and  J.  H.  Nichols.  The  county  was  at  this  time  $40,000  in  debt, 
its  warrants  worth  40  cents  on  the  dollar,  and  it  owned  no  property  except 
a  worthless  old  safe.  At  the  expiration  of  their  second  term  the  old  county 
debt  was  paid,  and  a  jail  and  court-house  costing  $40,000  erected;  the  county 
warrants  were  at  par,  with  a  bonded  indebtedness  of  $30,000.  Substantial 
school  buildings  had  also  been  built,  and  a  surplus  remained  in  the  treasury. 
In  1878  Post  was  elected  to  the  territorial  council,  doing  good  service,  and 
securing,  against  strong  opposition,  the  repeal  of  the  law  licensing  lotteries. 
In  1880  he  was  elected  delegate  to  congress,  reelected  in  1882,  and  nominated 
again  in  1884,  when  he  declined.  Poore's  Cong.  Directy,  48th  cong.,  1st  sess., 
p.  79;  House  Jour.,  1884-5,  923. 

'Nathaniel  Robertson,  born  in  Aberdeen,  Scotland,  in  1841,  migrated 
with  his  parents  to  the  U.  S.  in  1846,  and  to  Colo  in  1865,  locating  himself 
at  Denver,  and  opening  the  first  carriage-making  establishment  in  that  place. 
When  Cheyenne  was  laid  off  he  removed  his  business  to  that  point,  and 
merged  it  into  a  company  called  the  Cheyenne  Carriage  company,  with  F.  E. 
Warren  prest,  Thomas  Swan  vice-prest,  Morton  E.  Post  treas.,  J.  K.  Jeffrey 
sec  y,  and  Robertson  general  manager  and  supt, 


WYOMING.  735 

mayor;  R  E.  Tapley,  W.  H.  Harlow,  S,  M.  Pres- 
haw,  J.  G.  Willis,  and  G.  B.  Thompson,  councilmen ; 
J.  K.  Whitehead,  city  attorney;  H.  N.  Meldrum, 
treasurer;  Thomas  E.  McLeland,  clerk,  and  E. 
Melanger,  marshal.1' 

On  the  19th  of  September  N.  A.  Baker  commenced 
the  publication  of  the  Cheyenne  Evening  Leader  news 
paper,  which  later  became  a  morning  daily.  On  the 
25th  of  October  the  Daily  Argus  began  publication 
under  the  management  of  L.  L.  Bedell.  Telegraphic 
communication  with  the  east  and  Denver  was  com 
pleted  the  same  day.  On  the  13th  of  November  the 
railroad  reached  the  town  limits,  the  first  passenger 
trains  through  from  Omaha  arriving  with  a  special 
party  on  board,  which  was  enthusiastically  welcomed. 
A  month  later  the  track  was  laid  to  Fort  Russell, 
and  on  the  8th  of  December  a  third  newspaper,  the 
Rocky  Mountain  Star,  issued  its  first  number,  edited 
by  O.  T.  B.  Williams.  Wonderful  development  of  a 

10  The  first  house  erected  on  the  south  side  of  Crow  creek  on  the  site  of 
Cheyenne  was  built  by  a  mountain  man  named  Larimer.  It  was  followed  in 
July  by  a  two-story  frame  house,  erected  by  Whitehead,  which  is  still  stand 
ing  on  the  west  side  of  Eddy  street.  Lumber  was  brought  from  Colorado, 
and  the  first  houses  were  roofed  with  boards  lapped;  but  in  Aug.  Thomas 
Murrin  had  a  shingle  roof  on  his  house  on  17th  street.  Headquarters  saloon 
built  about  this  time  was  36  by  100  feet,  and  stood  on  16th  street,  where 
Hellman's  brick  block  now  stands.  Adjoining  it  was  a  two-story  hotel, 
owned  by  Ford  and  Durkee,  the  same  Ford  who  built  the  fine  hotel  on  the 
corner  of  Hill  and  16th  streets.  Opposite  the  Ford  and  Durkee  hotel  was 
the  Rollins  house,  owned  by  J.  Q.  A.  Rollins,  now  a  wealthy  mine  owner, 
and  the  founder  of  Rollinsville,  Colo.  The  post-office  was  a  10  by  15  frame 
building  on  16th  street,  but  soon  proving  inadequate  to  its  purpose,  the 
postmaster,  Thomas  E.  McLeland,  erected  a  building  on  the  s.  e.  corner  of 
Ferguson  and  17th  streets,  where  later  was  placed  the  banking  house  of 
Stebbins,  Post  &Co.,  of  about  double  that  size.  It  is  stated  that  E.  P.  Snow 
and  W.  N.  Monroe  arrived  in  Cheyenne  Aug.  15th  as  managers  of  the  busi 
ness  of  M.  S.  Hall,  and  in  48  hours  had  erected  a  building  55  by  25  feet.  It 
stood  on  a  part  of  the  ground  later  occupied  by  the  furniture  establishment 
of  F.  E.  Warren  &  Co.  A  large  warehouse  was  opened  in  Sept.  by  Corn- 
forth  &  Bro.  on  the  corner  of  Eddy  and  19th  streets.  On  the  25th  the  first 
bank  was  opened  in  Cornforth  &  Bro.  ?s  stort  by  J.  H.  Rogers,  who  soon  after 
erected  a  building  on  Eddy  and  16th  streets.  Two  other  banks  were  estab 
lished  soon  after  by  Kauntze  Bros  &  Co.  and  J.  A.  Ware  &  Co.  In  Oct.  Gen 
Stevenson  caused  to  be  erected  the  stone  \varehouse  on  the  corner  of  Eddy 
and  loth  streets,  costing  $20,000.  The  same  month  the  mammoth  corral, 
known  as  the  Great  Western,  was  completed  by  Hook  &  Moore  on  the  cor 
ner  of  O'Neil  and  20th  streets.  Charles  McDonald  began  the  erection  of  a 
block  of  houses  88  by  90  feet,  in  Oct.,  which  he  used  as  a  general  merchan 
dising  establishment. 


736  POLITICAL,  SOCIAL,  AND  MATERIAL  AFFAIRS, 

six- months-old  town  in  the  midst  of  uninhabited 
plains!  No  wonder  it  was  named  the  Magic  City.11 
Such  progress  did  not  fail  to  invite  that  pest  of  new 
towns,  the  squatter.  Town  lots  were  seized,  and  the 
city  police  being  too  few  to  eject  them,  a  call  was 
made  upon  the  commandant  at  Fort  Russell,  who 
sent  a  battalion  to  escort  the  invaders  outside  the  city 
limits.12 

On  the  27th  of  September  a  mass  meeting  was 
held 13  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  a  county.  Three 
commissioners  were  appointed  to  district  the  county 
into  three  election  precincts ;  the  county  to  be  called 
Laramie,  and  its  boundaries  to  be  "the  same  as  those 
established  by  the  act  of  the  legislative  assembly  of 
Dakota."  The  commissioners  chosen  by  the  meeting 
were  W.  L.  Kuykendall,  L.  L.  Bedell,  and  Thomas 
J.  Street.  It  was  resolved  that  the  county-seat 
should  be  located  by  vote  at  an  election  to  be  held 
October  8th,  when  a  delegate  to  congress  and  county 
officers  should  be  chosen ;  and  that  all  United  States 


11  Slaughter's  Life  in  Colo  and  Wyom.,  MS.,  2-3;  Wyom.  Tribune,,  Oct.  8, 
1870;  Wyom.  Misc.,  MS.,  53-5;  Hay  den's  Great  West,  89;  Beadle's  Undeveloped 
West,  134;  Strahorn's  Wyoming,  Black  Hills,  etc.,  142;  Goddard's  Where  to 
Emigrate  and  Why,  176;  Williams'  Pacific  Tourist,  64. 

la  This  question  of  squatters 's  rights  and  title  to  public  lands  claimed  for 
town-sites  was  not  understood  by  every  one.  Cheyenne,  like  every  other 
such  town,  had  its  clouds  on  title  to  overcome.  Lots  were  purchased  from 
the  U.  P.  railroad  co.  When  the  government  surveys  were  in  progress  it 
was  discovered  in  1869  that  no  plot  of  the  town  had  ever  been  filed  in  the 
office  of  the  land  commissioner,  or  in  any  office,  or  any  official  notice  given 
of  such  a  town-site  on  the  public  lands.  It  appeared  to  be  the  intention  of 
the  company  to  allow  the  government  surveys  to  cut  it  up  into  sections,  and 
then  to  claim  the  odd  numbered  sections.  Other  parties  could  preempt — no 
filing  having  been  made — the  other  sections,  and  thus  the  town-site  be  dis 
membered,  and  titles  be  brought  into  dispute. 

13  This  meeting  was  held  at  the  city  hall,  which  was  on  16th  street  between 
Eddy  and  Thomas,  north  side.  H.  M.  Hook  was  chairman,  and  J.  R.  White- 
head  sec.  Johnson  and  Tuthill,  Cheyenne  Dir.,  1883,  11;  Mont.  Post,  Oct.  26, 
1867. 

11  This  refers  to  an  act  of  the  legislature  of  Dakota  of  Jan.  9,  1867,  by 
which  the  county  of  Laramie  was  organized,  and  bounded  east  by  the  104th 
meridian,  comprehending  all  the  territory  west  of  it,  or  all  of  what  became 
Wyoming.  It  was  reorganized  Jan.  3,  1868,  and  the  western  boundary 
placed  at  the  107th  meridian.  All  the  first  counties  of  Wyoming  extended 
from  the  northern  to  the  southern  boundaries. 


WYOMING.  737 

citizens  who  had  been  in  the  territory  for  ten  days 
previous  to  the  election  should  be  eligible  voters.15 

The  election  resulted  in  choosing  J.  S.  Casement, 
formerly  of  Painesville,  Ohio,  delegate  to  congress; 
J.  R  Whitehead  representative  to  the  Dakota  legis 
lature;  C.  L.  Howell,  M.  H.  Hissman  arid  W.  L. 
Hopkins  county  commissioners;  W.  L.  Kuykendall 
probate  judge;  Thomas  J.  Street  district  attorney; 
D.  J.  Sweeney  sheriff;  J.  H.  Creighton  register  of 
deeds ;  L.  L.  Bedell  treasurer;  James  Irwin  coroner ; 
J.  H.  Gildersleeve  superintendent  of  schools;  and 
F.  Landberg  surveyor.  Cheyenne  was  made  the 
county  seat.  The  total  number  of  votes  cast  was 
1,900. 

Whitehead  returned  from  Yancton  in  January, 
having  succeeded  in  his  mission.  The  bill  reorganiz 
ing  Laramie  county  made  new  appointments,  the 
commissioners  being  Benjamin  Ellinger,  P.  McDon 
ald,  and  Beals;  sheriff,  J.  L.  Laird ;  recorder,  William 
L.  Morris;  coroner,  Johnson;  school  superintendent, 
J.  H.  Gildersleeve;  justice  of  the  peace,  A.  B.  Moore 
and  A.  W.  Brown ;  constable,  S.  Masterson.  Kuy 
kendall  was  retained  as  probate  judge;  S.  H.  Winsor 
was  appointed  county  surveyor.  Bills  organizing  a 
district  court  for  this  part  of  Dakota,  and  an  act  of 
incorporation  of  the  City  of  Cheyenne  were  also 
passed.  Laramie  county  was  added  to  the  second 
judicial  district,  to  whieh  the  chief  justice  of  Dakota, 
Asa  Bartlett,  was  assigned;  and  E.  P.  Johnson  was 
appointed  district  attorney.  The  first  term  of  court 
was  ordered  for  the  first  Monday  in  March.  Bart 
lett  held  two  terms  of  court,  and  was  a  good  judge. 
But  the  first  courts  in  this  new  metropolis,  like  those 
in  the  first  towns  in  Idaho,  Montana,  and  Colorado 
were  the  people's  courts.16 

l'3Corlett,  Founding  of  Cheyenne,  MS.,  4-7;  Carey,  Politics  and  People,  MS., 
5-6. 

16Corlett  says,  in  his  Founding  of  Cheyenne,  MS.,  5,  that  the  courts  used 
the  statutes  of  Colorado,  with  which  most  of  the  residents  were  familiar,  so 
far  as  they  were  applicable  in  the  cases  tried.  He  performed  the  duties  of 
HIST.  NKV.  47 


738  POLITICAL,  SOCIAL,  AND  MATERIAL  AFFAIRS. 

Shootings  were  frequent,  and  every  manner  of  vice 
abounded.  Finding  that  Cheyenne  was  to  be  the  ter 
minus  of  the  railroad  for  that  winter,  all  the  scum  of 
society  which  had  drifted  along  with  the  pay  car  of 
the  railroad  company  as  far  as  Julesburg  took  up  a 
temporary  residence  here.  Six  thousand  people  win 
tered  in  Cheyenne,  the  accommodations  for  the  shelter 
of  a  large  part  of  them  being  tents  and  sod  houses,  or 
"  dug-outs."  A  canvas  saloon  would  answer  as  well  as 
another  for  gambling,  drinking,  and  the  practices  of 
the  dives.  Various  men  and  women  made  the  place 
intolerable.  Tne  city  authorities  were  powerless. 
Robberies  and  assaults  with  deadly  weapons  were  of 
daily  and  nightly  occurrence.  Then  the  patience  of 
the  people  failed,  and  the  vigilance  committee  came  to 
the  front.  Its  first  act  was  on  the  llth  of  January, 
when  it  seized  three  men  who  had  been  arrested  for 
robbery  and  placed  under  bonds  to  appear  before  the 
court  on  the  14th.  These  men  were  bound  together 
abreast,  and  a  large  canvas  attached  to  them  bearing 
this  legend  :  "  $900  stole ;  $500  returned ;  thieves, 
F.  St  Glair,  W.  Grier,  E.  D.  Brownville.  City  author 
ities  please  not  interfere  until  10  o'clock  A.  M.  Next 
case  goes  up  a  tree.  Beware  of  vigilance  committee." 
During  the  next  six  months  a  dozen  men  were  hanged 
and  shot  by  the  vigilants,  after  which  law  became 
operative  in  Cheyenne,  and  the  plague  passed  on  west 
ward  to  Laramie  City  and  other  towns  which  defended 
themselves  in  a  similar  manner.17 

the  city  attorney  during  a  part  of  Whitehead's  term.  This  was  before  the 
irruption  of  the  criminal  class,  which  came  with  the  railroad,  and  with  whom 
the  provisional  government  could  not  deal.  There  was  no  prison,  and  fines 
were  readily  paid  when  imposed.  Boettcher,  Flush  Times  in  Colorado,  MS.,  1. 
17  The  first  hanging  in  Cheyenne  occurred  on  the  night  of  the  20th  of 
March,  when  Charles  Martin  and  Charles  Morgan  were  executed  by  the  vig 
ilance  committee.  Martin  had  killed  Andrew  Harris  in  a  quarrel.  He  was 
from  Lexington,  Mo.,  and  respectably  connected.  For  some  time  he  was 
wagon-master  for  Russell,  Majors,  and  Waddell,  but  finally  became  reckless, 
and  consorted  with  gamblers  and  vile  associates,  becoming  a  desperado  in 
his  habits.  He  had,  without  provocation,  shot  at  Capt.  O'Brien  at  Jules- 
burg,  and  was  regarded  as  a  dangerous  person.  Morgan  was  hanged  for 
horse-stealing.  The  gallows  on  which  Martin  died  stood  where  I.  C.  Whip- 
pie's  house  was  built,  the  other  behind  the  Elephant  corral.  Cheyenne  Argus, 


WYOMING. 


739 


Laramie  City  was  laid  off  by  the  railroad  company 
in  April,  1868,  when  the  early  history  of  Cheyenne 
was  repeated.  During  the  first  week  400  lots  were 
sold.  In  a  fortnight  500  dwellings  and  business  houses 
of  all  kinds  had  been  erected,  mostly  of  a  very  transient 
character.  The  road  was  completed  to  that  point  in 
May,  where  the  town  was  quickly  over-run  with  des 
peradoes  and  lewd  women,  as  its  predecessor  had  been; 
and  as  forbearance  ceased  to  be  a  virtue  they  were 
visited  by  those  unrecognized  ministers  of  justice  the 
vigilants,  and  Laramie  became  a  well  ordered  as  it 
was  a  thriving  town.  This  year  also  the  counties  of 
Albany  and  Carbon  were  organized  by  the  Dakota 
legislature.  Laramie  county  having  elected  Charles 
D.  Bradley,  brother  of  Judge  Bradley  of  the  supreme 
court  of  the  United  States,  representatives  who  pro 
cured  the  passage  of  bills  for  their  establishment. 

As  early  as  1865  a  bill  had  been  introduced  in  con 
gress,  by  Ashley  of  Ohio,  to  provide  a  temporary 
government  "  for  the  territory  of  Wyoming."  18  Who 
it  was  first  suggested  this  beautiful  but  misplaced 
name  does  not  appear.  The  bill  was  referred  to  the 
committee  on  territories,  where  it  rested.  When  the 
delegate  chosen  19  on  the  8th  of  October  1867,  pre- 

March  22,  1868;  S.  F.  AUa,  Ap.  10,  1868;  Corktt,  Founding  of  CJieyenne,  MS., 
7.  Not  long  after  a  party  of  desperate  men  went  carousing  down  Eddy 
street,  and  coming  opposite  a  saloon  kept  by  Tim  Dyer,  later  the  proprietor 
of  Dyer's  hotel,  and  a  member  of  the  city  council,  fired  several  shots  into  it, 
fortunately  killing  no  one.  They  left  town  immediately,  fearing  the  vig 
ilants,  but  were  followed  and  overtaken  at  Dale  City  and  hanged,  three  of 
them,  Keefe,  Hays,  and  a  very  tall  man  nicknamed  Shorty.  Two  men  were 
killed  and  a  woman  wounded  in  a  house  of  ill-fame,  but  no  clue  could  be 
obtained  to  the  murderer,  although  the  shots  were  distinctly  heard  by  many 
persons.  The  mystery  engendered  fear.  After  the  committee  had  per 
formed  the  service  of  ridding  the  community  of  its  worst  element,  it  was 
condemned  and  superseded  by  legalized  justice,  but  only  to  be  revived  in 
later  times,  when  a  new  set  of  desperate  men  as  highwaymen  made  even 
railroad  travel  dangerous.  See  Popular  Tribunals,  this  series. 

lsGong.  Glnhe,  1864-5,  116;   U.  S.  House  Jour.,  78,  256,  38  cong.  2  sess. 

19  The  regularly  elected  delegate  for  Dakota  in  1868  was  S.  L.  Spink,  who 
had  his  mends  and  funds  in  this  section.  He  ran  on  the  republican  ticket 
against  Burley  and  Todd,  in  the  eastern  part,  and  Dennis  J.  Toohey,  after 
wards  editor  of  the  Salt  Lake  Tri'mne,  in  the  western  part  of  the  territory. 
Carlett,  Foundinj  of  Cheyenne,  MS.,  18;  Foster's  Outline*  of  History,  38. 


740  POLITICAL,  SOCIAL,  AND  MATERIAL  AFFAIRS. 

sented  himself  at  the  door  of  congress,  he  was  not 
permitted  a  seat,  but  he  nevertheless  was  able  to 
refresh  the  memories  of  the  territorial  committee. 
A  memorial  introduced  in  the  Dakota  legislature  by 
W.  W.  Brooking,  asking  congress  to  organize  a  new 
territory  in  the  southwest  to  be  called  Lincoln  was 
also  presented ; 20  and  in  the  spring  a  petition  for  a 
territorial  organization  was  addressed  to  the  house  of 
representatives,  signed  by  "  H.  Latham,  agent  for  the 
people  of  Wyoming."  When  the  bill  before  congress 
had  reached  the  senate * considerable  discussion  took 
place  upon  the  subject  of  the  proper  nomenclature  to 
be  adopted,  and  Wyoming  was  preferred  by  a  major 
ity,  although  Cheyenne  came  very  near  being  the 
name  chosen.21 

Without  opposition  or  prolonged  discussion  the 
organization  took  place,  the  act  being  approved  July 
25,  1 8 68, 22  the  boundaries  of  the  new  territory  being 
the  27th  and  34th  meridians  of  longitude,  and  the 
41st  and  45th  parallels  of  north  latitude,  embracing 
100,284  square  miles,  or  64,181,700  acres.23  The 
western  boundary  took  in  the  Green  River  valley, 
which  had  previously  formed  the  northeast  corner  of 
Utah,  but  which  since  the  occupation  of  Fort  Brid^er 

A  O 

by  the  government,  had  been  abandoned  by  the  Mor 
mons,  and  also  a  portion  of  Idaho  north  of  this  section. 

20  Mont.  T.   W.  Post,  Jan.  23,  1868. 

21 A  question  arising  as  to  the  orthography  of  Cheyenne,  the  librarian  of 
congress  was  appealed  to,  who  quoted  Schoolcraft  as  the  highest  authority, 
who  says  the  meaning  of  the  word  is  not  known,  and  the  orthography  differs. 
The  Montana  Pott,  July  3,  1868,  gives  the  true  pronunciation  Shai-en-na, 
'with  a  prolonged  breathing  accent  on  the  second  syllable.'  This,  in  fact, 
is  the  manner  of  pronouncing  all  Indian  names  of  three  syllables  among  the 
western  Indians,  which  being  condensed  into  two  syllables  or  rapidly  spoken 
lose  their  beauty,  as  no  doubt  their  meaning.  Cheyenne  divided  into  three 
parts,  and  ending  in  a  is  as  beautiful  a  word  as  Wyoming,  and  should  have 
been  the  name  adopted. 

*2Corbett,  Founding  of  Cheyenne,  MS.,  8,  18-20;  Wymn.  Miscellany,  MS., 
4;  Zalrislie,  Land  Laws,  848-857;  H.  Ex.  Doc.,  xxv.  no.  47,  pt  4,  p.  457,  46 
cong.  3  sess. ;  Wyoni.  Gen.  Laws,  1st  sess.,  18-24;  Porter,  The  West  Census  of 
1880,  p.  419;  U.  8.  H.  Jour.,  246,  40  cong.  2  sess.;  Rept  Sec.  Inter.,  i.  124, 
41  cong.  3  sess. 

-3  J/es*.  Gov.  Hale,  1884,  137.  Zabriskie  makes  it  97,883  square  miles  in 
extent.  That  portion  of  the  boundary  common  to  Nebraska  was  surveyed 
in  1870—71;  the  southern  and  western  boundaries  in  1874  by  Alonzo  V.  Rich 
ards;  the  northern  boundary  in  1882-83  by  Rollin  J.  Reeves. 


WYOMING,  741 

The  territorial  officers  were  not  appointed  until 
April  1869,  when  John  A.  Campbell,  of  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  was  commissioned  governor.  According  to 
his  contempories,  he  was  possessed  of  sufficient  ability, 
not  brilliant  but  industrious  and  conscientious,  and 
respected  most  by  those  who  knew  him  best."  Ed 
ward  M.  Lee,  was  appointed  secretary,  who  was  an 
active  politician  if  no  more  ;  Church  Howe,  United 
States  marshal,  another  politician ;  J.  M.  Carey,25 
United  States  attorney  ;  John  M.  Howe,  of  Illinois, 
chief  justice;"6  W.  S.  Jones,27  and  J.  W.  King- 

24  Campbell  had  been  an  editor  on  the  Cleveland  Leader.  In  1861  he 
entered  the  Union  army  as  2d  lieut  being  from  time  to  time  promoted  until 
he  became  adj. -gen.  on  Schoneld's  staff.  He  was  in  many  battles,  among 
which  were  Rich  Mountain,  Pittsburg  Landing,  Perryville,  and  all  of  the 
Atlantic  campaign.  He  was  brevetted  brig. -gen.  in  1864;  and  during  the 
reconstruction  of  the  south  was  with  Scofield  in  Virginia,  and  called  upon 
to  apportion  the  state  into  senatorial  and  representative'  districts,  prescrib 
ing  the  time  and  manner  in  which  elections  should  be  held.  He  performed 
the  duties  of  asst  sec.  of  war  from  May  1868  to  March  1869.  He  was  sub 
sequently,  under  Hayes'  administration,  3d  asst  secretary  of  state.  His 
health  soon  gave  way,  and  he  died  of  softening  of  the  brain  in  1879  at 
Washington.  Corlett"  s  Founding  of  Clieyenne,  MS.,  23;  Wyom.  Ter.  Affair*, 
MS.,  1-2. 

•^  Carey  was  born  in  Sussex  co.,  Delaware,  in  1845,  and  educated  at  Fort 
Edwards  collegiate  institute  and  Union  college,  N.  Y.  He  studied  law  in 
Philadelphia,  graduating  from  the  law  dept  of  the  university  of  Pa,  emigrat 
ing  to  Wyoming  on  his  appointment  in  1869.  In  1872  he  was  commissioned 
associate  U.  S.  justice,  serving  4  years,  after  which  he  went  into  the  business 
of  cattle  raising,  and  became  president  of  the  Stock  Growers'  association, 
whose  property  came  to  represent  8100,000,000.  He  was  three  times  mayor 
of  Cheyenne,  and  enjoyed  other  honors  which  will  appear  in  the  progress  of 
the  history.  A  dictation  from  him,  Politic*  and  People,  MS.,  is  among  my 
valued  original  authorities.  He  has  ever  been  one  of  Wyoming's  most 
prominent  and  public  spirited  men. 

26  Howe,  like  Campbell,  had  served  in  the  civil  war,  and  risen  to  be  a 
general.     He  was  an  able  lawyer,  and  after  the  war  was  chosen  circuit  judge. 
Chicago  Legal  News,  in  Wyom.  Mine.,  MS.,  28.     He   was   born  at  Riga,   in 
Monroe  co.,  N.  Y.,  removing  when  a  youth  to  Kings  ville,  Ohio,  where  he 
received  a  liberal  education,  and  studied  law,  practising  in  the  courts  of  tl 
state  for  several  years,  after  which  he  removed  to  Kewanee,  111.,  in  1£ 
He  was  elected  judge  of  the  6th  judicial  district  of  111.,  holding  the  office 
some  years.     Formerly  a  whig,  he  became  a  republican,  and  was  efficient  in 
politics.     Corlett  calls  him  'peevish  and  fretful,  although  a  man  of  pretty 
good  ability.     He  was  undoubtedly  out  of  health,  dyspeptic  m  his  stomach, 
and  in  his  nature,  too.'  Founding  of  Cheyenne,   MS.,  19-20.     After  servm, 
two  years  he  resigned,  and  accepted  a  position  as  secretary  to  a  comnnsi 
appointed   to  settle  some  affairs  between   the  U.  S.  and  Mexico,  and  die 
while  holding  that  office,  of  consumption,  aged   about  50  years.      He  was 
politician,  and  a  polished  speaker.     Corlett  accuses  him  of  taking  advantage 
of   the   inexperience   of   the  members  of   the  bar.  Diet,  of  Poftey  S.    H     wn, 

"VTO         f\ 

'    "  Corlett  says  of  Jones,  who  was  a  young  man,  not  more  than  28  years  of 


742  POLITICAL,  SOCIAL,  AND  MATERIAL  AFFAIRS. 

man,28  associate  justices  ;  Silas  Reed,  of  St  Louis,  sur 
veyor  general;'"  and  Frank  Walcott,  of  Kentucky, 
receiver  of  public  means. 

On  the  19th  of  May  the  judges  having  qualified, 
and  the  organization  of  the  territory  being  completed, 
Governor  Campbell  issued  a  proclamation  assigning 
them  to  their  districts  ;  the  county  of  Laramie  con 
stituting  the  1st,  to  which  the  chief  justice  was 
assigned,  the  counties  of  Albany  and  Carbon  the  2d 
to  which  Judge  Jones  was  assigned ;  and  the  3d  the 
county  of  Carter,  to  which  Judge  Kingman  was 
assigned ;  designating  the  times  and  places  of  holding 
courts  therein,  and  subsequently  attaching  the  Green 
River  region  to  Carter  county  and  the  3d  judicial 
district.  The  first  term  of  court  was  held  at  Chey 
enne,  September  7th,  1869.  The  census  returns, 
owing  to  the  sparseness  of  the  population,  and  the 
difficulty  of  finding  deputies  willing  to  travel  over  the 
country,  much  of  which  was  unsafe  on  account  of 
Indian  raids,  were  not  all  in  before  the  last  of  July. 
On  the  2d  of  August  a  proclamation  was  issued  call 
age,  that  he  was  entirely  cool  and  impartial  on  the  bench,  and  for  that  reason 
was  approved  by  the  bar  and  people.  He  was  of  intemperate  habits,  but 
such  was  his  popularity  that  he  was  elected  delegate  to  congress  from  the 
territory  before  his  term  was  ended.  He  was  born  in  Ind.  in  1842,  and  edu 
cated  at  Miami  university,  Ohio,  afterwards  studying  law  at  Corydon,  Ind. 
When  the  civil  war  broke  out  he  volunteered  in  the  17th  Indiana  regt.  He 
distinguished  himself  in  all  the  campaigns  in  which  he  served,  rising  to  the 
rank  of  major  for  gallant  and  meritorious  conduct. 

28 '  Kingman,'  says  Corlett,  'was  regarded  as  a  very  interesting  man,  but 
I  cannot  say  he  was  successful  as  a  judge.  He  was  a  man  of  very  strong 
prejudices,  and  was  in  the  habit  of  allowing  himself  to  be  informed  about 
the  case,  and  was  apt  to  espouse  one  side  or  the  other.' 

29  According  to  Johnson  &  TutldlVs  Direc.  of  Cheyenne,  1883,  C.  D.  Ruyer 
was  nominated,  but  if  so,  he  must  have  declined  immediately,  as  Reed  was 
nominated  in  April  1869.  Congress,  however,  had  passed  no  law  establish 
ing  the  office  of  surveyor-general,  and  although  an  appropriation  was  made, 
and  bills  introduced  establishing  the  surveying  and  local  land  offices,  they 
did  not  pass  before  the  adjournment  of  congress.  This  neglect  caused  the 
postponement  of  a  surveying  office  in  Wyoming  until  the  summer  of  1870, 
when  surveys  began  along  the  line  of  the  railway.  They  commenced  at  the 
intersection  of  the  3d  standard  parallel  with  the  guide  meridian  at  the  ter 
mination  of  the  Colorado  surveys.  The  delay  in  surveying  was  injurious 
and  irritating  to  settlers  on  public  lands  and  town-site  companies.  Rept  of 
sur-gen.,  in  U.  S.  H.  Misc.  Doc.,  40,  p.  2,  41st  cong.,  3d  sess.;  Wyom.  Council 
Jour.,  1869,  18-19.  Wolcott  served  in  the  union  army,  and  reached  the 
rank  of  major.  He  was  U.  S.  marshal  of  Wyoming  in  1871-2,  and  became 
a  wealthy  cattle-dealer. 


WYOMING.  743 

ing  for  an  election  on  the  2d  of  September,  for  choos 
ing  a  delegate  to  congress,  and  members  of  the  first 
territorial  legislature,  which  by  the  organic  act  was 
limited  to  nine  councilmen  and  thirteen  representa 
tives,  which  might  be  afterward  increased  to  thirteen 
and  twenty-seven  respectively.39 

The  candidates  for  the  congressional  delegateship 
were  S.  P.  Nuckolls  and  W.  W.  Corlett,  Nuckolls, 
democrat,  being  elected  by  a  majority  of  1,368  in  a 
total  vote  of  5,266.  He  was  of  the  family  some 
members  of  which  are  settled  in  Colorado,  where  he 
also  came  in  an  early  period,  being  known  as  a  busi 
ness  man  rather  than  a  politician,  but  his  sympathies 
were  with  the  slave-holding  south  during  the  war. 
He  was  not  renoininated,  and  died  a  few  years  after 
ward. 

The  legislature  in  a  sixty  days'  session  perfected 
and  adopted  a  code  of  laws  which,  with  the  example 
of  the  several  new  territories  adjacent  to  guide  them, 
was  an  admirable  foundation  in  which  to  construct  a 
perfect  state  in  the  future.  Had  no  omissions  been 
made,  there  need  have  been  no  more  legislatures  3l 

36  The  council  consisted  of  T.  D.  Murrin,  J.  R.  Whitehead,  and  T.  W. 
Poole  of  Laramie  co. ;  W.  H.  Bright,  W.  S.  Rockwell,  and  George  Wardmen 
of  Carter  co. ;  Frederick  Laycock  and  James  W.  Brady  of  Albany  co. ;  and 
George  Wilson  of  Carbon  co.  Bright  was  chosen  president,  T.  S.  Poole 
chaplain,  Edward  Orpen  sec.,  Mark  Parish  asst  sec.,  Charles  H.  Moxley 
sergt-at-arms,  Peter  Lemmon  messenger,  Henry  Arnesfeld  fireman.  The 
house  of  representatives  consisted  of  Posey  S.  Wilson,  J.  C.  Abney,  Herman 
Haas,  Howard  Sebree,  Louis  Miller,  J.  N.  Douglas,  William  Herrick,  Ben 
jamin  Shecks,  James  Menafee,  J.  C.  Strong,  John  Holbrook,  J.  M.  Freeman, 
and  S.  M.  Curran,  speaker.  L.  L.  Bedell  was  chosen  chief  clerk,  W.  C. 
Stanley  asst  clerk,  William  Baker  sergt-at-arms. 

31  The  Wyoming  Tribune  commented  upon  the  neglect  to  pass  a  militia  law, 
which  the  governor  had  recommended;  to  provide  for  a  commission  of  sta 
tistics,  and  a  bureau  of  immigration;  and  to  exempt  certain  kinds  of  personal 
property  from  seizure  and  sale  on  execution.  Wyorn.  Misc.,  MS.,  9.  Instead 
of  the  militia  law,  the  legislature  memorialized  congress  to  order  paid  to  the 
governor  of  Wyoming  all  the  internal  revenue  collections  not  already  appro 
priated  for  other  territorial  objects,  for  the  purpose  of  paying  volunteer 
troops  who  might  be  called  into  the  field  to  serve  against  hostile  Indians. 
Wyom.  Laws,  18G9,  721-2.  The  legislature  of  1871  passed  an  act  authorizing 
the  formation  of  volunteer  militia  companies,  but  it  was  not  put  in  execution. 
An  act  was  passed  for  the  same  purpose  in  1882.  Sess.  Lairs,  18S2,  155.  The 
presence  of  a  number  of  U.  S.  posts  has  a  tendency  to  cause  neglect  of  mili 
tia  organizations.  Congress  was  still  further  memorialized  on  the  Indian 
troubles,  and  asked  to  reestablish  the  forts  on  the  Powder  river  route  to 


744  POLITICAL,  SOCIAL,  AND  MATERIAL  AFFAIRS. 

The  laws  of  Dakota  were  repealed  December  10th, 
the  act  to  take  effect  on  the  1st  of  January,  and  not 
to  impair  any  rights  acquired  under  Dakota  laws,  nor 
to  interfere  with  the  course  of  actions  at  law  already 
commenced. 

A  county  was  established  in  the  Green  River  coun 
try  called  Uinta,  with  the  county  seat  temporarily  at 
Merrill,  near  Fort  Bridger.  The  name  of  Carter 
county  was  changed  to  Sweetwater,  and  the  county 
seat  located  at  South  Pass  City.32  The  judicial  dis 
tricts  were  altered,  making  Laramie  and  Albany 
counties  compose  the  1st,  Carbon  and  Uinta  the  2d,  and 
Sweetwater  the  3d,  Judge  Kingman  was  assigned  to 
the  2d,  and  Jones  to  the  3d.  The  official  year  was 
made  to  terminate  on  the  last  day  of  October.  The  seal 

Montana.  Increased  salaries  were  asked  for  the  judges  and  legislators.  An 
appropriation  was  made  by  the  legislature  of  $1, 500  additional  to  be  paid  t> 
the  chief  justice,  and  $1,000  to  the  associate  judges.  Better  mail  facilities 
were  petitioned  for. 

32  The  officers  appointed  for  Sweetwater  co.  were  W.  C.  Erwin,  James  A. 
Brennan,  and  John  Dugdale,  commissioners;  T.  Quinn,  probate  judge;  John 
McGlinchy,  sheriff;  Tim.  McCarty,  co.  clerk;  P.  L.  Williams,  prosecuting 
atty;  Henry  Smith,  assessor;  Frank  Oilman,  supt  of  schools;  William  Smith, 
co.  sur. ;  John  Morris,  coroner;  James  W.  Stillman  and  Presley  J,  Talbert, 
justices  of  the  peace  in  South  Pass  precinct;  James  Smith,  constable;  Ed 
ward  Lawn,  justice  of  the  peace  in  Atlantic  City  precinct,  and  W.  Hogan, 
constable;  William  Grinnell,  justice  of  the  peace  in  Bryan  precinct.  No 
appointments  were  made  for  Point  of  Rocks,  although  such  a  precinct  was 
named. 

The  officers  appointed  for  Carbon  co.  were  A.  B.  Donnelly,  E.  V.  Upton, 
and  Robert  Foot,  commissioners;  George  Doyle,  sheriff;  Robert  Foot,  justice 
of  the  peace  of  Fort  Halleck  precinct;  Hinton,  justice  of  the  peace  of  Carbon 
precinct;  probate  judge  and  ex-officio  justice  of  the  peace,  William  R.  Hun 
ter,  of  Rawlins  Springs;  Thomas  J.  Williams,  clerk  and  registrar  of  deeds. 
H.  C.  Hall,  supt  of  public  instruction.  The  county  seat  of  Carbon  co.  was 
located  at  Rawlins  Springs. 

The  county  seat  of  Albany  co.  was  located  at  Laramie  City;  officers,  H. 
Wagner,  Joseph  Mackle,  and  S.  C.  Leach,  commissioners;  J.  W.  Connor, 
sheriff;  L.  D.  Pease,  probate  judge;  Charles  Hilliker,  assessor;  George  Van 
Dyke,  justice  of  the  peace;  R.  S.  Kinney,  clerk;  John  Barton,  D.  Shanks, 
William  Carr,  and  George  Young,  constables;  Foose,  coroner;  James  Vine, 
surveyor;  S.  W.  Downey,  prosecuting  attorney. 

The  county  seat  of  Laramie  co.  was  located  at  Cheyenne.  Officers  :L.  Murrin, 
H.  J.  Rogers,  and  George  D.  Foglesong,  commissioners;  T.  Jeff.  Carr,  sheriff; 
William  L.  Kuykendall,  probate  judge;  John  T.  Chaffin,  clerk  and  registrar 
of  deeds;  C.  C.  Turley,  coroner;  S.  H.  Winsor,  surveyor;  H.  Garbanati, 
county  atty;  Rev.  H.  P.  Peek,  supt  of  public  schools;  D.  C.  Tracy,  justice 
of  the  peace  at  Pine  Bluffs;  William  Baker,  justice  of  the  peace  at  Cheyenne; 
Frank  Gates,  justice  of  the  peace  at  Fort  Laramie;  William  Rowland,  con 
stable  at  Pine  Bluffs;  A.  J.  Mead,  constable  at  Cheyenne;  and  Gibson  Clark, 
constable  at  Fort  Laramie. 


WYOMING.  745 

designed  for  the  territory  had  on  its  face  a  Norman 
shield,  on  the  upper  half  of  which  was  emblazoned 
mountains,  with  a  railroad  train,  the  appearing  above 
the  horizon,  and  the  figures  "  1868  "  below  the  middle 
point  of  the  shield.  On  the  first  quarter  below,  on  a 
white  ground,  a  plough,  pick,  and  shovel,  and  a  shep 
herd's  crook.  On  the  second  quarter  on  a  red  ground 
was  an  arm  upholding  a  drawn  sword.  The  motto 
u  Cedant  arma  toga  "  surmounted  the  shield  and  the 
whole  was  encircled  by  the  words  "  Territory  of  Wyo 
ming,  great  seal." 

The  code  adopted  allowed  gambling,33  and  taxed 
every  kind  of  property,  except  United  States  and 
public  property,  which  included  scientific  and  all 
school  or  benevolent  institutions,  with  the  money 
and  credits  belonging  exclusively  to  them,  and  the 
kitchen,  furniture,  bedding,  and  clothing  of  every  per 
son,  and  provisions  for  a  family  amounting  to  the 
value  of  $100.  The  school  tax  was  fixed  at  two  mills 
on  a  dollar  of  the  assessed  value  of  all  taxable  prop 
erty.  Jails  were  required  to  be  erected  and  kept  in 
every  county,  the  sheriff  to  be  responsible  for  the 
manner  in  which  they  were  maintained.  The  terri 
torial  penitentiary  was  located  at  the  town  of  Lara- 
mie,  Albany  county,  and  congress  was  memorialized 
that  the  territory  had  been  deprived  of  the  use  of 
that  part  of  the  internal  revenue  set  aside  by  law  for 
penitentiaries  in  the  territories,  for  a  large  portion  of 
the  year  1867,  the  whole  of  1868,  and  the  greater 
part  of  1869,  during  which  time  the  internal  revenue 
of  Wyoming  had  gone  to  the  credit  of  Dakota,  for 
which  loss  the  legislature  asked  to  be  reimbursed. 
second  memorial  declared  that  in  and  about  the 
Sweetwater  mining  region,  and  on  the  border  of  the 
Shoshone  reservation  set  apart  by  Sherman  and  his 
co-commissioners  in  1868,  were  congregated  many  of 


33  Says   one  of  mv  authorities:   'J.  M.  Pattee  bought  up  the 
and  ran  the  Wyoming  lottery.     In  1876  it  collapsed,  but  Pattee  had 
prizes  enough  to  become  rich.' 


746  POLITICAL,  SOCIAL,  AND  MATERIAL  AFFAIRS. 

the  criminal  class,  who  constantly  committed  theft, 
robbery,  and  murder,  there  being  sometimes  twenty 
persons  held  for  trial  at  the  same  time  in  that  county, 
which  had  no  prison.  The  military  posts  of  Fort 
Bridger,  and  the  camp  on  the  Popo  Agie  had  kept 
in  the  guard-houses  a  number  of  criminals,  to  aid  the 
officers  of  the  law,  but  refused  longer  to  make  these 
places  serve  as  jails  for  this  class  of  offenders.  The 
expenses  of  holding  prisoners,  under  the  circumstances 
was  a  heavy  tax  on  the  county,  and  it  was  asked  the 
secretary  of  war  should  aid  the  people  by  providing 
a  prison  at  one  of  the  military  posts  in  which  prison 
ers  held  for  trial  could  be  confined  and  subsisted  until 
the  people  were  able  to  meet  the  difficulty.  Convicts 
were  taken,  at  great  cost,  to  Detroit,  where  they  were 
imprisoned  in  the  house  of  correction.34 

The  seat  of  government  of  the  territory  was  estab 
lished  at  Cheyenne,  and  an  appropriation  asked  for 
the  erection  of  a  capital.35  All  this  was  legislation 

34  Wyom.  Gen.  Laws,  1st  sess.,  pp.  32.     The  penitentiary  was  completed 
in  1872,  and  in  less  than  a  year  was  destroyed  by  fire.  Laramie  Sentinel,  Aug. 
27,  1873.     It  was  partially  rebuilt,  soon  after  which  the  government,  by  act 
of  congress,  transferred   the  prisoners  from  the  charge  of  the  U.  S.  marshal 
to  the  control  of  the  territory.     A  commission  was  appointed,  consisting  of 
Herman  Haas,  James  France,  W.  H.  Halliday,  and  Gov.  Thayer,  to  investi 
gate  the  cost  of  keeping  prisoners  at  Laramie,  and  at  other  prisons  in  the 
neighboring  states,  the  result  of  which  was  that  the  penitentiary  of  Nebraska 
was  declared,  by  act  of  legislature  of   1879,  to  be  the  territorial  prison  of 
Wyoming.    Wyom.  Sess.  Laws,  1879,  142.     As    late  as  1884,  a  penitentiary 
commission  for  selecting  prisons  existed. 

35  U.  S.  II.  Miscel,  iii.,  No.  60,  41st  cong.,  2d  sess.     Cheyenne  was  rein- 
corporated  at  this  session.     W.  W.  Slaughter  was  mayor  in  1869;  Edward 
Orpen,  city  clerk;  John  Burrows,  city  marshal;  George  Raymond,  fire  war 
den;  J.  R.  Whitehead,  N.  J.  O'Brien,   Henry  E.   Eisf elder,  Dayton,  and  T. 
W.  Poole,  aldermen.    Wyom.  Misc.,  MS.,  2.     Cheyenne  sustained  the  loss  of 
$250,000  by  fire  on  Jan.   11,  1869.    Wyom.   W.  Tribune,  Jan.  15,  1869.     The 
commerce  of  Cheyenne  was  immense  for  a  frontier  town  during  1868-9,  it 
being  the  entrepot  of  the  vast  region  lying  north,  west,  and  south,  until  the 
railroad  was  completed,  when  of  course  the  trade  was  divided  between  the 
many  points  along  the  line.     But  in  this  brief  period  fortunes  were  made 
and  lost.     Prices  were  fabulous,  and  business  partook  of  the  recklessness  of 
gambling.     It  was  never  disputed  that  this  town  exceeded  in  vice  and  un 
wholesome  excitement  any  of  the  many  new  cities  in  the  west.     Yet  that  it 
was  not  wholly  composed  of  the  transient  classes,  some  facts  go  to  show.    In 
1869  it  had  a  population  of  over  4,000,    sometimes  nearer  6,000,     In  the 
autumn  of  1870  it  had   1.600.     It  had  at  this  period  a  public  school,  with  2 
departments,  accommodating  about  100  pupils,  and  two  select  schools,  each 
with   about  30  in   attendance.     These  were  under  the  management  of  the 
catholic  and   episcopal  societies.     It  had  5  well  built  and  well  furnished 


WYOMING.  747 

to  the  point.  But  what  attracted  most  attention,  at 
home  and  abroad,  was  an  act  passed  and  approved 
December  10th,  giving  women  the  right  to  vote  and 
hold  office,  and  was  cordially  approved  by  the  gov 
ernment.  The  law  was  immediately  put  in  practice 
by  the  summoning  of  women  on  juries,  and  the  appoint 
ment  of  women  justices  of  the  peace,  the  first  being 
by  the  commissioners  of  Sweetwater  county  who 
chose  to  that  position  Esther  Morris,  the  wife  of 
John  Morris. 

The  j  udges  of  Wyoming  were  no  more  happy  than 
had  been  those  of  the  other  territories.  Aside  from 
the  firm  support  given  the  rights  of  women  under  the 
suffrage  act,  there  was  the  usual  opposition  to  imported 
officers,  and  demand  for  home  appointments.  Howe, 
who  was  probably  annoyed  by  this  clamor,  resigned 
at  the  end  of  two  years.  Jones  being  nominated 
delegate  to  congress  to  succeed  Nuckolls,  there  were 

O  O 

two  vacancies  on  the  bench,  which  was  filled  by  the 
appointment  of  J.  W.  Fisher  chief-justice,  and  J.  M. 
Casey,  the  United  States  district  attorney,  associate 
justice,  who  held  the  office  four  years.  Fisher 
remained  chief  justice  until  about  1879,  when  he  was 
succeeded  by  J.  B.  Sener,  who  held  the  office  for  six 
years,  and  was  succeeded  by  John  C.  Perry.  The 
associates  of  Fisher,  after  Kingman  and  Carey,  were 

churches,  occupied  by  the  episcopal,  methodist,  congregational,  presbyterian, 
aud  catholic  congregations.     The  masons,  knights  templar,  odd  fellows,  and 
good  templars  had  lodges  in  a  flourishing  condition.     Some  business  houses 
would  compare  favorably  with  those  of  cities  of  ten  times  the  age  and  popu 
lation.     The  furniture  and  crockery  house  of  A.  R.   Converse  earn 
$30,000  to  $50,000.     Joslyn  &  Park,  manufacturers  of  native  jewelry,  hi 
business  of  $75,000  per  year.     The  dry  goods  houses  of  C 
F.  Nuckolls,  Marks,  Myers  &  Co.,  carried  each  from  $25,000  to  $40,00)  m 
stock,    besides   which   there  was   another  dry  goods   store, 
banks,  3  wholesale  and  retail  tobacconists,  3  hardware  houses,  2  boot  an. 
shoe  establishments,  3  clothing  houses,  2  book  and  stationery  stores   6 
stores,  1  confectionery,  2  bakeries   1  livery  stable,  2  first-class  hotels  an 
several  inferior  ones,  *1  daily  and  2  weekly  newspapers   a  well  orgam* 
department,  with  1   steam  fire-engine  and  a  hook-and-ladder  com    my.     A 
company  had  nearly  completed  an  acequia  for  Bringing  water  a  dl*tance 
DitteS)  to  run  through  the  principal  streets.     And  better  than  all,  it  was  at 
this  time  a  well  governed  and  orderly  town. 


748  POLITICAL,  SOCIAL,  AND  MATERIAL  AFFAIRS. 

E.  A.  Thomas,  followed  by  Jacob  B.  Blair,  and  Wil 
liam  Ware  Beck.  The  latter  failed  to  give  satisfac 
tion  to  the  people  of  his  district,  who  caused  the  leg 
islature  in  1877  to  memorialize  the  president  for  his 
removal.  The  petition  was  not  heeded.  In  1879  the 
president  was  memorialized  that  W.  W.  Corlett  would 
be  acceptable  as  a  successor  to  Chief-justice  Fisher, 
which  prayer  was  also  disregarded,  efforts  to  shake  off 
non-resident  officials  being  nearly  always  futile/6 
Peck  was  succeeded  by  Samuel  C.  Parks.  The  suc 
cessor  of  district  attorney  Carey  was  Edward  P. 
Johnson,37  who  remained  in  office  over  seven  years, 
and  was  succeeded  by  C.  H.  Layman,  followed  by 
M.  C.  Brown,  and  J.  A.  Biner,  W.  T.  Sweesy,  and 
Gustav  Schnitger  succeeded  to  the  marshal's  office. 

The  legislature  of  1869  fixed  the  time  of  elections 
on  the  first  Tuesday  of  September  in  each  year.  At 
the  election  of  1870  there  was  to  be  chosen  a  delegate 
to  congress,  and  on  every  succeeding  alternate  year  a 
delegate.  Members  of  the  legislature  and  county 
officers  were  to  be  elected  in  1871,  and  every  two 
years  thereafter,  and  the  legislature  was  to  meet  on 
the  first  Tuesday  in  November  after  election.  By  the 
organic  act  the  length  of  the  sessions  was  fixed  at 
forty  days,  except  the  first,  which  was  permitted  to 
be  sixty.  There  was  none  of  that  turbulence  or 
effort  to  evade  obligations  which  disgraced  some  of 
the  territorial  legislatures  during  their  infancy;  no 
needless  increase  in  the  number  of  legislators,  no  whole 
sale  thieving  or  reckless  plunging  of  the  territory  in 
debt,  and  congress  found  little  to  disapprove.38 

36  Wyom.  Session  Laws,  1877,  142;  Id.,  1879,  156. 

37  Johnson  was  born  in  Greenbush,  Ohio,  Aug.  21,  1842.     He  entered  the 
union  army,  and  served  3  years  in  the  93d  Ohio  regt.     In  1867  he  graduated 
from  the  university  of  Mich.,    removing  soon  after    to  Denver,   where  he 
stopped  a  short  time  before  casting  in  his  fortunes  with  Cheyenne.     He  was 
prosecuting  attorney  for  Laramie  co.  in  1869-70.      His  appointment  as  U.  >S. 
dist.  attorney  was  one  of  the  few  instances  of  domestic  material  being  chosen 
to  fill  government  offices.     He   resigned  after  7  years  to  accept  again  the 
office  of  prosecuting  attorney  for  the  county.     He  was  chosen  to  the  council 
of  the  territorial  legislature  in  1879,  but  died  Oct.  3,  before  it  was  convened. 

38  U.  S.  Sen.  Jour.,  1175,  1546;  41  cong.  2  sess.;  Id.,  548,  3  sess.;  U.  S.  IL 
Jour.,  1359;  42  cong.,  2  sess. 


WYOMING.  749 

The  subsequent  act  of  congress  providing  that  rep 
resentatives  and  delegates  to  congress  should  be  elected 
on  the  Tuesday  next  after  the  first  Monday  in  Novem 
ber  1876,  and  every  second  year  thereafter,  caused  a 
change  in  the^  law  of  Wyoming,  which  was  made  to 
conform  to  this  act,  and  the  biennial  election  of  the 
legislative  and  county  and  territorial  officers  to  occur 
upon  the  same  day.  The  council  and  house  of  repre 
sentatives  were  increased  to  the  full  number  allowed 
by  the  organic  act  in  1875.  No  session  was  held  from 
November  1879  to  January  1882,  from  which  period 
the  biennial  sessions  subsequently  dated. 

The  republicans  in  convention,  in  August  1870,  nom 
inated  Jones,  and  the  democrats  John  Wanless. 
Jones'  majority  was  227  in  a  total  vote  of  3,202.  In 
1872  Jones  was  again  nominated,  but  was  beaten  by 
William  R.  Steele,  democrat,  by  a  majority  of  271 
in  3,213.  In  1874  the  republicans  nominated  J.  M. 
Carey,  who  was  beaten  by  Steele,  nominated  to  suc 
ceed  himself.  In  1876  the  republicans  again  nomi 
nated  W.  W.  Corlett,  their  choice  in  1869,  whose 
majority  over  Steele  was  1,104,  in  a  total  vote  of 
6,626.39  Again  in  1878  the  republicans  elected  their 

39  Corlett  was  born  in  Concord,  Ohio,  in  1842.  His  parents  were  from 
the  Isle  of  Man,  but  migrating  to  the  U.  S.  their  son  was  educated  in  Amer 
ican  institutions,  spending  three  years  in  Willougliby  collegiate  institute, 
near  Cleveland,  where  he  was  employed  as  tutor  for  one  year.  In  18(52  he 
enlisted  in  the  87th  Ohio  regt  as  2d  lieut.  He  was  captured  at  Harper's 
Ferry,  paroled,  and  sent  home.  After  teaching  another  year  he  exchanged 
as  a  prisoner,  and  again  entered  the  army,  joining  the  2.1th  Ohio  battery  in 
the  south-west,  where  he  remained  until  the  close  of  the  war,  after  which  he 
retxirned  home,  and  began  the  study  of  the  law,  graduating  in  18G6.  His 
health  failing,  he  went  to  Denver,  and  thence  to  Cheyenne,  where  he  was  one 
^f  half  a  dozen  republicans  who  effected  an  organization  of  the  party  in 
Wyoming  called  the  Grant  club.  He  was  defeated,  as  already  known,  on 
the  congressional  ticket  in  1869,  but  was  appointed  postmaster  of  Cheyenne 
the  following  year,  which  office  he  held  for  three  years.  He  held  the  office 
of  prosecuting  attorney  for  Laramie  county  from  1870  to  187(5,  when  he  was 
elected  delegate  to  congress,  declining  a  renomination  in  1878.  Dnih/  Sun, 
Sept.  21,  1876;  Id.,  Oct.  15,  1876.  For  8  or  10  years  he  was  a  member  of 
the  school  board,  and  never  relinquished  the  practice  of  the  law  except  when 
absent  in  Washington.  In  1885  he  was  chairman  of  the  commission  to  com 
plete  and  revise  the  laws  of  Wyoming.  His  life  helps  to  make  history  a 
study  worthy  to  be  pursued.  Mr  Corlett  has  furnished  to  my  collection  of 
manuscripts  The.  Fouiidiny  ofChe.yenne,  which  is  a  complete  synopsis  of  the 


750  POLITICAL,  SOCIAL,  AND  MATERIAL  AFFAIRS. 

candidate,  Stephen  W.  Downey,  by  about  the  same 
majority  over  E.  L.  Pese,  democrat.  In  1880  the 
choice  lay  between  A.  H.  Swan,  republican,40  and 
Morton  E.  Post,  democrat,  who  received  a  majority 
of  147  in  7,667  votes.  But  in  1882  Post  had  a 
majority  of  1,111  over  the  republican  candidate  J.  M. 
Meldrurn.  In  1884  his  party  again  nominated  Joseph 
M.  Carey,  who  was  elected  in  opposition  to  William 
H.  Holliday. 

The  administration  of  Governor  Campbell,  which 
lasted  until  1  875,  was  attended  by  no  disorders,  nor 
was  it  embittered  by  political  feuds.  The  utmost 
harmony  existed  between  him  and  the  legislature, 
which  three  times  left  to  him  the  apportionment  of 
the  territory  into  legislative  districts.  He  found  it 
without  funds  to  carry  on  the  government ;  he  left  it 
out  of  debt,  and  with  nearly  $20,000  in  the  treasury. 
He  found  the  territory  with  a  small  fixed  population, 
its  improvements  of  the  most  transitory  character;  he 
left  it  with  permanent  towns,  comfortable  homes,  and 
substantial  business  establishments.  The  unsettled  val 
leys  had  become  settled  with  thrifty  stock-raisers  and 
agriculturalists.  The  vigDants  of  Wyoming  per 
formed  no  more  the  functions  of  courts  and  execution 
ers  after  his  first  proclamation,  and  where  the  wildest 
orgies  had  once  been  witnessed  order  and  decorum 
prevailed.  He  was  not  superseded,  but  called  to 
Washington  to  fill  a  higher  if  not  a  more  useful 
office/1 

To    Campbell    succeeded    John    M.     Thayer    of 

establishment,  not  of  Cheyenne,  but  of  the  provisional  and  territorial  gov 
ernments. 

4y  A.  H.  Swan  was  born  in  Greene  co.,  Pa,  in  1831,  of  Scotch  and  Welsh 
progenitors,  long  settled  in  that  state.  He  was  one  of  8  boys,  and  received 
an  academic  education.  He  removed  to  Iowa  in  early  manhood,  engaging 
in  stock-raising,  which  he  followed  for  14  years  before  coming  to  Wyoming, 
where  he  very  much  extended  his  operations,  and  became  an  associate  in  the 
great  cattle  companies  that  represent  millions.  His  name  in  Wyoming  is 
synonymous  with  ability,  enterprise,  and  honor.  Wyom.  Kept  Gov.,  1883,  57; 
Carey,  Politic*  and  People,  MS.,  2. 

Feb.  15,  1875;  Bristol,  Newspaper  Press,  MS,,  2. 


WYOMING.  751 

Nebraska,"  who  held  the  office  four  years.  During 
his  administration  occurred  the  Bighorn  expedition, 
and  the  failure  of  a  commission  appointed  by  the 
president  to  treat  with  the  Indians  for  the  extino-uish- 
ment  of  their  title  to  the  Black  hills  region  where 
gold  was  believed  to  exist.  A  scheme  was  proposed 
about  this  time  of  annexing  a  portion  of  Wyoming 
to  Colorado,  by  settlers  on  both  sides  of  the  boundary 
line,  which  had  no  foundation  in  reason,  and  came  to 
nothing.4*  Another  proposition  was  more  seriously 
entertained  in  1877,  of  forming  a  new  territory  out  of 
the  Black  hills,  a  portion  of  northern  Wyoming,  and 
parts  of  Montana  and  Dakota/4  Thayer  was  opposed 
to  the  scheme  of  another  territory,  but  favored  the 
project  of  severing  the  Black  hills  from  Dakota  and 
attaching  them  to  Wyoming,  which  as  they  lay  half 
in  the  latter  territory,  and  had  intimate  relations  with 
Cheyenne,  seemed  a  proper  connection.  The  legisla 
ture  was  advised  to  and  did  memorialize  congress 
against  a  division  of  the  territory/5 

The  successor  of  Thayer  in  the  executive  office  was 
John  W.  Hoyt,  a  popular  man  and  able  officer.*6    He 

42  Wypm.  Territorial  Affairs,  MS.,  4.     The  territorial  officers  during  Thay  - 
er's  administration  were:  Sec.,  George  W.  French;  marshal,  W.  F.  Sweesy; 
dist  atty,  E.  P.   Johnson;  surv.-gen.,    E.  C.   David;  treas.,  A.  R.  Converse; 
auditor,  S.  W.  Downey;  collector,  E.  P.  Snow;  supt  of  schools,  John  Slaugh 
ter;  justices  supreme  court,  J.  W.  Fisher,  W.  W.   Peck,  J.  B.   Blair;  U.  S. 
commiss'r,  J.  W.  Bruner;  register  U.  S.  land-office,  G.  R.  Thomas;  receiver 

?ublic  moneys,  I.  C.  Whipple;  librarian,  John  Slaughter.  Wyom.  Sess.  Laws, 
877,  iv.  John  Slaughter,  who  filled  several  offices  in  the  early  days  of  the 
terrritory,  and  who  in  1884  was  still  librarian,  was  born  in  Va  in  1809,  re 
moving  to  Ohio  in  infancy.  He  came  to  Cheyenne  in  1867  from  Denver, 
with  the  founders  of  the  Wyoming  capital,  and  for  want  of  something  else 
to  do,  kept  a  restaurant,  and  then  went  into  lumber  dealing,  buying  his 
stock  in  Denver.  He  was  city  marshal  and  magistrate  under  the  provisional 
government,  CorletCs  Founding  of  Oieyenne,  MS.,  4,  and  was  appointed  jus 
tice  of  the  peace  by  Gov.  Campbell  until  there  was  an  election,  and  held 
the  office  until  1880,  less  one  or  two  years.  His  Life  in  Colo  and  Wyoming, 
MS. ,  refers  briefly  to  early  society,  business,  prices,  etc.  in  Cheyenne. 

43  Byer*  Centennial  State,  MS.,  34. 

44  Wyom.  House  Jour.,  1877,  19;  Mess.  Gov.  Hayes,  1877,  13. 

45  Wyom.  Sess.  Laws,  1877,  138-9. 

46  The  other  territorial  officers  were:    A.  Worth  Spates,  secretary;  J.  B. 
Lewer,  chief  justice;  J.  B.  Blair  and  William  Ware  Peck,  associate  justices; 
C.  H.  Layman,    U.  S.    dist  atty:  Gustave  Schnitger,  U.  S.   marshal;  E.  C. 
David,  surv.-gen.;  E.  P.  Snow,  U.  S.  collector;  I.   C.    Whipple,   receiver  of 
public  money;  E,  W,  Mann,  register  of  land-office;  S.  W.  Downey,  delegate 


752  POLITICAL,  SOCIAL,  AND  MATERIAL  AFFAIRS. 

travelled  over  the  territory  to  inform  himself  of  its 
resources,  and  wrote  a  report  for  the  interior  depart 
ment,  which  was  printed  by  congress  for  circulation. 
He  also  advocated  the  construction  of  a  wagon  road  to 
the  Yellowstone  park.  The  survey  of  the  boundary 
of  Wyoming  was  begun  during  the  first  half  of  his  term, 
having  been  authorized  by  the  45th  congress  in  com 
pliance  with  a  joint  appeal  from  delegate  Corlett  and 
the  delegate  from  Montana/7  The  reappointment  of 
Hoyt  was  desired,  and  asked  for  by  a  joint  resolution 
of  the  legislature  of  1882.48  He  was  succeeded  how 
ever  at  the  end  of  four  years  by  William  Hale,  who 
appointed  him  to  the  congenial  work  of  commissioner 
to  bring  the  resources  of  Wyoming  before  the  Denver 
expositions  of  1882  and  1883,  which  was  so  executed 
as  to  surprise  all  beholders.49  Hale  proved  a  popular 

to  congress;  J.  S.  Nason,  auditor;  F.  E.  Warren,  treas. ;  J.  Slaughter, 
librarian  and  supt  public  instruc'ii;  E.  Nagle,  J.  H.  Finbrock,  Thos.  Lank- 
tree,  penitentiary  commissioners;  H.  B.  Rumsey,  fish  commissioner.  Session 
Laws  Wyoming,  1879. 

47  U.  S.  H.  Ex.  Doc.,  no.  1,  pt  5,  p.  52,  vol.  iii.,  42  cong.,  2  sess.;  Porters 
The  West  Census  of  1880,  419. 

*8  Wi/om.  Scss.  Laws,  1882,  221.  The  territorial  officers  during  Hoyt's 
term  were:  Sec.,  E.  S.  N.  Morgan;  auditor,  Jesse  Knight;  treas.,  F.  E. 
AYrarren;  surv.-gen.,  E.  C.  David;  U.  S.  collector,  E.  P.  Snow;  receivers  of 
public  moneys,  William  M.  GarvyandE.  S.  Crocker;  registers  of  land-offices, 
E.  W.  Maun  and  Charles  H.  Priest;  justices  of  supreme  court,  James  B. 
Sener,  J.  B.  Blair,  and  S.  C.  Parks;  U.  S.  dist  atty,  M.  C.  Brown. 

49  From  Albany  were  3,000  pounds  of  black  magnetic  iron  ore  from  Iron 
mountain;  graphite  from  Sybille  creek;  sulphate  of  magnesia  from  Rock 
creek;  kaolin  from  near  Laramie  City;  blocks  of  soda  from  Laramie  plains, 
which  formed  a  monument  12  feet  high;  copper,  gold,  and  silver  ores  from 
Cummins  City,  Douglas  Creek,  Centennial,  Spring  Caiion,  Laramie  Peak, 
Blue  Grass,  Tie  Siding,  and  Diamond  Peak;  building  stones  from  several 
localities;  timber  from  the  Laramie  range  and  the  forests  beyond  Cummins; 
and  specimen  iron  rail  and  merchant  iron  from  the  rolling-mills  of  the  rail 
way  company  at  Laramie. 

Carbon  co.  sent  coal,  iron,  asbestos,  copper,  gold,  and  silver  ores  from 
Seminoe  and  Ferris  mountains,  soda,  petroleum,,  and  a  bushel  of  moss  agates 
from  the  Sweetwater  section;  iron  and  iron  paint  from  Rawlins;  building 
stones  from  the  hills  near  Rawlins;  coal  from  Carbon  mines;  copper  and  sil 
ver  ores  from  Grand  Encampment  and  other  creeks  heading  in  the  moun 
tains  west  of  the  Platte;  native  quicklime  from  Platte  valley;  mineral  waters 
from  the  Warm  springs  and  Sulphur  springs  near  Rawlins;  and  bundles  of 
grain  and  grasses  from  the  valley  of  the  upper  Platte. 

Crook  co.  sent  coal,  petroleum,  and  salt  from  the  section  about  Jenny 
Stockade  and  Inyan  Kora. 

Laramie  co.  sent  a  four-horse  load  of  copper  ores  from  Running  Water 
mines,  Rawhide  Buttes,  Muskrat  Canon,  Hartville,  and  Copperopolis;  copper 
and  gold  ores  from  the  Laramie  range  back  of  Cheyenne,  mica,  micaceous 
iron  paiiit,  and  plumbago  from  near  Whalen  canon;  building  stone  from  Crow 


WYOMING.  753 

executive,  being  devoted  to  the  promotion  of  the 
material  interests  of  the  territory,59  of  which  he  wrote 
an  excellent  report  to  the  secretary  of  the  interior.51 
His  death  occurred  in  January  1885,  arid  he  was  suc 
ceeded  in  1885  by  F.  E.  Warren,  a  pioneer  legislator 
and  successful  business  man  of  Wyoming,  and  conse 
quently  an  executive  acceptable  to  the  people  who 
were  assured  of  a  sympathizing  administration.5' 

creek  and  the  Laramie  range;  coal  from  the  Shawnee;  and  numerous  hirds 
and  fur-bearing  animals  from  Cheyenne  collections. 

Sweetwater  and  Uinta  counties  were  partially  represented  only  by  some 
small  lots  of  fine  ores,  a  huge  block  of  coal  from  Rock  Springs,  curious  fos 
sils  from  the  same  place,  bundles  of  grain  and  grasses  from  the  ranch os  in 
Lander  valley  being  sent  by  the  former;  and  sulphur  ore,  manufactured 
sulphur,  petroleum,  coat,  charcoal,  rare  fossils  from  Fossil  forest,  scientific 
collections  from  Fort  Bridger,  samples  of  Angora  wool  and  skins,  bundles  of 
alfalfa,  and  other  agricultural  products  being  furnished  by  the  latter.  From 
Yellowstone  park  were  sent  sulphur,  obsidian,  amethysts,  agates,  and  other 
precious  stones.  Owing  to  want  of  railroad  trsnsportation,  and  to  the  lim 
ited  time  and  means  at  command,  the  exhibit,  fine  as  it  was  for  so  young  a 
territory,  fell  far  short  of  what  it  would  have  been  with  more  time,  and  county 
appropriations  for  the  purpose,  Mess.  Gov.  Hale,  1884,  158-60. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  exhibits  was  of  the  native  grasses,  over  100 
varieties  being  classified  and  shown  in  parcels.  In  Stone's  General  Vitw  of 
Colorado,  MS.,  9,  he  refers  to  this  exhibit,  and  gives  some  interesting  facts. 
The  buffalo  grass  grows  on  the  plains;  next  to  the  mountains  the  gramma 
grass,  which  has  a  small  seed  on  it,  with  the  head  growing  at  right  angles 
to  the  stalk.  It  grows  no  more  than  6  inches  high  where  it  is  not  irrigated, 
but  when  water  is  furnished  it,  will  grow  to  a  height  of  two  feet.  It  fattens 
animals  like  grain,  and  is  superior  to  blue  grass  on  account  of  the  seed.  On 
the  mountains  grows  the  bunch  grass,  of  which  I  have  made  frequent  men 
tion.  Between  these  three  principal  species  are  many  varieties,  as  stated  by 
Mr  Stow,  all  except  the  bunch  grass  bearing  a  seed  on  the  side,  and  all  very 
nutritious.  Thus  is  Wyoming  made  the  great  cattle  pasture  of  the  United 
States,  if  not  the  world. 

69  Wyom.  Sess.  Laws,  1884,  187.  The  territorial  officers  during  Hale 's 
administration  were:  Sec.,  E.  S.  N.  Morgan;  auditor,  P.  L.  Smith;  dept; 
auditor,  C.  W.  Stewart;  treas.,  F.  E.  Warren;  sur.-gen.,  E.  C.  David; 
receiver  of  public  moneys,  W.  S.  Hurlburt  and  E.  S.  Crocker;  registers  of  land 
office,  E.  W.  Mann,  and  Charles  H.  Priest;  U.  S,  collector,  James  S.  Wolfe; 


instruction,  and  territorial  librarian,  John  Slaughter;  penitentiary  coinmrs, 
Luke  Marrin,  Frank  M.  Foote  and  James  M.  Tisdel;  fish  commr,  Otto 
Gramm;  stenographer,  Robert  C.  Morris;  commrs  to  revise  and  arrange  the 
statutes  of  Wyoming  territory,  W.  W.  Corlett,  Isaac  P.  Caldwell,  and 
Clarence  D.  Clark. 

^ReptGov.  Wyom.,  1883.  Contains  geographical,  mineral,  topographi 
cal,  meteorological,  live  stock,  agricultural,  questions  of  public  polity,  and 
miscellaneous  information. 

63  The  prompt  action  of  Gov.  Warren  on  the  occasion  of  the  Rock  Springs 
riot  is  worthy  of  all  praise,  though  at  the  time  his  measures  were  freely  cril 
icised  by  political  demagogues.  The  following  is  a  brief  account  of  the 
affair  In  August  1885  the  officers  of  the  Union  Pacific  railroad  imported 
a  large  number  of  Chinese  laborers,  to  be  employed  in  the  company  a  coal 
HIST.  NKV.  48 


754  POLITICAL,  SOCIAL,  AND   MATERIAL   AFFAIRS 

The  successor  of  Governor  Warren  was  Thomas 
Moonlight,53  an  appointee  of  President  Cleveland,  who 

mines  at  Evanstorx,  Rock  Springs,  Carbon,  and  other  points  on  the  road,  the 
object  being  to  have  at  hand  laborers  enough,  in  case  of  a  strike  among  the 
miners.  Soon  the  European  miners  evinced  a  jealous  hatred  of  the  Asiatics, 
accusing  them  of  usurping  places  in  the  mines  which  gave  them  an  advan 
tage  in  the  matter  of  wages;  but  there  seems  to  have  been  no  real  ground 
for  the  charge,  race  prejudice  and  jealousy  being  the  cause  of  the  animosity. 
The  former  demanded  that  the  Chinese  should  be  sent  away,  to  which  de 
mand  the  railroad  company  returned  a  refusal.  They  then  organized  to 
drive  out  the  Chinese.  On  the  2d  of  Sept.,  200  men  at  Rock  Springs  at 
tacked  them  with  firearms,  driving  them  into  the  hills,  killing  and  wound 
ing  about  50,  and  destroying  all  their  property.  Of  400  Chinamen  not  one 
was  permitted  to  remain.  The  sick  and  the  wounded  who  fell  amidst  the 
shanties  were  consumed  in  a  conflagration,  which  was  started  by  the  infuri 
ated  mob,  the  wives  of  the  miners  assisting  in  the  fiendish  massacre.  Fifty 
houses  belonging  to  the  railroad  company  were  destroyed  along  with  the 
Chinese  dwellings.  On  being  notified  of  what  had.  taken  place,  Gov.  War 
ren  at  once  telegraphed  to  Gen.  Howard,  in  command  of  the  department  of 
the  Platte,  asking  for  military  protection,  and  riding  over  to  Fort  Ilussell 
secured  the  promise  of  a  sufficient  force  pending  the  general's  answer.  As 
more  serious  reports  reached  him  he  proceeded  by  special  train  to  Rock 
Springs,  and  telegraphed  to  the  secretary  of  war,  and  finally  to  the  president. 
After  much  delay  the  troops  arrived,  barely  in  time  to  prevent  a  repetition 
of  the  massacre,  and  thus  by  his  urgent  appeals  and  at  his  own  personal  risk 
the  governor  prevented  further  destruction  of  life  and  property. 

Francis  Emroy  Warren  is  a  native  of  Hinsdale,  Mass,  where  he  was  born 
on  the  20th  of  June,  1844,  his  ancestry  being  traced  in  direct  line  to  the  War 
rens  who  landed  in  that  state  soon  after  the  advent  of  the  pilgrim  fathers. 
After  serving  during  the  civil  war  in  the  49th  Mass  volunteers,  being  pres 
ent  at  Plains  Store,  Donaldsonville,  and  Port  Hudson,  in  1868  Mr.  Warren 
settled  at  Cheyenne,  where  he  took  charge  of  the  house-furnishing  store  of 
A.  R.  Converse.  An  excellent  salesman,  hard-working,  economical,  and 
thoroughly  reliable,  he  was  soon  afterward  admitted  into  partnership,  and 
in  1877  purchased  the  entire  concern,  which  a  few  years  later  was  incorpo 
rated  in  the  F.  E.  Warren  Mercantile  company.  In  1873  he  first  engaged 
in  stock-raising,  and  is  now  the  principal  owner  in  the  Warren  Live-stock 
company,  by  far  the  larg  st  corporation  of  the  kind  in  Wyoming.  Its  prop 
erty  includes  from  70,OG  1  to  80,000  sheep,  and  about  3,000  head  of  cattle, 
with  nearly  as  many  hordes,  and  more  than  250,000  acres  of  land,  extending 
in  one  unbroken  range  on  either  side  of  the  Union  Pacific.  Elsewhere,  not 
only  in  Wyoming,  but  in  all  the  adjoining  states  and  territories,  he  is  largely 
interested  in  lands  and  live-stock.  By  him  were  erected  some  of  the  most 
substantial  buildings  in  Cheyenne,  and  at  a  time  when  the  future  of  the 
city  was  by  110  means  assured.  He  is  also  the  guiding  spirit  in  several  of 
her  leading  enterprises,  and  in  a  word  there  is  no  man  who  has  contributed 
more  to  the  prosperity  of  Wyoming,  and  especially  of  Wyoming's  metropolis. 

53  The  secretary  of  the  territory  under  Moonlight's  administration  was 
Samuel  D.  Shannon;  chief  justice,  William  L.  Maginnis;  associate  justices, 
Jacob  B.  Blair  and  Samuel  F.  Corn;  U.  S.  atty,  Anthony  C.  Campbell;  U. 
S.  marshal,  Thomas  J.  Carr;  sur.-gen.,  John  C.  Thompson,  U.  S.  revenue 
col.,  James  F.  Benedict;  dept  do.,  Mr  Stitzer;  regr  of  Cheyenne  land 
office,  Edgar  S.  Wilson;  do,  of  Evanston  office,  Edwin  D.  Steele;  receiver  of 
public  moneys  at  Cheyenne.  William  M.  Garrard;  do,  at  Evanston,  William 
T.  Shaffer;  special  agent  of  land  office,  Henry  B.  Fry  and  E.  N.  Bonfils. 
The  officers  elected  by  the  people  and  appointed  by  the  governor  were: 
Delegate  to  congress,  Joseph  M.  Carey;  atty-gen.,  Hugo  Donzelmann;  audi 
tor,  Mortimer  N.  Grant;  dept  do,  Charles  "W.  Stewart;  treasr,  William  P. 
Gannett;  dept  do,  Jacob  D.  Freeborn;  insurance  commr,  Joseph  B.  Adams; 
librarian  and  supt  public  instruction,  John  Slaughter;  fish  commr,  Otto 


WYOMING.  755 

was  sworn  into  office  January  24,  1887,  and  who  made 
several  suggestions  to  the  legislature  which  met  in 
January  1888  touching  the  election  law,54  the  grand 
jury  system/5  salaries  and  taxation.  That  taxes 
should  increase  with  the  erection  of  the  public  build 
ings  required  by  the  territory  was  unavoidable,  and 
the  bonded  debt  of  Wyoming  in  1888  amounted  to 
$230,000,  of  which  $200,000  had  twenty-five  years 
to  run,  and  $30,000  thirty-five  years,  all  at  six  per 
cent.  There  was  a  balance  in  the  treasury  in  Decem 
ber  1887  of  over  $51,000.56  Whatever  tendency  to 
extravagance  the  ambition  of  the  young  common 
wealth  might  lead  to  was  likely  to  be  checked  by  the 
congressional  act  of  1886  prohibiting  the  passage  of 

Gramm;  coal  mine  inspector,  P.  J.  Quealy;  geologist  and  mining  engineer, 
Louis  D.  Ricketts;  veterinarian,  James  D.  Hopkins;  stenographer,  Robert 
C.  Morris,  private  sec.  to  the  gov.,  Nellie  E.  Moonlight;  penitentiary  com 
missioners,  Luke  Murrin,  Frank  M.  Foote,  John  C.  Dyer;  pharmacy 
commrs,  E.  D.  Woodruff,  A.  Richard  Troxell,  Fred  P.  Shannon;  revised 
statutes  commrs,  Isaac  P.  Caldwell,  J.  W.  Black,  Willis  Van  Devanter; 
university  land  commr,  F.  O.  Sawin. 

54The  legislature  at  its  Gth  biennial  session  in  1879,  changed  the  time  of 
holding  the  general  election  to  Tuesday  next  after  the  first  Monday  in  Nov 
1880,  and  every  two  years  thereafter.  All  county  officers  entered  upon  the 
duties  of  their  office  on  the  first  Monday  in  January  next  following  their 
election;  but  the  time  of  convening  the  legislature  was  on  the  second  Tues 
day  in  Jan.  1882,  and  every  second  year  thereafter.  This  arrangement 
brought  the  election  of  members  of  the  legislature  14  months  before  the 
7neeting  of  that  body,  was  inconvenient,  and  was  altered  by  recommendation 
of  Gov.  Moonlight. 

55  The  difference  between  federal  and  territorial  salaries  was  slight,  but 
county  officers  had  opportunities  by  reason  of  additional  fees  to  greatly  aug 
ment  their  salaries  above  what  the  federal  and  territorial  officers  received. 
This  state  of  affairs  furnished  the  temptation,  and  also  the  means,  to  the 
incumbent  of  an  important  place  to  keep  himself  in  office  by  corruption. 
MtH8.  Gov.  Moonli'jht,  1888. 

66  Among  the  funds  in  the  treasury  was  the  '  stock  indemnity  fund, '  of 
$11,124.21.  This  might  puzzle  the  reader  not  conversant  with  the  interests 
of  a  cattle  growing  region.  A  veterinarian  is  reckoned  as  a  public  officer  in 
Wyoming,  and  so  are  pharmacy  commissioners.  The  spread  of  pleuro- 
pneumonia  and  other  diseases  among  the  cattle  on  the  ranges  requires  the 
utmost  care  at  times  to  prevent,  and  when  other  remedies  fail  the  infected 
cattle  are  killed  to  prevent  the  further  spread  of  the  contagion.  In  this  con 
tingency  the  territory  pays  a  certain  amount  of  indemnity  to  the  owners  of 
the  slaughtered  cattle.  The  law  providing  compensation  for  cattle  and 
horses  destroyed,  was  enacted  in  1882.  In  six  years  from  1882  to  1887 
inclusive,  the  horses  and  mules  condemned  numbered  248,  valued  at  $22,021.- 
92,  for  which  the  territory  paid  $15,200.13,  or  two-thirds  their  value.  All 
the  cattle  driven  into  the  territory  had  to  be  inspected.  The  salary  paid 
the  veterinarian  was  $2,500,  to  which  the  Stock  Growers'  association  added 
as  much  more.  Gw,  Mess,,  1888,  15. 


756  POLITICAL,  SOCIAL,  AND  MATERIAL  AFFAIRS. 

special  laws   in   the    territories,    and    limiting    their 
indebtedness. 

The  political  history  of  Wyoming,  fortunately  for 
its  happiness,  is  unmarked  by  any  striking  events. 
It  has  cost  the  general  government  little  except  for 
military  service,  the  appropriations  for  the  govern 
ment  not  exceeding  $34,000  annually,  including  the 
legislative  expenses.  Its  county  affairs,  in  some 
instances  in  its  earlier  period,  were  not  well  managed 
by  the  commissioners,  but  the  evil  was  removed  by 
the  election  of  competent  men  who  soon  brought 
about  a  prosperous  condition,  aided  by  wise  legisla 
tion.67  Indeed,  of  all  the  younger  commonwealths. 

87  The  legislature  of  1871  M^as  composed  of  councilmen  John  Fosher,  F.  KL 
Harrison,  W.  R.  Steele,  S.  F.  Nuckolls,  W.  W.  Corlett,  Norman  Potter,  J. 

E.  Gates,  S.  W.  Downey,  and  E.  W.  Bennett,  9;  Nuckolls  president;  repre 
sentatives,  C.  E.  Castle,  H.  G,  Nickerson,  Gibson  Clark,  Ben  Sheeks,  E.  L. 
Pease,  T.  J.  Dayton,  Ora  Haley,  Duncan  Blair,  William  L.  Kuykendall,  M. 

C.  Brown,  C.    C.    Wilson,  John  C.    Friend,  and  John   Talbot,    13;  Sheeks, 
speaker. 

The  legislature  of  1873  was  composed  of  councilmen  S.  W.  Downey,  J. 
H.  Ellis,  A.  Eurgens,  J.  C.  Friend,  P.  McKay,  E.  L.  Pease,  T.  W.  Quinn, 

F.  E.  Warren,  I.  C.  Whipple,  9;  Warren,  president;  representatives,  N.  L, 
Andrews,  H.  Conley,  A.  E.  Farley,  J.  E.  Ferris,   H.  Haas,  W.  H.  Holliday, 
J.  Joslin,  V.  R.  King,  C.  A.  Phipps,  G.  W.  Ritter,   C.  L.   Tisdale,   F.  S. 
Whitney,  and  S.  H.  Wilkerson,  13;  Wilkerson  speaker. 

The  legislature  of  1875  was  composed  of  councilmen  L.  R.  Bresnahen, 
W.  L.  Kuykendall,  G.  A.  Learight,  H.  B.  Kelly,  Herman  Haas,  W.  H.  Hol 
liday,  S.  L.  Mills,  C.  W.  Bramel,  James  Frances,  James  Calhoun,  W.  A. 
Johnson,  O.  North,  and  E.  L.  Pease,  13;  Pease  president;  representatives, 
Charles  M.  Scribner,  F.  M.  Foote,  John  E.  Davis,  John  Nealon,  A.  H.  Reel, 
N.  Weeks,  C.  M.  White,  William  Evans,  J.  K.  Watson,  Herman  Kimme, 
N.  L.  Andrews,  Thomas  Green,  Leonard  Coates,  L.  Abrams,  Michael  Mur 
phy,  C.  E.  Castle,  William  McDonald,  Thomas  E,  McLelland,  Robert  Smith, 
M.  H.  Murphy,  A.  E.  Bradbury,  Peter  Hamma,  George  W.  Ritter,  A.  S. 
Williams,  C.  A.  Pieronnett,  and  W.  M.  Ward,  26;  Andrews  speaker. 

The  legislature  of  1877  was  composed  of  councilmen  Herman  Haas,  Tim 
Dyer,  J.  N.  Keller,  A.  H.  Swan,  G.  A.  Draper,  W.  H.  Holliday,  L.  D. 
Pease,  S.  W.  Downey,  Lawrence  Hays,  Homer  Merrill,  F.  F.  Chiney,  E.  L. 
Pease,  and  Frederick  Mertsheimer;  E,  L.  Pease  president.  The  following 
were  the  representatives:  R.  H.  Homer,  John  Congdon,  I.  P.  Caldwell,  N. 
L.  Andrews,  N.  F.  Spicer,  Charles  Klingerman,  George  Ferris,  James  Ross, 

D.  V.  Whitney,  John  E.   Davis,  Peter  Hamma,  A.  Ryan,  D.  C.  Tracy,  P. 
McKay,  R.  F.  Glover,  J.  F.  Coad,  H.  H.  Helphenstine,  G.  D.  Foglesong,  H. 
J.  Gurney,  B.  F.  Lowe,  T.  Kinney,  J.    McGlinchey,  Charles  Stone,  R.  H. 
Carter,  M.  Ferrell,  J.   H.    Hoy,  and  J.    M.   Tisdal,  26;  Andrews  speaker. 

The  legislature  of  1879  was  composed  of  councilmen  R.  Homer,  W.  H. 
Holliday,  P.  L.  Smith,  R.  M.  Galbraith,  Thomas  Swan,  H.  Glafecke,  A.  H. 
Reel,  M.  E.  Post,  W.  P.  Noble,  H.  Garbonetti,  L.  G.  Christie,  12;  represen 
tatives,  H.  G.  Balch,  Edwin  Brazier,  M.  C.  Johnson,  H.  L.  Myrick,  W.  S. 
Phillips,  N.  G.  Spicer,  J.  F.  Crawford,  George  Ginnis,  L.  Johuson,  J.  Y. 
Skiles,  Charles  Couray,  J,  E.  Davis,  B.  F.  Deitrick,  W,  J,  Harding,  W.  H. 


WYOMING.  767 

none  have  conducted  their  public  affairs  more  care 
fully  or  with  better  results.  The  levy  for  1887,  for 
territorial  purposes,  including  the  several  building 
and  bond-tax  funds,  was  only  3^  mills.58  A  law 
taxing  railroad  lands59  was  enacted  in  1886,  and  the 
first  levy  made  in  1887.  The  valuation  for  assess- 

Hilbard,  W.  C.  Irvine,  E.  W.  Mann,  S.  K.  Sharpless,  J.  8.  Taylor,  P.  P. 
Dickinson,  A.  C.  Lathrop,  Charles  Rice,  Charles  McGhee,  W.  J.  Hays,  W. 
A.  Harker,  John  McManus,  Mark  Murphy,  27. 

The  legislature  of  1882  was  composed  of  councilmen,  Robert  Galbraith, 
Ora  Haley,  1.  P.  Caldwell,  Perry  L.  Smith,  A.  F.  Harer,  T.  W.  Quinn,  W. 
W.  Corlett,  Thomas  Sturgis,  W.  C.  Irvine,  A.  H.  Reel,  W.  A.  Hooker,  and 
H.  A.  'Man,  12;  Caldwell  president;  representatives,  J.  D.  Fraser,  W.  C. 
Lane,  C.  W.  Riner,  H.  Oelrichs,  I.  S.  Bartlett,  H.  E.  Beuchner,  A.  Gilchrist, 
W.  J.  Hardin,  Morris  Davis,  James  Adams,  W.  W.  Alexander,  George  D. 
Deane,  H.  Thayer,  J.  S.  Jones,  E.  W.  Bennett,  J.  H.  Kelly,  E.  N.  Snyder, 
T.  A.  McCoy,  F.  H.  Jones,  P.  J.  Hines,  A.  E.  Heald,  A.  G.  Rex,  P.  J. 
Dawes,  and  L.  C.  Briggs,  24;  Lane  speaker. 

The  legislature  of  1884  was  composed  of  councilmen  W.  H.  Holladay, 
Robert  Homer,  John  W.  Gray,  E.  W.  Bennett,  William  Daley,  A.  T.  Babitt, 
Philip  Dater,  F.  E.  Warren,  W.  C.  Irvine,  P.  J.  Hines,  A.  V.  Quinn,  E.  S. 
Whittier,  12;  Holliday  president;  representatives,  O.  D.  Downey,  L.  D. 
Kennedy,  C.  H.  Bussard,  H.  V.  S.  Grossbeck,  Leroy  Grant,  L.  Quealy, 
Hiram  Allen,  D.  F.  Dudley,  W.  H.  Weaver,  N.  N.  Craig,  John  F.  Coad, 
Thomas  Cahill,  D.  Miller,  F.  W.  Schwartze,  H.  E.  Teschemacher,  J.  H. 
Ford,  A.  Jackson,  H.  G.  Nickerson,  F.  H.  Jones,  0.  C.  Smith,  R.  B.  Seaton, 
and  Charles  Delaney,  22;  Jones  speaker. 

The  legislature  of  1886  was  composed  of  councilmen  H.  E.  Teschemacher, 
Joseph  Gainger,  J.  H.  Ford,  Leroy  Grant,  C.  W.  Wright,  J.  W.  Blake,  A. 
S.  Peabody,  William  Daley,  Joseph  E.  Cashin,  Charles  Delaney,  A.  T. 
Chalice,  John  McCormick,  12;  Blake  president;  representatives,  Addison 
Turrill,  D.  B.  Dole,  N.  M.  Knight,  S.  W.  Downey,  John  A.  Matthews, 
Frank  Williams,  E.  W.  Genter,  J.  S.  Kerr,  James  Kime,  A.  D.  Kelley,  C. 
A.  Guernsey,  N.  J.  O'Brien,  W.  A.  Robbins,  Frank  A.  Miller,  J.  M.  Tomp- 
kins,  M.  P.  Keefe,  Isaiah  Whitehouse,  R.  B.  Seaton,  John  L.  Russell,  Wil 
liam  Summers,  M.  M.  Jerome,  George  Mitchell,  C.  H.  Bussey,  J.  M.  Lob- 
ban,  24;  Kerr  speaker. 

The  legislature  of  1888  was  composed  of  councilmen  C. 
A.    Riner,   James   W.    Hammond,  Charles   A.  Guernsey,  W.          Holliday, 
John  H.   Symons,   P.  L.  Smith,  Frank  A.  Hadsell,   J.   D.  Loucks,  Robert 
Smith,  L.   C.  Bliss,   G.   W.   Carleton,    12;  Riner  president;  representatives, 
Willis  Van  Devanter,  John  Roberts,  W.  S.   Weaver,   Thomas  B.  Adams, 
Edward  T.  Duffy,   F.  W.  Lafrentz,  J.  A.  Johnston,  Thomas  Hooper   Leroy 
Grant,   Howard  Clugston,   A.   L.   Sutherland,  WC   Sampson,  I.  D 
Charles  E.  Blydenburgh,  John  M.  Kuykendall,  W.  D.  Carney  Nat. 
ington,  J.  C.   Rummel,    E.   S.    Murray,   James  I.   Patton,   J.  B.   Cummock, 
William  Summers,  O.  E.  Snvder,  24;  Huntington  speaker 

56 The  assessed  valuation  of  the  several  counties  in  887 _  was: Albany, 
$3,911,155.40;  Carbon,  $3,250,334.60;  Crook,  ^1'81^°J.^Fr^ ' 
$1,993,000.00;  Johnson,  .$3,348,421.29;  Laramie  g  <  j<> '<*%•&>  jS^ 
water,  $1,511,666.03;  Uinta,  $1,386,294.70,  equal  to$26,2o2,238./0.  Kept  of 

°°*» tl^wa^tcCd  in  1879  taxing  the  road-bed,  superstructure  nght  of 
way,  rolling  stock,  telegraph  lines,  etc.,  but  not  the  land.  Sess.  Law*,  179, 
p.  13. 


758  POLITICAL,  SOCIAL,  AND  MATERIAL  AFFAIRS. 

ment  placed  upon  668  miles  of  road  was  $5,741,715.46, 
or  less  than  $9.000  per  mile;  and  upon  1,226  miles 
of  telegrap  lines  a  valuation  of  $95,660.76,  or  $78 
per  mile.  The  total  assessed  value  of  territorial 
property,  including  railroad  property,  was  $32,089,613. 

The  legislature  of  1888,  acting  upon  the  advice  of 
the  governor,  reduced  the  salaries  of  county  officers 
and  changed  the  time  of  the  election  of  members  of 
the  council  and  house  of  representatives.  It  also 
defined  the  powers  of  foreign  railroads  doing  business 
in  the  territory.  It  provided  for  the  erection  of  a 
normal  school  building  at  Sun  Dance,  and  an  agricul 
tural  college  at  Sheridan.  That  a  municipality  con 
sisting  of  less  than  100,000  inhabitants  should  take 
upon  itself  the  support  of  all  needful  institutions, 
discharging  its  obligations  with  ease,  is  evidence  of 
great  resources.60 

Three  new  counties  were  authorized  by  legislative 
act  in  1888;  Converse,  taken  off  the  north  of  Lara- 
mie  and  Albany ;  Sheridan  off  the  north  of  Johnson ; 
and  Natrona  off  the  north  of  Carbon.  The  first  was 
named  by  the  legislature  of  Wyoming  in  memory  of 
the  late  A.  E,.  Converse,60  formerly  territorial  treas 
urer,  and  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Cheyenne. 

The  penitentiary  not  yet  being  completed  in  1888, 
the  98  convicts  belonging  to  the  territory  were  still 
confined  in  Joliet  and  other  eastern  prisons.  Among 
the  trials,  for  all  new  countries  must  have  some  form 
of  hardship,  was  the  irruption  into  the  territory  about 
1877  of  organized  bands  of  road  agents,  who  for  a 
number  of  years  infested  the  highways,  and  attempted 

•"•A.  R.  Converse,  born  in  Mass  in  1842,  arrived  in  Cheyenne  Nov.  14, 
1867,  and  established  the  first  house-furnishing  business  here,  taking  F.  E. 
Warren  for  a  partner  in  1873,  and  selling  out  to  him  in  1878.  In  1875  he 
engaged  in  stock-raising  on  the  Chugwater,  and  later  organized  the  National 
Cattle  co.,  but  sold  his  interest  in  1884.  He  also  organized  the  Converse  Cat 
tle  co.,  with  a  range  on  Lance  creek,  180  miles  n.  of  Cheyenne;  capital  stock 
$1,000,000.  He  was  one  of  the  first  county  commissioners  elected  after  the 
organization  of  the  territory,  and  from  1876  to  1880  was  territorial  treas 
urer.  He  was  one  of  the  most  public-spirited  citizens  of  Wyoming,  and 
assisted  materially  in  building  up  Cheyenne. 


WYOMING.  759 

the  wrecking  of  railway  trains  for  plunder.  They 
were  after  a  struggle  brought  under  control  by  the 
courage  and  skill  of  the  sheriffs.61 

61  What  the  struggle  was  will  appear  from  the  following:  Ervin  F  Chenev 
while  deputy  sheriff  of  Atlantic  City,  succeded  in  arresting  three  who  had 
escaped  from  prison.     He  was  assisted  by  McCabe,  a  well  known  scout   and 
another  person.     All  three  of  the  criminals  were  resentenced  to  prison  for 
long  terms.     Bill  Bivens  was  one  of  these  robbers.  Scott  Davis  was  thanked 
by  a  joint  resolution  of  the  legislature  of  1877  for  the  capture  of  Blackburn 
and    Wall,    two  notorious   desperadoes.     Wyom.  Sess.    Laws,    1877,    144-5 
Coaches  in  those  days  were  iron-clad  to  ward  off  bullets.     In  1878  the  coach 
from  Cheyenne  to  Dead  wood  was  attacked  by  6  masked  men,  and  robbed. 
Meeting  the  coach  from  Deadwood  at  Lightning  creek,    the  driver  gave  a 
description  of  the  spot,  and  warned  the  south-bound  driver  to  look  out  for 
it,  as  the  robbers  were  no  doubt  waiting  for  his  coach  to  repeat  the  assault. 
There  were  three  passengers  inside,  one  a  woman,  the  express  messenger^ 
Capt.  Eugene  Smith,  on  horseback,  and  the  driver,  John  Flaherty,  on  the 
box  to  defend  the  coach.     Smith  rode  about  400  yards  ahead  of  the  stage. 
At  the  scene  of  the  robbery  he  picked  up  some  certificates  of  registered  let 
ters  left  on  the  ground,  but  saw  nothing  of  the  robbers  until  1  h  miles  below 
Cheyenne  river  station,  where  a  dry  creek  offered  a  favorable  ambush.     In 
this  ravine  Smith  was  seen  by  the  driver  beckoning  to  him  to  come  on.     He 
had  a  revolver  in  his  left  hand  and  a  rifle  in  his  right.      '  I  have  got  them 
here,  and  I  must  get  them  out,'  he  shouted;  '  you  drive  011.'     He  rode  alone 
up  and  down  the  creek  for  some  distance,   and  finally  fired  a  shot,  which 
caused  one  of  the  concealed  road  agents  to  fire,  and  reveal  their  hiding  place, 
which,  seeing  that  they  were  sought,  and  judging  by  Smith's  coolness  that 
he  had  assistance  at  hand,   they  were  anxious  to  conceal.     They  soon  dis 
covered  that  he  alone  was  opposed  to  them,  and  shots  were  freely  exchanged. 
Smith's  horse  was  mortally  wounded.     In  the  skirmish  he  fired  4  shots  with 
his  pistol  and  17  with  his  rifle,  and  had  50  shots  fired  at  him,  none  of  which 
touched  him.     The  robbers,  who  had  concealed  their  horses,    mounted  and 
rode  off,  thinking,  no  doubt,  that  Smith  was  endeavoring  to  drive  them  into 
a  net  prepared  for  them.     He  then  mounted  the  coach,  which  proceeded 
safely  to  its  destination.     The  Rocky  Mountain  Detective  association,   at 
the   head  of  which  was     Gen.  D.    J.    Cook  of  Colorado,  had  its   members 
among  the  sheriffs  and  their  deputies  in  Wyoming,  who  did  some  courageous 
work.     Nathaniel  K.  Boswell  of  Laramie  City  \vas  one  of  the  most  efficient. 
In  the  winter  of  1878  he  took  13  deputies  and  followed  up  until  he  arrested 
this  gang  of  6  stage  robbers,  whose  names  were  Irwiii,  Marriner,   Harring 
ton,  Congdon,  and  two  others,  all  desperate  men.     They  were  surrounded  7 
miles  east  of  Rock  creek  station,  and  taken  without  resistance.  He  arrested 
Jesse  James  in  Nebraska  for  one  of  the  gang,  without  knowing  that  he  was 
the  notorious  man  of  that  name.     James  was  lodged  in  jail  at  Laramie  City; 
but  the  prisoner  escaped  through  want  of  evidence.     Afterward  when  he 
saw  a  photograph  of  Jesse  James,  he  knew  he  had  had  the  famous  robber  in 
his  power.     Jack  Watkms,  a  much  dreaded  desperado,  was  arrested  by  Bos- 
well  when  no  one   else  would  attempt  it.     He  followed  Miller  and  Oaks, 
horse  thieves,  400  miles,  alone,  and  getting  ahead  on  their  trail,  made  them 
throw  up  their  hands  and  dismount,  as  they  had  compelled  many  an  honest 
man  to  do,  and  making  them  put  the  handcuffs  on  each  other,  brought  them 
back  to  Wyoming.     He  was  appointed  chief  of  the  detective  bureau  of  the 
stock-growers'  association  in  1883,  and  had  from  30  to  50  subordinates. 

In  the  autumn  of  1878,  in  the  vicinity  of  Laramie,  an  extra  locomotive 
preceded   railway  trains,  which  were  run  slowly  for  fear  of  wrecking,  and 
which  carried  a  guard  of  soldiers.     Such  a  state  of  affairs  suggested,  if 
did  not  justify,  the  revival  of  the  vigilance  committe.     In  Nov.  a  coach  from 
the  north  for  Laramie,  having  on  board  two  captured  robbers,  Mansfield  and 


760  POLITICAL,  SOCIAL,  AND  MATERIAL  AFFAIRS. 

The  advancement  of  Wyoming  from  1884  to  1888, 
if  not  as  rapid  as  in  some  portions  of  the  inter-mon 
tane  territories  was  steady  and  permanent.  The  leg 
islature  of  1886  had  authorized  the  issue  of  $230,000 
in  bonds  to  be  divided  between  the  capital  building 
fund,  the  university  building  fund,  and  a  hospital  for 
the  insane.  These  bonds  were  payable  in  15  and  35 
years,  and  found  a  ready  sale  at  five  cents  premium. 
An  act  has  also  been  passed  to  create  an  institute  for 
the  education  of  deaf  mutes;  and  $100,000  was 
appropriated  in  1888  for  the  construction  of  a  peni 
tentiary." 

McLaughlin,  was  stopped  at  Platte  river  ford  by  masked  men,  their  guard 
disarmed,  and  the  prisoners  taken  out  and  hanged.  S.  F.  Bulletin,  Nov.  4, 
1878.  Donovan  was  hanged  for  murder  in  Fremont  county.  Several  valu 
able  lives  were  lost  in  the  effort  to  thwart  the  operations  of  organized  bands 
of  outlaws.  By  the  combined  action  of  the  local  authorities,  the  depart 
ments  at  Washington,  and  the  railroad  and  stage  companies,  a  check  was 
put  upon  their  operations.  Mess.  Gov.  Hoyt,  1879,  28-9.  They  were  not  ex 
terminated,  and  in  a  year  or  two  began  their  depradations  once  more.  Big- 
nose  George,  Dutch  Charley,  and  others  attempted  to  wreck  a  railroad  train. 
Several  were  captured.  Bignose  George  contrived  to  get  off  his  shackles, 
and  attacked  his  jailer,  Robert  Rankin,  whom  he  injured  seriously.  He  was 
taken  from  confinement  the  night  following  and  hanged  by  vigilants,  who 
also  executed  some  of  his  associates,  Jim  Lacey  and  Opium  Bob.  In  1884 
ten  solid  men  of  Cheyenne  took  from  jail  one  Mozier  and  hanged  him.  His 
crime  was  that  of  killing  one  of  two  men  who  had  kindly  offered  to  carry 
him  in  their  wagon  from  near  Laramie  to  Fort  A.  D.  Russell.  Some  soldiers 
coming  in  sight,  the  other  intended  victim  escaped,  and  the  murderer  was 
captured.  Two  conditions  seem  to  accompany  robber-gangs — the  prosperity 
of  the  producing  class  whom  they  prey  upon,  and  an  unsettled  country  at 
hand  in  which  to  make  their  rendezvous.  These  conditions  have  existed  in 
the  Rocky  mountain  territories.  In  Hands  Up!!  or  Twenty  Years  of  Detec 
tive  Life  on  the  Plains,  by  D.  J.  Cook,  a  book  of  nearly  300  pages,  is  con 
tained  the  narrative  of  many  of  the  most  celebrated  crimes  and  arrests  oc 
curring  in  his  department.  Cook  was  born  in  Ind.  in  1840;  reared  on  a 
farm,  and  received  a  common  school  education.  He  Avent  to  Colo  in  1859, 
and  mined  in  Gilpin  co.  Two  years  afterward  he  returned  to  Kansas  and 
purchased  a  farm,  but  soon  engaged  in  freighting  for  the  government.  He 
learned  a  good  deal  of  the  villainy  practised  in  his  calling,  when  employes 
of  the  quartermaster's  department  stole  the  horses  and  stock  belonging  to  a 
train,  and  sometimes  the  whole  train,  taking  advantage  of  the  bad  repnta- 
tion  of  the  Indians,  whom  they  emulated,  Cochrans  Hint.  Fort  Laramie,  MS., 
66-7;  and  his  natural  quickness  of  observation  became  sharpened.  He  was 
transferred  to  the  ordnance  department  of  the  army  of  the  frontier  in  1863, 
and  on  returning  to  Colo  established  the  association  of  which  he  was  for 
more  than  20  years  chief.  He  is  mentioned  in  my  Hist.  Colo,  467,  as  major- 
general  of  the  militia  of  that  state. 

^The  capital,  located  at  Cheyenne,  was  designed  by  D.  W.  Gibbs,  of 
Toledo,  Ohio.  Its  outline  is  classic,  and  it  is  built  of  Rawlins  sandstone, 
which  has  a  pleasing  greenish  gray  tint.  The  size  is  216x112  feet,  and  the 
height  to  the  final  point  of  the  dome  153  feet.  This  imposing  structure, 


WYOMING.  761 

Wyoming  experienced  the  same  hardships  which 
has  always  embarrassed  the  efforts  of  the  territories 
to  establish  a  school  system.  During  the  period  of 
sparse  settlement,  when  aid  is  most  required,  no  rev 
enue  is  derived  from  the  school  lands,  which  are 
either  unoccupied,  or  ranged  over  by  the  herds  of 
cattle  companies  who  are  at  liberty  to  graze  their  ani 
mals  upon  them  year  after  year,  while  the  schools  must 
wait  for  state  government  to  give  them  any  right  to 
benefit  by  them.  Congress  should  have  authorized 
the  territories  to  lease  the  16th  arid  36th  sections,  in 
order  that  a  revenue,  however  small,  mi^ht  be  gath 
ered,  which  would  lighten  the  burden."  Wyoming 
was  granted  in  1881  the  customary  72  sections  for 
university  purposes,  and  set  about  selecting  them  in 
1886,  a  task  not  without  difficulty,  owing  to  the  rail 
road  grants,  Indian  and  militia  reservation  lands,  and 
Yellowstone  park  reserve.  The  same  necessity  for 

which  cost  $150,000,  stands  on  a  gentle  elevation  facing  Capitol  avenue 
Board  of  Trade  Rept,  1888,  p.  13. 

The  university,  located  at  Laramie,  cost  $50,000.  The  corner  stone  was 
laid  Sept.  27,  1886,  and  the  building  was  completed  in  the  following  Sept. 
It  occupies  the  city  park,  the  grounds  comprising  4  blocks  donated  by  the 
city  council  and  the  U.  P.  R.  R.,  and  10  acres  besides  added  by  the  commis 
sioners,  making  about  20  acres  in  the  heart  of  the  city.  The  plan  of  the 
edifice  is  elegant  in  style,  the  material  being  Laramie  sandstone,  with  orna 
ments  of  Rawlins  stone.  It  is  157x71  feet.  The  university  is  non-sectarian, 
and  open  to  all.  The  first  board  of  regents  consisted  of  M.  0.  Brown,  J.  H. 
Finfrock,  W.  H.  Holliday,  Edward  Ivinson,  J.  H.  Hayford,  John  W.  Hoyt, 
and  Samuel  Aughey.  Hoyt  was  made  prest  of  the  university.  He  was 
assisted  by  Charles  D.  Conley,  W.  Smith,  and  A.  Nelson.  Hoyt  had  long 
been  connected  with  educational  matters,  domestic  and  international,  and 
was  three  times  prest  of  international  juries  on  learning,  for  which  services 
he  was  knighted  by  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  at  Vienna.  Conley  had  filled 
different  chairs  at  Blackburn  university,  111.  Smith  was  a  graduate  of  Dart 
mouth  college,  and  a  son  of  Chief-justice  Smith  of  N.  H.  Nelson  was  a 
graduate  of  the  state  normal  school  of  Mo.  Laramie  W.  Boomerang,  Aug.  18, 
1887. 

The  insane  asylum  was  located  at  Evanston,  and  completed  in  1887.  The 
commissioners  were  A.  C.  Beckwith,  C.  D.  Clark,  and  William  Hintou. 
Rept  ofGov.  Moonlight  to  the  Sec.  of  Interior,  1887,  p.  46. 

63  Notwithstanding  that  no  aid  was  expected  or  received,  the  territorial 
legislature  provided  for  a  school  system  of  a  high  order.  The  librarian  of 
the  territory  is  supt  of  public  instruction.  The  law  provides  for  a  teachers' 
institute,  which  holds  annual  sessions  of  from  6  to  10  days.  The  public 
school-houses  in  five  counties  cost  $173,471,  of  which  the  amount  raised  by 
tax  was  $39,826,  the  remainder  by  voluntary  subscription.  In  three  other 
counties  $16,550  was  raised  in  1886  for  this  purpose.  The  average  cost  of 
tuition  per  pupil  per  month  varied  from  $2  to  $9,  according  to  the  number  of 
students.  Id.,  39-41. 


762  POLITICAL,  SOCIAL,  AND  MATERIAL  AFFAIRS. 

leave  to  utilize  the  university  land  existed  that  was 
urged  on  account  of  the  public  school  lands.  The 
college  so  courageously  founded  by  the  public  spirit 
of  the  inhabitants  should  have  enjoyed  the  rental  of 
the  lands  appropriated  by  congress,  and  not  a  railroad 
or  a  cattle  company,  and  the  more  so  that  tuition  was 
free  to  all  those  nominated  by  the  commissioners  of 
the  several  counties,  and  nearly  free  to  all  students 
from  any  quarter. 

The  land  laws  of  the  United  States,  although  the 
most  liberal  in  the  world,  and  made  to  suit  the  neces 
sities  and  encourage  the  enterprise  of  the  people,  have 
always  been  subject  to  criticism,  and  have  been  many 
times  amended  to  adjust  them  to  the  different  condi 
tions  of  new  communities.  The  irruption  into  the 
mid- continental  portion  of  the  United  States  of  Eng 
lish  and  other  foreign  capitalists,  who  purchased  mines 
of  which  they  knew  little  and  spent  money  lavishly  in 
an  attempt  to  make  money  out  of  them — an  attempt 
which  often  proved  abortive — was  welcomed  by  the 
pioneer,  because  it  at  least  brought  into  the  country 
means  which  could  be  used  in  other  forms  of  develop 
ment  ;  but  when  foreign  capital  was  applied  to  the 
purchase,  at  the  minimum  price,  of  millions  of  acres  of 
the  best  land,  including  the  banks  of  rivers,  prevent 
ing  small  farming  and  nullifying  the  purpose  of  the 
land  law,  which  was  to  benefit  the  poor  man,  congress 
was  appealed  to  with  a  request  to  enact  a  law  against 
alien  land  holding.  Accordingly  on  March  3,  1887, 
such  an  act  was  passed.  No  sooner  was  this  done 
than  a  cry  was  raised  that  the  act  worked  injury  to 
the  territories,  preventing  mining  men  from  securing 
loans  on  mining  property  and  other  classes  of  real 
estate,  a  complaint  which  proceeded  rather  from  east 
ern  operators  in  western  mines,  than  from  the  actual 
settlers  and  residents  of  the  territories.  Wyoming 
encouraged,  and  derived  much  benefit  from  the 
investment  of  English  capital  in  manufacturing  and 


WYOMING.  763 

other  enterprises;  but  the  sentiment  of  the  majority 
was  that  instead  of  one  man  with  1 00,000  cattle  occu 
pying  1,000,000  acres  of  the  public  land  and  making 
$500,000  per  annum,  it  was  better  to  have  1,000  men 
with  100  head  and  640  acres  making  a  profit  of  $500 
yearly. 

In  1889,  after  the  election  of  President  Harrison 
had  again  brought  the  republicans  into  power,  F.  E. 
Warren  was  reappointed  to  the  governership,  a  choice 
all  the  more  welcome  to  the  people  on  account  of  his 
liberal  land  policy,  and  his  efforts  in  securing  from 
the  general  land  department  a  large  number  of  pat 
ents  for  years  wrongfully  withheld  from  the  smaller 
settlers.64 

c<  Especially  during  his  former  administration,  his  resignation  being  largely 
due  to  differences  with  U.  8.  commr  Sparks.  In  his  Report  for  1880  the  gov 
ernor  states  that  the  U.  S.  land  laws  were  originally  framed  with  a  view  to 
the  prairie  sections,  and  when  applied  to  the  mountain  regions  worked  great 
hardship  and  injustice.  In  the  Mississippi  valley,  for  instance,  100  acres 
selected  almost  anywhere  would  be  sufficient  for  a  farm,  but  in  Wyoming, 
except  for  a  few  choice  locations,  such  an  area  would  not  support  half  a 
dozen  full-grown  domestic  animals.  Still  the  people  of  that  territory  have 
been  held  to  the  same  rulings,  and  compelled  to  pay  the  same  prices,  as  in 
the  western  states.  In  other  respects  this  report  is  a  most  able  document, 
furnishing  the  most  complete  account  of  the  resources  of  Wyoming,  its  in 
dustrial,  social,  commercial,  financial,  and  political  position,  that  has  ever 
come  to  my  notice. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MILITARY   AND   INDIAN  AFFAIRS. 
1849-1886. 

STANSBURY'S  OBSERVATIONS— BELIEF  IN  THE  PRESENCE  OF  GOLD— INDIAN 
TREATIES— ATTITUDE  OF  THE  SAVAGES— SMITH'S  EXPLOITS— MILITARY 
MASSACRE  OF  INDIANS — INDIAN  CHIEFS  AT  WASHINGTON  CITY— DIVERS 
MILITARY  EXPEDITIONS — GOLD  APPEARING — INEVITABLE  DESTINY  OF 
THE  RED  RACE — BROKEN  PLEDGES — THE  ARMY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 
BROUGHT  OUT — LONG,  CONTINUOUS,  AND  BLOODY  FIGHTING — FINAL 
TRIUMPH  OF  CIVILIZATION — SLAVERY  AND  SAVAGISM  EXTERMINATED. 

THE  earlier  explorations  of  Wyoming  by  the  gov 
ernment  were  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  best 
wagon  and  railroad  routes.  Captain  Howard  Stans- 
bury,  who  was  ordered  to  explore  the  Great  Salt  lake 
and  its  valley  in  1849,  after  performing  this  duty, 
made  a  reconnaissance  of  a  railroad  route  from  Salt 
Lake  City  to  Fort  Bridger,  and  from  Fort  Bridger 
to  the  Platte  valley  east  of  Fort  Laramie.  An  almost 
straight  line,  he  found,  could  be  extended  from 
Bridger  to  Laramie,  forming  a  chord  to  the  arc  of  the 
North  Platte  route  in  use,  a  line  which  was  subse 
quently  adopted  by  the  Union  Pacific  railroad,  except 
that  he  advocated  going  through  the  Cheyenne  pass,1 

JThis  term  is  deceptive.  It  is  applied  to  a  valley  about  4  miles  wide  and 
45  miles  long,  lying  between  the  Laramie  hills  on  the  west  and  the  elevated 
plains  on  the  east,  and  between  Crow  creek  on  the  south  and  Chugwater  on 
the  north.  It  appears,  says  Stansbury,  '  to  have  been  cut  out  by  the  violent 
action  of  an  immense  body  of  water  flowing  in  a  northern  direction. '  Stans- 
bury's  Expedition  to  Utah,  260.  Chugwater  on  the  north  is  said  to  have  been 
so  called  by  the  Indians,  who  meant  by  it  '  the  place  where  the  buffalos 
throw  themselves  away, '  the  hunters  chasing  the  animals  until  they  plunged 
over  the  cliffs  formed  by  the  table-land  into  the  river.  Water  not  being  an 
Indian  word,  it  seems  more  probable  that  white  hunters  named  it,  from  the 
circumstance  referred  to,  or  that  they  put  the  meaning  of  some  Indian  words 
into  this  one. 

(764) 


WYOMING. 


765 


whereas  the  road  passes  over  the  southern  end  of  the 
Laramie  range.  Stansbury's  report  did  not  mention 
any  mineral  discoveries  except  coal.  In  September 
1857,  Lieutenant  G.  K.  Warren  of  the  topographical 
engineers,  who  had  been  exploring  on  the  upper  Mis 
souri  for  a  year  or  two,  made  an  exploration  from 
Fort  Laramie  north  to  Inyan  Kara  mountain,  on-4he 
west  slope  of  *  the  Black  hills,  from  which  point  he 
was  turned  back  by  the  Sioux. 

Among  other  interesting  observations,  he  found  the 
composition  of  these  hills  to  be,  1st,  metamorphosed 
azoic  rock,  including  granite ;  2d,  lower  silurian  (pots- 
dam  sandstone);  3d,  devonian;  4th,  carboniferous; 
5th,  permian;  6th,  Jurassic;  7th,  cretaceous.  The 
highest  peaks  were  granite.  He  found  between  the 
elevations  small,  rich  valleys,  covered  with  fine  grass 
for  hay,  and  susceptible  of  cultivation  by  means  of 
irrigation ;  fine  timber  for  fuel  and  lumber,  limestone 
and  good  building  stone,  many  common  and  useful 
minerals ;  but  that  which  was  of  greater  interest  at 
that  period  was  his  assertion  that  gold  has  been 
found  in  places  in  " valuable  quantities."' 

In  July  1859  Captain  W.  F.  Raynolds  of  the  same 
corps,  under  orders  from  the  war  department,  pene 
trated  from  Fort  Pierre  on  the  Missouri  river  to  the 
Black  hills,  which  he  explored  on  the  northeast  and 
north,  after  which  he  proceeded  to  Powder  river, 
Bighorn,  and  Yellowstone  valleys,  wintering  near  the 
Platte  bridge.  In  his  report  he  alleged  that  very 
decided  evidences  of  gold  were  discovered  in  the  Big 
horn  mountains,  and  also  in  the  Black  hills.  He 
dared  not  make  known  to  the  men  in  his  command, 
which  was  largely  composed  of  irresponsible  adven 
turers,  what  he  believed  to  be  true,  lest  they  should 
disband  and  leave  him  in  the  wilderness.5  F.  V. 

2  Cheyenne  Leader,  Oct.  24,  1874. 

*RaynoMJ  Kept,  in  U.  S.  Sen,  Ex.  Doc.,  No.  77,  p.  14,  vol.  11.,  40th  cong., 
2d  sess.     Raynolds  was  accompanied  by  Lieutenant  H.  E.  Maynad 
Hutton  topographer  and  artist,  J.  H.  Snowden  topographer,  E 
brown  meteorologist  and  astronomer,  Antoine  Schonbarn  meteorologi 


766  MILITARY  AND  INDIAN  AFFAIRS. 

Hayden,  geologist,  who  accompanied  Raynolds,  as 
he  had  Warren,  was  placed  under  a  pledge  of  secrecy 
until  the  expedition  was  out  of  the  mountains.  Their 
reports  to  the  government  were  supplemented  by  the 
statements  of  many  persons  that  the  Indians  had  ex 
hibited  gold  nuggets  at  Fort  Pierre  and  Fort  Lara- 
mie,  and  by  the  assurance  of  De  Srnet  that  he  had 
discovered  rich  gold  mines  in  these  regions,  although 
with  Jesuitical  slyness  he  refused  to  reveal  the  locality, 
out  of  consideration  for  his  "dear  Indians,"  whom  in 
his  writings  he  describes  in  colors  not  very  different 
from  those  on  frontiersmen's  palette. 

I  have  already  related  how  strong  was  the  impres 
sion  in  the  public  mind  that  gold  existed  in  the  Big 
horn  and  Black  hills  countries  when  the  treaty  was 
made  with  the  Sioux  and  Arapahoes  in  1868,  exclud 
ing  white  men  from  all  that  region  extending  from 
the  Missouri  river  to  the  104th  meridian  west,  and 
between  the  43d  and  46th  parallels ;  and  also  from 
the  country  north  of  the  North  Platte  river  and  east 
of  the  summits  of  the  Bighorn  mountains,  permitting 
no  settlements  of  white  men,  no  forts,  and  no  roads  in 
all  that  territory.  Of  this  impression  the  commis 
sioners  were  well  aware,  and  equally  cognizant  of  the 
fact  that  where  gold  is  known  or  believed  to  exist 
men  will  go,  at  any  risk  to  themselves,  and  in  oppo 
sition  to  any  laws.  In  the  face  of  this  knowledge, 
the  commissioners  pledged  the  government  to  keep 
white  men  out  of  this  entire  region,  and  to  close  up 
the  road  to  Montana.4 

artist,  F.  E.  Hayden  naturalist  and  surgeon,  M.  C.  Hines  asst,  George  Wal- 
lon  time-keeper,  and  several  unprofessional  gentlemen.  The  escort  was 
commanded  by  John  Mullan. 

4  The  wording  of  the  treaty  seems  to  imply  a  reservation  of  the  country 
lying  north  of  Nebraska,  but  simply  to  regard  as  '  unceded  Indian  territory  ' 
that  portion  afterward  included  in  Wyoming.  Wypm.  Compiled  Laws,  1876, 
Ixx.  It  gave,  while  excluding  white  men  from  Indian  territory,  the  right  to 
the  Indians  to  hunt  outside  their  reserved  lands  on  the  Republican  fork  of 
the  Smoky  Hill  river,  and  '  on  any  lands  north  of  North  Platte. '  On  their 
part,  the  Indians  agreed  to  preserve  peace,  to  make  no  opposition  to  railroad 
construction,  to  attack  no  travellers,  kill  no  white  men,  and  take  no  captives. 
The  treaty  was  confirmed  Feb.  16,  1869. 


WYOMING.  767 

On  the  3d  of  July  following  the  treaty  with  the 
Sioux,  the  same  commissioners  concluded  a  treaty 
with  the  Shoshones  and  Bannacks,  at  Fort  Bridger, 
and  set  apart  as  a  reservation  for  the  former  tribe  all 
that  country  lying  south  of  the  Owl  creek  mountains, 
and  north  of  the  divide  between  the  Sweetwater  and 
Popo  Agie  rivers,  and  between  the  Wind  river  moun 
tains  on  the  west  and  Bighorn  river  on  the  east,5 
leaving  north  of  the  Sweetwater  mountains  only  a 
single  narrow  strip  of  country  between  the  east  shore 
of  the  Bighorn  river  and  the  west  flank  of  the  Big 
horn  mountains  which  white  men  might  traverse,  and 
on  which  the  Indians  were  permitted  to  hunt  so  long 
as  unoccupied,  or  game  could  be  found  upon  them. 

At  the  moment  these  treaties  were  being  negotiated, 
the  Union  Pacific  railroad  company  was  already  be 
yond  Laramie  City  with  its  track,  and  towns  and 
population  were  drifting  with  it  rapidly  westward. 
Congress  had  established  the  territory  of  Wyoming 
between  six  and  seven  months  before  the  senate  con 
firmed  the  treaties  with  the  Sioux  and  Arapahoes, 
Shoshones  and  Bannacks,  excluding  from  occupation 
and  exploration  fully  half  its  area.  Before  the  treat 
ies,  or  the  organization  of  the  territory,  gold  mining 
was  already  being  carried  on  in  the  Sweetwater  coun 
try,  and  settlements  being  made.  Such  was  the  con 
dition  of  Wyoming  relatively  to  the  Indians  and  the 
government,  such  the  keeping  of  the  compact  made 
by  the  government  with  the  savages,  when  it  became 
a  territory,  and  for  which  a  reckless  peace  commission 
and  a  careless  senate  were  responsible. 

The  Sioux  and  the  Shoshones  preserved  for  some 
time  a  peaceful  attitude  toward  the  white  people,  ex 
cept  where  renegades  of  these  tribes  joined  with  the 
Arapahoes,  who  paid  no  more  attention  to  the  treaty 
than  the  United  States  had  done,  merely  presenting 

•'  This  is  not  the  exact  description  of  boundary,  but  comes  near  enough  to 
it  for  my  purpose. 


768  MILITARY  AND  INDIAN  AFFAIRS. 

themselves  at  the  agencies  to  draw  their  rations. 
These  Arabs  of  the  plains  roamed  as  far  west  as  the 
Sweetwater,  and  were  so  swift  and  so  cunning  that 
their  raids  were  at  first  imputed  to  the  Shoshones. 
Their  depredations,  which  included  many  murders, 
and  the  destruction  or  robbery  of  a  large  amount  of 
property.  H.  G.  Nickerson,  in  the  spring  of  1870, 
after  a  number  of  murders  had  been  perpetrated,  vis 
ited  the  Arapahoe  camp  as  a  spy,  and  being  suspected, 
very  nearly  lost  his  life.0  Upon  the  evidence  gathered 
by  him,  a  company  of  175  well-armed  men  was  raised 
to  avenge  the  death  of  these  citizens.  But  through 
the  leadership  having  been  assumed  by  one  William 
Smith,  a  bravado,  who  was  subsequently  killed  in  a 
brawl,  the  intended  effect  of  the  lesson  was  lost. 
Dividing  his  command,  Smith  marched  in  broad  day 
light  with  sixty  men  toward  the  Arapahoe  camp.  On 
the  way  he  met  a  party  of  Indians,  with  their  chief, 
Black  Bear,  going  to  the  settlements  to  trade,  with 
their  families,  sixteen  in  all,  and  slew  them  without 
mercy.  This  piece  of  infamy  gave  the  Indians  further 
grievance,  of  which  they  quickly  availed  themselves. 
These  disturbances  led  to  the  establishment  of  a  per 
manent  military  post  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Sweetwater 
settlements,  which  was  named  after  Lieutenant  Stain - 
baugh,  a  promising  young  officer  killed  in  a  skirmish 
May  4,  1870.  Men  slept  with  their  cartridge  belts 
and  gun  at  hand,  and  when  surrounded,  crawled  into 
a  thicket  to  defend  themselves  as  best  they  could. 

6  Herman  G.  Nickerson,  born  in  Ohio  in  1841,  received  a  collegiate  edu 
cation  in  the  same  state,  and  entered  the  union  army  in  1861  as  a  private  in 
the  23d  Ohio  regt,  and  was  mustered  out  in  1865  at  Nashville,  with  the  cus 
tomary  honors.  He  returned  to  Ohio  to  study  law,  but  his  health  failing 
he  went  first  to  Nebraska  City,  then  to  Bozeman,  Mont.,  in  1866,  driving  a 
team,  and  fighting  Indians  nearly  all  the  way  from  Fort  Laramie,  having  2 
of  his  company  killed.  On  one  occasion  180  head  of  stock  were  captured. 
Selling  his  goods,  and  engaging  in  mining,  for  15  years  Nickerson  continued 
to  reside  in  this  district,  undergoing  all  the  difficulties  attending  pioneering 
and  Indian  disturbances.  He  went  into  sheep-farming  in  1 882  on  a  large 
scale.  In  1868  he  was  appointed  supt  of  schools,  and  was  chosen  justice  of 
the  peace  several  times,  appointed  U.  S.  commissioner  in  1870,  elected  to 
the  lower  house  of  the  legislature  in  1871  and  1884,  and  was  elected  probate 
judge  and  county  treasurer  of  Fremont  co.,  of  which  he  secured  the  organi 
zation, 


WYOMING.  769 

In  the  winter  of!868-70a  scheme  was  set  on  foot 
at  Cheyenne  for  raising  an  expedition  of  two  thousand 
men  to  explore  the  "  unceded  Indian  territory,"  which 
by  the  treaty  of  1868  was  promised  to  the  Sioux  for 
a  special  preserve. 

Meanwhile  the  Indian  commissioner  invited  Red 
Cloud  and  Man-afraid-of-his-horses  to  Washington,  in 
order  that  they  might  observe  the  power  and  magnifi 
cence  of  the  government.  Red  Cloud  became  so  well 
convinced  of  the  superiority  of  the  United  States  in  a 
long  war  that  he  gave  his  influence  for  peace,  and  for 
some  months  restrained  his  band  from  hostilities.  It 
was  during  the  summer  of  1870  that  a  geological  sur 
vey  of  Wyoming  was  made  from  Cheyenne  to  Fort 
Fetterman,  to  the  South  pass,  to  Fort  Bridger  and 
the  Uinta  mountains,  to  Henry  fork  of  Green  river, 
t)  Brown's  hole,  to  Green  river  station,  on  the  Union 
Pacific  railroad,  and  thence  via  Bridger's  pass  back 
to  Cheyenne. 

In  May  1873  General  Ord,  commanding  the  mili 
tary  department  of  the  Platte,  ordered  a  military 
expedition  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Snake,  Bighorn, 
and  Yellowstone  rivers,  which  was  placed  in  charge 
of  Captain  Jones.  The  route  of  the  expedition  lay 
from  Bryan,  on  the  Union  Pacific  railroad,  north 
through  the  Wind  river  valley,  across  Wind  river 
mountains,  and  that  interesting  northwest  corner  of 
the  territory  dedicated  to  the  nation  for  a  public  park. 
This  was  the  first  attempt  of  a  government  expedition 
to  approach  this  region  from  this  direction,7  and  was 

7  In  1870  Lieut  Gustavus  C.  Doane,  by  order  of  Major  Baker,  command- 
ins  at  Fort  Ellis,  Mont.,  made  a  reconnaissance  from  the  fort  to  Yellowstone 
lake   via  the  general  course  of  the  east  Gallatin  river      This  was  the  first 
military  expedition  to  this  lake,  and  was  accompanied  bya  party  of  civil;  ms 
from  Helena,  namely,  the  surveyor-general  of  Montana,  I     D._VI  ash 
P.  Langford     T.    C.    Everts,  C.  Hedges,  Samuel  T.  Hauser   barren  C   Gil 
lette,  Benjamin  C.  Stickney,  jr,  Walter  Trumbull    and  Jacob  Smith, 
proceeded  to  the  geyser  basins  and  Yellowstone  lake   making  an  extended 
Report  of  their  explorations.     The  highest  mountain  in  that  region  was  named 
after  the  surveyor-general,  Wa^hburne.    U.  S.  Sen.  Ex.  Doc.,  ol, ,41  st ,  cong^, 
3,1  ses    ;  OvorlLl  MoMy,  vi.  431-7,  4S9-9G;  Mi**oula  Piwer,  March  9-30 
187<>      It  was  upon  the  report  of  this  expedition  to  the -ec.  of  war,  and 
thrJugh  the TaboL  of  the  Montana  delegate,  I'Lgge-t,  that  the  Yellow8tone 


770 


MILITARY  AND  INDIAN  AFFAIRS. 


successful,  the  expedition  proceeding  through  the 
Yellowstone  national  park  to  Fort  Ellis.8 

national  park  was  reserved  for  a  pleasure  ground  for  the  benefit  and  enjoy 
ment  of  the  people.  U.  S.  H.  Ex.  Doc.,  326,  p.  162,  41st  cong.,  3d  sess.; 
Cong.  Globe,  1871-2,  app.  694;  Annual  Rept  Supt  Nat.  Park,  1881,  74-5; 
Hayden,  Great  West,  36-8.  Another  government  party  in  1872  designed 
visiting  the  Yellowstone  park,  namely,  the  peace  commissioners  to  the  Sioux, 


YELLOWSTONE  NATIONAL  PARK. 

headed  by  Gen.  Cowan.  They  were  prevented  by  these  Indians.  No,  so  the 
U.  S.  geol.  surveying  exped.,  under  Hayden,  which  approached  from  the  west 
by  the  Snake  river  canon  through  the  Teton  range,  finding  immense  snow 
drifts  and  glaciers  in  July,  and  a  lake  at  an  altitude  of  10,200  feet,  which 
was  frozen  15  feet  deep.  N.  Y.  Herald,  in  Helena  Rocky  Mountain  Gazette, 
Sept.  29,  1872.  Hayden  penetrated  to  the  geyser  basin,  which  was  described 
in  his  report.  Numerous  visiting  and  exploring  parties  have  traversed  the 
park  since  1872,  notably  one  which  fell  in  with  the  Nez  Perces,  under  Joseph 
in  1877,  by  whom  they  suffered  severely.  A  reconnaissance  for  a  wagon-road 
from  Fort  Washakie  was  made  in  1881  by  Gov.  Hoyt  and  Col  Julius  W. 
Mason,  3d  cav.,  and  a  small  escort.  Trans  Wyom.  A  cad.  Sciences,  43-69 

6  Mess.  Gov.  Campbell,  1873,  10.      Wyom.  H.  Jour.,  1873,  27.     Illngerso, 
Knocking  Round  the  Rockies,  181.     'It  is  the  intention  of  the  military  authori- 


WYOMING.  771 

The  inevitable  crisis  was  approaching  when  the 
adoption  of  a  decided  policy  with  the  Indians  would 
be  forced  upon  the  government  for  the  mutual  good 
of  white  and  red  men.  Some  depredations  being 
again  committed  by  the  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes  in 
Wind  river  valley  in  1874,  Captain  Bates  attacked 

ties, '  says  Gov.  Campbell,  '  to  ask  of  congress  an  appropriation  sufficient  to 
construct  a  military  road  from  some  point  in  Wyoming  on  the  N.  P.  R.  R., 
to  Fort  Ellis. '  Jones,  on  p.  55  of  his  report,  says  one  important  object  of 
his  expedition  was  to  discover  a  practicable  route  to  Yellowstone  lake  from 
the  south  or  southeast,  and  that  he  has  found  it  practicable  to  build  a  wagon 
road  via  Yellowstone  lake  to  Montana,  which  would  save  a  considerable 
distance.  It  was  discovered  that  there  were  three  passes  through  the  Sierra 
Shoshones,  affording  approaches  to  Yellowstone  basin.  First,  from  the  head 
of  Clarke  fork  to  the  east  fork  of  the  Yellowstone;  second,  from  the  head 
of  the  north  fork  of  Stinking\vater,  entering  the  basin  opposite  the  foot  of 
Yellowstone  lake,  (Colter's  route,  1807)  which  route  was  followed  by  the 
expedition;  third,  from  the  head  of  Ishawooa  river,  entering  the  basin  oppo 
site  the  head  of  the  lake.  Missoulian,  Aug.  22,  1873.  All  these  passes  were, 
he  acknowleged,  difficult.  But  one  at  the  head  of  Wind  river,  a  little  south 
east  of  the  lake  was  practicable  from  Wind  river  valley.  This  pass  he 
named  Togwater,  an  Indian  word.  Its  altitude  was  9,621  feet,  and  the 
slopes  of  approach  long  and  gradual,  so  that  a  railroad  could  be  built  over 
it.  U.  S.  H.  Ex.  Doc.,  285,  p.  55,  43d  cong.,  1st  sess.  Jones'  report  contains 
contributions  on  the  geology,  meteorology,  botany,  and  entomology  of 
Wyoming,  besides  its  geographical  and  descriptive  matter.  The  Wyoming 
legislature  of  1873  petitioned  congress  to  appropriate  money  to  establish  a 
military  road  over  the  'route  reported  upon  by  Capt.  Jones.  Wy&m.  Se#s. 
Laws,  1873,  p.  261-2.  Again  in  1879  congress  was  memorialized  on  the  sub 
ject  of  a  road  to  Montana  over  the  Jones  survey  of  1878,  but  nothing 
resulted  from  these  petitions,  and  the  approach  via  the  route  from  Bozeman, 
has  alone  been  rendered  practicable  to  ordinary  tourists. 

N.  G.  Langford,  of  Montana,  was  made  superintendent  of  the  Yellow 
stone  park  in  1872,  and  made  some  improvements  by  way  of  laying  out 
roads  to  points  of  special  interest  in  the  reservation.  Little,  however,  has 
been  done,  the  object  being  to  keep  it  in  a  state  of  nature  as  much  as  possi 
ble,  and  to  preserve  the  game.  For  a  long  time  it  had  not  even  one  resident, 
and  no  accommodations  for  visitors  until  1880.  In  that  year  G.  \V.  Mar 
shall  erected  a  cabin  at  Mammoth  hot  springs  in  Firehole  basin,  and  kept  a 
hotel.  Marshall  was  born  in  111.  in  1846.  In  the  Firehole  he  was  in  truth 
a  tresspasser;  but  Secretary  Schurz,  of  the  interior  department,  being  in  the 
park  during  a  rainstorm,  and  having  no  shelter,  suggested  that  he  should 
enlarge  his  domicile  and  prepare  to  furnish  accommodation  to  tourists,  to 
which  purpose  he  secured  Marshall  a  permit  from  the  government,  to  reside 
in  the  park  and  keep  a  hotel.  In  1884  he  obtained  a  lease  for  ten  years.  He 
had  a  daughter  born  there  Jan.  30,  1881,  the  first  child  born  on  the  reserva 
tion,  and  50  miles  from  any  neighbors.  Gov.  Hoyt  named  her  Rose  I  ark, 
in  memory  thereof.  Marshall  married  Sarah  Romrell  in  18,5. 

The  government  superintendent  of  the  park  had  his  headquarters  at 
Mammoth  springs,  but  as  no  work  could  be  carried  on  m  the  winter  did ^not 
PP«I!P  thprenermanentlv  His  duty  is  to  construct  roads  and  bridle  paths,  to 
;  geysers,  "hot  springs,  falls,  fossil 


772  MILITARY  AND  INDIAN  AFFAIRS. 

their  camp  at  Point  of  Rocks,  on  the  head  of  Powder 
river,  with  thirty -five  soldiers  and  seventy-five  Sho- 
shones,  killing  about  forty  of  them,  with  a  loss  of 
three  soldiers  killed  and  several  wounded,  including 
himself.  The  Indians  were  in  force,  numbering  be 
tween  two  and  three  thousand,  and  the  battle  was  a 
victory  which  relieved  the  western  division  of  the 
territory  of  the  Arapahoes  for  the  remainder  of  the 
summer,  only  one  murder  occurring  during  the  re 
mainder  of  the  year.9  In  the  meantime  the  Sioux,  as 
before,  were  preserving  an  armed  neutrality,  drawing 
their  rations,  and  keeping  the  agents  who  furnished 
them  in  a  state  of  alarm  by  their  overbearing  man 
ners.  Red  Cloud  had  consented,  reluctantly,  to  be 
removed  to  an  agency  of  his  own  on  White  river,  late 
in  1873.  Like  Spotted  Tail's  agency,  it  proved,  on 
the  survey  of  the  boundary,  to  be  in  Nebraska,  with- 

mineral  deposits,  or  any  curiosities;  against  liquor  selling;  and  against  set 
tling  on  the  reservation,  except  under  a  lease  from  the  department  of  the 
interior.  Report  of  P.  Norris,  supt,  1881,  p.  75;  Helena,  Montana  Herald,  Nov. 
18,  1879. 

In  order  to  maintain  these  laws  and  regulations  against  infringement,  the 
legislature  of  Wyoming  in  March  1884,  passed  an  act  making  that  portion  ef 
the  park  which  was  altogether  in  Wyoming,  (a  narrow  strip  on  the  north 
and  west,  projecting  beyond  the  boundary,)  a  precinct  of  Uinta  county,  the 
governor  appointing  commissioners,  justices  of  the  peace,  and  constables,  to 
serve  until  officers  were  elected,  and  the  territorial  laws  are  made  operative 
in  the  park;  and  to  carry  out  this  act,  an  appropriation  was  made  from  the 
territorial  treasury  for  the  payment  of  these  officers,  and  the  construction 
of  a  jail  in  Firehole  basin.  Wyom.  Sess.  Laws,  1884,  177-83,  194-5,  195-7. 
Lciws  appertaining  t)  the  Yellowstone  National  Park,  passed  by  47th  cong.,  2d 
sess.,  ch.  143,  Sess.  Laws;  48th  cong.,  1st  sess.,  ch.  332,  Sess.  Laws;  Mont. 
Jour.  Council,  1883,  239-40. 

Wyoming  thus  became  actually  possessed  of  the  largest  and  most  remark 
able  pleauire  ground  in  the  world.  Among  the  many  descriptions  of  its 
scenery,  are  Gen.  Gibbons'  Lecture  on  the  Wonders  of  Yellowstone  Park  in  Helena 
Gazette,  Sept.  29,  1872.  Letters  ofC.  C.  Clawson  in  Deer  Lodge  New  Northwest, 
May  18bh  and  June  1,  1872.  Norton's  Wonderland,  1-81,  a  complete  account 
of  ths  different  geysers  and  other  curiosities,  with  a  good  map;  Richardson's 
Wonders  of  Yelhwstons  Park,  1-256,  a  more  labored  description  than  the 
former;  Ray  nond,  Camp  and  Cabin,  154-207,  narrative  of  a  visit  to  the  park; 
Gunnison,  Rambles  Overland,  29^4,  including  a  ramble  in  the  park;  a  series 
of  descriptive  article?  in  The  Contributor  for  1883,  a  monthly  magazine  pub 
lished  in  Salt  Lake  Citv;  a  series  of  articles  in  D?er  Lodge  New  Northwest, 
from  Cht.  5th  to  Nov.  23,  1872.  Rept  of  Supt,  for  1880,  with  map;  Dunrarens 
Gieat  Divide,  194-293,  a  readable  narrative  of  a  tour  by  a  party  of  English 
men,  amonor  whom  was  the  author,  the  earl  of  Dunraven,  in  1874,  and  Stan- 
by\  Wonderland,  still  another  descriptive  and  narrative  account  of  a  tour. 

9Th^  battle  was  fought  July  4fh,  and  the  17th  of  Sept.  following  a  murder 
was  committed.  Rep.  Sec.  Lit.,vu\.  1,  578,  43d  cong.,  2d  sess. 


WYOMING.  773 

out  the  limits  of  the  reservation,  but  since  it  was  the 
best  location  for  opening  fanus,  the  land  being  good 
and  water  plenty,  it  was  retained  for  the  Indians. 

Owing  to  an  extraordinary  nugget  of  gold  being 
exhibited  at  Bismark  by  a  Sioux  woman,  who  pro 
fessed  to  have  obtained  it  in  the  Black  hills,  General 
Custer  determined  upon  a  military  reconnaissance  to 
that  region,  accompanied  by  scientists  who  should 
settle  the  question  of  its  value  as  a  mining  country.10 
It  was  a  well  organized  and  well  furnished  expedition, 
and  when  it  returned  there  was  wild  agitation  over 
the  question  of  to  go  or  not  to  go  where  Custer  had 
led.  No  secret  was  made  of  the  existence  of  gold  in 
abundance ;  on  the  contrary,  the  military  officers,  the 
scientific  explorers,  and  the  press  correspondents  con 
nected  with  it,  combined  to  paint  the  Black  hills 
region  with  the  most  brilliant  touches  of  fascinating 
description.  Water,  soil,  timber,  minerals,  all  came 
in  for  a  share  of  this  enthusiastic  praise.  If  a  scheme 
had  been  purposely  devised  for  violating  the  treaty  of 
1868,  it  could  not  have  aroused  the  people  more 
quickly.  As  if  to  remove  the  last  impediment,  an 
other  military  expedition  was  fitted  out  at  Rawlins 
late  in  the  summer,  the  object  of  which  was  to  rid 
the  country  of  wandering  Indians.  A  camp  was  to 
be  established  on  the  Sweetwater,  where  the  infantry 
should  guard  the  military  stores,  while  the  cavalry 
scouted  as  far  north  as  Fort  Reno,  and  scoured  the 
whole  country  east  of  the  Bighorn  mountains  and 
west  of  the  Black  hills,  drained  by  the  Cheyenne, 

"The  expedition  consisted  of  5 companies  of  cavalry  under  Custer,  and 
5  under  Gen.    Forsyth,    and   Gen.  Tilson;  2  companies   of  infantry  undt 
Major  L.  H.  Sauger;  a  battery  of  gatling  guns  under  Lieut  Josiah  L 
a  detachment  of  engineers,  under  Col  Ludlow,  W    H.  \V  ood    asst;  60  scouts 
under  Lieut  Wallace;  Lieut  Calhoun,  A.  A.  A.  Gen;  Capt.  A.   B.I     ith, 
quartermaster;  J.   W.   Williams,    chief  medical  officer;  Allen  and  1 
aast  surgeons;  Col  Fred  Grant,  acting  aid-de-camp;  Louis  Ar*ard,  guid( 
interpreter;  Professors  Winchell  and  Grinnell    and  others.   Bkmar*  Tnhune, 
June  17,  1874;  Deer  Lodge  New  Northwest,  July  11,  18/4.     The  route  of  the 
expedition  was  Fort  Larlmie,  thence  north    8tukmg  the  Black  hil  s  about 
French  creek,  passing  northward  to  Bear  Lodge  mountain,  the  Little  Mis 
souri,  and  Hart  river,  and  thence  east. 


774  MILITARY  AND  INDIAN  AFFAIRS. 

Powder,  and  Tongue  rivers,  thus  enabling  the  settlers 
to  further  break  the  treaty  at  will.  To  prevent  this, 
General  Sheridan  hastened  to  warn  the  public  against 
invading  the  Sioux  Indian  reservation,  unless  author 
ized  by  the  secretary  of  the  interior  or  act  of  congress 
to  do  so.  In  spite  of  this  interdiction,  several  com 
panies  proceeded  to  organize,  at  different  points  in 
Dakota,  Montana,  and  Iowa.  Orders  were  issued  to 
generals  Terry  and  Ord,  should  these  companies  tres 
pass  on  the  Sioux  reservation,  to  burn  their  trains, 
destroy  their  entire  outfit,  and  arrest  their  leaders, 
confining  them  at  the  nearest  military  post.  The 
commander  of  Fort  Ellis,  in  Montana,  succeeded  in 
preventing  a  Bozeman  company  from  starting.  They 
were  more  readily  quieted,  the  promise  having  gone  out 
that  Sheridan  would  soon  open  the  country  from  the 
western  slope  of  the  Black  hills  to  the  Gallatin  valley. 
The  only  party  that  really  reached  the  Black  hills 
during  the  season  of  1874,  was  one  which  left  Sioux 
City  October  6th,  consisting  of  twenty-seven  men,  a 
woman  and  boy.  The  men  were  well  mounted  and 
armed;  they  had  six  wagons  and  were  provided  with 
provisions  and  mining  tools.  They  proceeded  to  the 
Niobrara  above  its  mouth,  where  they  met  200 
mounted  Indians,  and  held  a  parley  with  them.  No 
opposition  was  made  to  their  progress,  and  they  kept 
on  to  their  destination,  finding  a  pass  through  the  hills 
to  a  point  two  miles  from  Harney  peak,  where  they 
erected  a  stockade  eighty  feet  long,  and  built  a  log 
house.  They  found  the  weather  cold,  but  sunk 
twenty-five  prospect  holes,  finding  gold  in  each,  and 
discovered  several  quartz  lodes.  They  were  not  dis 
turbed  either  by  Indians  or  military  companies  for  a 
considerable  time,11  but  were  finally  arrested  and 
taken  to  Fort  Laramie.  In  March  1875,  the  presi 
dent  directed  another  order  to  be  issued,  excluding  all 
white  persons  from  the  Sioux  reservation 

11  Deer  Lodge  New  Northwest,  March  19,  1875.  Among  the  party  were 
Eph.  Witcher.  of  Yankton,  and  Gordon.  Wifccher  returned  to  Yankton 
before  the  arrest. 


WYOMING.  775 

The  government  was  now  forced  into  a  position 
in  which  it  must  pay  or  fight.  It  preferred  to  pay, 
and  steps  were  taken  to  secure  the  consent  of  the  Sioux 
to  the  sale  of  the  Black  hills,  a  commission  being 
appointed  to  negotiate  for  the  purchase.  While  this 
matter  was  pending,  preparations  went  on  uninter 
ruptedly  for  mining.  The  books  of  the  Black  Hills 
Transportation  company  at  Sioux  City  showed  that 
from  April  7th  to  May  7,  1875,  over  300  men,  forty 
wagons,  and  a  pack-train  had  left  that  point  for  the 
mines,  and  about  200  had  gone  from  Yorktown  and 
other  points,  including  a  few  women.  In  the  east  a 
company  of  1,800  men  was  formed,  O.  H.  Pierson, 
president,  which  was  only  waiting  the  result  of  the 
negotiations  of  the  commissioners.  It  was  the  inten 
tion  of  this  company  to  open  mines  and  lay  out  towns 
by  corporate  means. 

So  confident  was  the  secretary  of  the  interior  of 
the  purchase  of  the  Black  hills  that  he  authorized  an 
exploring  expedition  under  the  charge  of  Walter  P. 
Jenney  of  the  school  of  mines  of  New  York,12  which 
organized  at  Cheyenne  in  May.  It  was  attended  by 
a  military  escort  under  Colonel  R.  I.  Dodge. 

In  the  meantime  meetings  had  been  held  in  Chey 
enne  early  in  January,  looking  to  the  organization  of 
a  citizens'  company  for  the  purpose  of  exploring  in 
the  Bighorn  mountains,  and  developing  the  Black 
hills  mining  region,13  Cheyenne  being  once  more  filled 
with  a  surging  mass  of  humanity  panting  to  acquire 
wealth  by  luck  rather  than  labor.  The  merchants  of 
the  town  quickly  perceived  the  advantage  to  be 
reaped  from  a  mining  excitement,  with  Cheyenne  for 
an  outfitting  point,  and  entered  into  the  project  of  an 
exploring  company  with  enthusiasm. 

12  His  assistants  were  Henry  A.  Newton  of  Ohio,  geologist;  H.  P.  Little, 
formerly  of  the  U.  8.  navy,  astronomer;  Dr  V.  P  McGillicuddy,  topog 
rapher;  D.  Newberry,  and  a  corps  of  surveyors.  Id.  #3*&*  /f**  voL  »• 
533;  4t  cong.,  1  se=ss.:  Deer  Lvl:/e  New  Norths*,  May  14,  l^o. 

»Cheyt*£  Ncwi,  Jan.  11,  12,  and  13,   1875.     The  committe  appointed  to 
devise  plans  for  carrying   out  the  purposes  of  the  organization   were 
Warren.  A.  R   Converse.  J.  R.  Whitehead,   Luke  Murnn.   P      I  Wilson,  J. 
Joslin,  E.  P.  Snow,  D.  McLoughllu,  M.  E.  Post,  and  A.  E.  bwan. 


776  MILITARY  AND  IXDIAN  AFFAIRS. 

Early  in  May  there  appeared  upon  the  scene  a 
leader  such  as  the  occasion  demanded.  This  was  C. 
C.  Carpenter,  a  man  with  considerable  experience 
both  as  a  frontiersman  and  a  military  officer.  Making 
Cheyenne  his  headquarters,  he  issued  his  general 
orders  like  the  commander  of  an  authorized  army, 
vindicating  the  character  and  purposes  of  his  men, 
which  Governor  Pennington  of  Dakota  had  attacked, 
and  promising  them  that  they  should  not  be  prevented 
from  entering  the  Black  hills  or  Bighorn  mountains. 
And,  in  truth,  it  would  be  an  awkward  thing  for  the 
government  to  train  its  guns  on  the  citizens  of  an 
organized  territory  for  traversing  any  part  of  it  for 
what  it  might  contain. 

In  July  the  commissioners  reached  the  Black  hills, 
finding  mining  camps  and  military  camps  at  peace 
with  each  other,  and  the  Indians  more  or  less  sullen 
on  this  account.  They  had  exhibited  some  temper  by 
destroying  a  few  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  goods 
belonging  to  a  trader,  but  further  than  that  there  had 
been  no  trouble  in  the  Black  hills.  It  was  in  vain, 
however,  that  terms  were  proposed  for  the  ceding  of 
the  mining  territory,  or  any  part  of  the  unceded 
Indian  lands  heretefore  reserved  by  treaty  from  the 
occupation  of  the  white  race.  At  a  general  council 
held  in  September,14  the  demands  of  Red  Cloud  and 
Spotted  Tail  were  exorbitant,  being  no  less  than 
$600,000,000.  In  this  matter  the  ability  of  a  savage 
to  comprehend  such  a  sum  being  on  its  face  impossi 
ble,  it  was  plain  that  they  were  not  without  malicious 
white  advisers.  The  council  ended  by  placing  the 
government  under  greater  embarassment  than  before. 
"  However  unwilling  we  may  be  to  confess  it,"  said 
the  secretary  of  the  interior,  "  the  experience  of  the 
past  summer  proves  either  the  inefficiency  of  the  large 
military  force  under  the  command  of  such  officers  as 
generals  Sheridan,  Terry,  and  Crook,  or  the  utter 

14  In  May  a  large  Sioux  delegation  had  been  taken  to  Washington  for  an 
interview  with  the  president,  which  was  intended  to  smooth  the  way  to  an 
arrangement.  Kept  Sec.  Int.,  vol.  1,  509;  44  cong.,  1  sess, 


WYOMING.  777 

impracticability  of  keeping  Americans  out  of  a  coun 
try  where  gold  is  known  to  exist,  by  any  force  of 
orders,  or  of  United  States  cavalry,  or  by  any  consid 
eration  of  the  rights  of  others." ] 

15  If  the  government  was  in  a  hole,  as  the  Indians  would  have  said,  it  was 
put  there  by  the  secretary,  and  not  by  the  people  of  the  west,  who  \vouKl 
never  have  bound  themselves  by  such  a  treaty  as  that  of  1808.  The  nation 
was  bound  by  a  promise,  the  inevitable  breaking  of  which  could  produce 
but  one  result,  since  the  very  explorers  authorized  by  the  secretary  of  the 
interior  to  make  an  examination  of  the  Black  hills  had  reported  finding  a 
gold  field  fifty  miles  in  extent. 

Up  to  this  time  miners,  except  about  500,  had  yielded  to  authority,  and 
kept  out  of  the  forbidden  territory.  But  seeing  that  delay  did  not  lessen 
the  difficulty,  they  began  early  in  this  year  to  prepare  for  a  general  move 
ment  in  that  direction.  In  Feb.  1876  Custer  City  had  been  laid  off,  and  was 
the  central  point  for  trade.  The  improvements  mentioned  were  Bevy  and 
Brighton's  saw-mill  from  Cheyenne;  two  portable  saw-mills  en  route  from 
Colorado;  the  steam  saw-mill  from  Spotted  Tail  agency  being  the  first  to 
blow  a  whistle  in  the  Black  hills,  Feb.  6,  1876.  A  herd  of  cows  had  ar 
rived  for  a  dairy.  A  couple  had  been  married  at  Custer,  namely  William 
Hardestyand  Ida  Simms.  Cheyenne  Leader,  Feb.  19,  1876. 

Parties  from  Illinois,  Nebraska,  and  Colorado  were  on  the  road  in  Febru 
ary,  and  newspapers  gave  full  information  about  routes  and  outfitting  places, 
each  one  in  its  own  interest,  Omaha  and  Cheyenne  taking  the  lead.  By  the 
4th  of  March  there  were  4,000  people  in  the  Black  hills,  and  the  military 
had  orders  from  the  president  not  to  interfere  with  them. 

The  Sioux  nation  at  this  time  numbered  about  35,000  persons,  divided 
among  ten  agencies,  situated  chiefly  in  north-eastern  and  eastern  Dakota. 
Of  these,  9,087  were  Ogallalas,  of  whom  Red  Cloud  was  principal  chief,  and 
7,000  Brules,  over  whom  Spotted  Tail  was  head  chief.  Add  to  these  2,294 
northern  Arapahoes  and  Cheyennes,  who  were  associated  with  the  Ogallalas 
and  Brules  in  the  treaty  of  1868,  and  there  were  over  19,000  aboriginals, 
who  had  the  privilege  of  roaming  over  a  large  part  of  Wyoming. 

Generals  Reynolds  and  Crook,  hoping  to  gain  a  victory  over  some  of  the 
hostiles  which  should  render  future  concessions  obtainable  without  a  general 
war,  left  Fort  Fetterman  early  in  March  to  attack  Crazy  Horse.  After 
passing  Fort  Reno,  from  which  point  only  the  cavalry  was  allowed  to  pro 
ceed,  he  took  a  northerly  direction  seventy  miles  to  Tongue  river,  the  march 
lying  over  high,  well-grassed  plains,  watered  by  numerous  streams  flowing 
toward  Tongue  river,  which  was  found  to  course  through  a  narrow  valley 
furnished  with  an  abundance  of  timber.  After  scouting  toward  the  Yellow 
stone,  and  exploring  the  lower  Tongue  and  Rosebud  valleys  without  rinding 
the  enemy,  the  expedition  marched  toward  Powder  river  through  a  moun 
tainous  region,  the  weather  being  very  cold,  and  the  troops  enduring  mnch 
hardship.  The  scouts  discovered  the  enemy's  camp  on  that  stream,  which 
was  attacked  at  daylight  on  the  17th  by  the  main  force  under  Reynolds, 
Crook  having  gone  toward  Sitting  Bull's  camp  on  the  Rosebud,  with  only 
two  companies  of  cavalry.  The  attack  on  Crazy  Horse  failed  through  the 
disobedience  of  Captain  Webb  of  the  3d  cavalry,  who  remained  inactive, 
although  ordered  to  charge  from  one  side  of  the  village,  while  Captain 
Eagan  met  him  from  the  other.  Eagan  was  left  to  fight  his  way  out,  after 
having  plunged  into  the  midst  of  the  Sioux,  with  a  loss  of  ten  men  killed 
and  wounded.  The  savages  fled,  leaving  their  lodges  and  camp  property, 
which  were  destroyed,  and  many  of  their  horses  captured.  Knowing  that 
this  blow  would  only  exasperate  the  Sioux,  and  finding  circumstances  against 
him,  while  his  command  was  insufficient  to  carry  out  his  designs,  Reynolds 
returned  to  Fort  Fetterman,  and  Crook  went  to  Omaha,  determined  not  to 


778  MILITARY  AND  INDIAN  AFFAIRS. 

make  any  further  demonstrations  against  the  enemy  until  new  troops  were 
sent  to  the  frontier.  Scarcely  had  he  reached  headquarters  when  Governor 
Thayer  of  Wyoming  applied  to  him  for  military  protection  for  the  road  lead 
ing  from  Cheyenne  to  the  Black  hills. 

About  the  1st  of  June  Crook  prepared  to  take  the  field  again  with  1,000 
men,  and  a  large  number  of  scouts  from  different  tribes.  About  the  middle 
of  the  month  the  command  started  from  camp  on  Goose  creek,  northwest  of 
Fort  Philip  Kearny,  and  on  the  17th  attacked  the  Sioux  on  the  head  of  Rose 
bud  river,  fighting  them  all  day  without  achieving  any  signal  victory.  The 
Crow  scouts  who  had  been  sent  forward  had  not  behaved  with  the  caution 
necessary,  or  were  ignorant  of  the  country,  and  were  themselves  surprised 
by  coming  on  Sitting  Bull's  camp  in  a  canon  of  the  Rosebud,  alarming  the 
Sioux,  and  being  fired  on.  They  retreated  to  Crook's  command,  which  was 
halted,  and  which  now  pushed  forward,  met  by  the  Sioux,  also  eager  for  the 
combat.  The  face  of  the  country  hereabout  was  a  succession  of  ridges,  which 
made  it  difficult  to  operate  with  cavalry,  but  the  most  brilliant  exploit  of  the 
day  was  a  charge  made  by  the  first  battalion  of  the  3d  cavalry,  under  Colonel 
Mills,  who  took  his  three  companies  up  over  a  ridge  onto  the  plateau  between 
him.  and  the  next  ridge,  crowded  with  savages,  stopping  to  deliver  one  vol- 
lay,  and  then  mounting  the  second  ridge  at  a  gallop,  driving  the  enemy  to 
coyer  behind  a  third  ridge.  The  battalion  then  dismounted,  and  deployed 
as  skirmishers,  holding  the  position  they  had  carried.  The  second  battalion, 
under  Colonel  Henry,  were  to  attack  Sitting  Bull's  right,  and  driving  it 
back;  and  the  third  battalion,  under  Colonel  Van  Vliet,  that  of  holding  the 
bluff  in  the  rear  of  the  troops  to  check  any  advance  from  that  quarter.  The 
battle  raged  obstinately  all  day,  and  had  it  not  been  that  the  Sioux  aimed, 
generally,  too  high,  the  loss  on  the  side  of  the  army  would  have  been  great. 
i\s  it  was,  eight  were  killed  and  twenty-one  wounded,  including  the  gallant 
Colonel  Henry.  The  loss  on  the  part  of  the  Indians  was  50  warriors  and 
100  horses  killed,  and  many  of  both  wounded.  They  abandoned  their  vil 
lage  on  the  approach  of  Mills  in  the  afternoon,  and  moved  rapidly  north  west, 
whereupon  Crook  turned  back  to  camp  at  Goose  creek,  forty  miles  distant, 
not  being  prepared  to  pursue  a  numerous  enemy  who  could  not  be  surprised. 
Thus  ended  the  second  battle  with  the  Sioux. 

About  the  middle  of  May  a  force  of  1,000  men,  under  General  Terry, 
left  Fort  Lincoln  for  the  Bighorn  country,  to  enter  it  by  way  of  the  Missouri 
and  Yellowstone  rivers  in  Montana.  The  expedition  was  composed  of 
twelve  companies  of  the  7th  cavalry  under  Custer,  and  about  450  other 
troops.  At  the  mouth  of  Powder  river  the  cavalry  was  disembarked,  and  a 
supply  depot  established.  Major  Reno  of  the  7th  was  sent  up  Powder  river 
to  look  for  the  enemy,  while  Terry  consulted  with  Gibbon,  whom  he  found 
awaiting  him  with  450  men  from  Fort  Ellis,  concerning  the  summer's  cam 
paign.  R^eiio  returned  from  his  scout  without  having  encountered  any  Ind 
ians,  and  on  the  21st  of  June,  several  days  after  Crook's  fight,  which  had 
again  doubly  exasperated  the  Sioux,  but  which  was  entirely  unknown  to  the 
two  generals,  whose  plans  included  Crook's  co-operation,  now  withdrawn 
until  he  could  be  reinforced,  they  settled  upon  their  course. 

Gibbon,  who  was  on  the  north  side  of  the  Yellowstone,  was  to  cross  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Bighorn,  and  proceed  up  it  to  the  junction  of  the  Little 
Bighorn,  to  be  there  on  the  26th.  Custer  was  to  proceed  up  the  Rosebud  to 
ascertain  the  direction  of  an  Indian  trail  seen  by  Reno.  If  it  led  toward  the 
Little  Bighorn,  he  was  to  avoid  following  it,  but  to  keep  south  for  some  dis 
tance  before  approaching  the  stream  in  order  to  be  where  he  could  intercept 
the  savages  should  they  move  that  way,  and  to  give  Gibbon  time  to  come 
up. 

Custer  left  the  mouth  of  the  Rosebud  on  the  22d,  striking  the  Indian 
trail.  On  the  24th  his  scouts  discovered  fresh  trails  twenty  miles  above  the 
mouth  of  the  Little  Bighorn,  and  on  the  following  morning  a  deserted  village. 
A  little  further  down  the  stream  they  reported  a  large  village,  and  the  Ind 
ians  fleeing.  Sending  his  adjutant  to  Reno,  who  was  on  the  opposite  or  west 


WYOMING.  779 

side  of  the  stream,  to  bring  him  over  for  a  conference,  he  determined  to  at 
tack  without  waiting  for  Gibbon,  believing  that  to  wait  would  be  to  permit 
the  escape  of  the  enemy.  Reno  was  ordered  to  recross  to  the  west  side,  and 
attack  from  the  upper  end  of  the  village,  which  was  in  a  valley,  while  he 
should  strike  the  lower  end,  and  meet  him. 

Leaving  a  reserve  of  four  companies,  under  Benton,  Reno  entered  the 
valley  at  the  time  and  in  the  manner  appointed,  but  instead  of  finding  a 
frightened  and  yielding  people,  which  by  their  apparent  alarm  they  might 
have  been,  he  found  himself  surrounded  by  a  terrible  and  infuriated  horde, 
bent  upon  his  annihilation.  Dismounting,  the  men  fought  their  way  on  foot 
through  the  woods  to  a  high  bluff,  which  he  attempted  to  hold  while  sending 
Captain  Weir  with  his  troops  to  open  communication  with  Custer.  Weir 
was  surrounded,  and  forced  to  retreat  to  Reno's  position,  now  placed  on  the 
defensive,  being  furiously  assaulted.  The  battle  lasted  until  9  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  when  the  Indians  retired  to  hold  their  customary  war-dances  and 
death  rites. 

During  all  this  time  no  word  had  reached  him  from  Custer,  whom  he 
imagined  to  be  fighting  like  himself,  cut  off  from  communication  by  the 
great  body  of  Indians.  The  battle  was  renewed  with  fury  between  two  and 
three  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  2b'th,  the  troops  fighting  from  rifie-pits 
constructed  during  the  night,  and  barricaded  with  dead  horses  and  mules, 
and  boxes  of  hard  bread.  In  the  afternoon  the  Indians,  having  fired  the 
grass  in  the  valley,  retreated  under  cover  of  the  smoke,  taking  their  way 
toward  the  Bighorn  mountains,  in  good  order,  with  all  their  property  and 
families,  their  scouts  having  discovered  Gibbon's  command  approaching,  a 
few  miles  distant. 

The  relief  which  this  movement  furnished  to  Reno,  whose  fortifications 
contained  eighteen  dead  and  forty-six  wounded,  was  great,  the  men  having 
been  fighting  for  twenty-four  hours  without  rest,  and  their  sufferings  being 
extreme  for  want  of  water.  Eight  men  had  been  killed  and  wounded  in  the 
endeavor  to  procure  a  few  canteens  full  for  their  dying  comrades,  and  not 
until  midnight  of  the  second  day  did  they  again  make  the  attempt. 

Althougn  wondering  at  the  continued  silence  and  absence  of  Custer,  the 
truth  did  not  suggest  itself  to  any  one  until  nightfall,  when  a  lieutenant  of 
Gibbon's  scouts  dashed  into  their  midst  with  the  astounding  intelligence  that 
of  the  five  companies  of  the  gallant  7th  cavalry  which  had  entered  the  valley 
a  few  miles  below  simultaneously  with  themselves,  every  man  and  every 
officer  lay  dead  on  that  fatal  ground. 

As  there  were  no  reliable  witnesses,  so  there  could  be  no  incontestable 
history  of  the  engagement.  The  account  which  was  pieced  together  from 
the  narrative  of  a  scout  who  was  hidden  in  the  woods  which  covered  the 
bluff  above  the  valley,  and  the  reluctant  admissions  drawn  afterward  from 
the  Sioux,  were  all  the  foundation  on  which  to  build  a  theory  of  the  fight. 

All  that  could  be  learned  was  that  soon  after  reaching  the  valley  which 
could  be  entered  only  by  a  narrow  defile,  the  command  was  checked  in  its 
march  by  a  terrific  firing  from  ambush,  which  compelled  the  troops  to  dis 
mount  They  were  soon  surrounded,  and  while  fighting  their  way  toward 
the  hills  were  all  cut  off.  Thus  perished  259  officers  and  men,  m  the  third 
battle  with  the  Sioux.  , 

The  remainder  of  the  7th  cavalry  under  Reno  and  Gibbon  s  command 
retreated  to  Bighorn  river,  whence  the  wounded  were  transport ^y  -teainer 
to  Fort  Lincoln.     Terry's  division  remained  all  summer  on  the  Yel 
having  occasional  skirmishes  with  the  Indians   but  J""^"  »"?^ 
towarcl  the  interior.     It  was  not  until  August  that   being  joined  1  y  Gem 
Miles,  with  six  companies  of  infantry,  21st  regiment   under  Col  Otw   tha 
he  moved  up  Rosebud  river  to  form  a  junction  with  Crook   who  1 
reenforced  by  cavalry,  making  the  number  of  men  in  the  field  aKa 
Sioux,  in  Wyoming  and  Montana,  over  3.000.     A*ain*t  such  a  f o 
the  Indians  could  not  be  brought  to  battle,  but,  eludmg  the  troops   mo  ed 
their  villages  up  and  down  the  country,  from  the  Missouri  to  the  head  of 


780  MILITARY  AND  INDIAN  AFFAIRS. 

Powder  river.  Only  once  during  many  months  were  tiiey  surprised,  when  a 
quantity  of  winter  stores,  and  many  of  their  horses  were  captured  on  the 
road  to  the  Black  hills  by  a  detachment  of  Miles'  command. 

The  point  in  which  the  white  soldier  is  superior  to  the  Indian  warrior,  is 
in  stubborn  endurance.  The  Indian  must  have,  after  his  outburst  of  fury,  a 
period  of  repose;  after  gorging  himself  like  an  anaconda,  he  must  lie  torpid 
for  awhile.  Keeping  on  the  march  for  months  exhausted  his  ardor  and  his 
resources.  In  September  the  least  valiant  of  the  Sioux  began  to  visit  the 
agencies  to  beg,  and  being  turned  away,  offered  to  surrender.  In  October 
the  troops  of  Miles'  command  in  Montana  captured  a  large  part  of  Sitting 
Bull's  supplies,  in  return  for  that  chief's  attempt  to  take  a  train  on  its  way 
to  Fort  Keogh.  Starvation  is  a  greater  general  than  the  greatest.  It 
brought  2,000  of  the  Sioux  people  to  Miles'  feet,  but  did  not  bring  Sitting 
Bull  and  his  immediate  followers,  who  continued  hostilities  as  before  until 
January,  when  he  went  over  the  border  into  the  British  possessions,  where 
the  authorities  compelled  him  to  promise  peace  or  be  ejected  from  the 
country. 

Crazy  Horse,  with  whom  Crook  was  left  to  deal,  proved  equally  obdurate 
if  less  successful.  When  Terry's  force  moved  up  Rosebud  river  to  join 
Crook,  Crazy  Horse  eluded  both,  dividing  his  followers  into  small  parties, 
and  sending  them  by  different  routes  to  Tongue  river,  and  across  the  country 
to  Powder  river,  following  the  latter  to  its  mouth,  pursued  all  the  way  by 
the  troops.  At  this  point  the  two  forces  separated,  Terry  going  north  of  the 
Yellowstone  to  prevent  escape  in  that  direction,  and  Crook  returning  south 
east  on  the  trail  of  the  Sioux  until  it  became  undistinguishable.  On  the  14th 
of  Sept.  his  advance  surprised  a  village  of  thirty  lodges  near  Slim  Buttes, 
180  miles  from  the  Cheyenne  river  agency,  inflicting  considerable  injury. 
In  retaliation  Crazy  Horse  attacked  his  main  column,  the  battle  again  being 
a  drawn  one,  after  which  the  Indians  went  into  winter  camp  on  Tongue 
river,  at  the  eastern  base  of  Wolf  mountains. 

About  the  middle  of  November  Crook's  force  left  Fort  Fetterman  to  find 
Crazy  Horse,  Gen.  McKenzie  striking  on  the  25th  a  detached  village  of 
Cheyennes,  on  the  west  fork  of  Powder  river,  destroying  it  and  butchering 
men  women,  and  children  like  the  bloodiest  savage  of  them  all,  and  depriv 
ing  those  who  were  left  of  subsistence  at  a  season  when  to  obtain  it  was 
most  difficult.  By  this  cruel  punishment  another  portion  of  the  natives  were 
brought  to  surrender. 

Again,  in  January,  Miles  came  upon  the  village  of  Crazy  Horse  on 
Tongue  river,  skirmishing  with  the  Indians  from  the  1st  to  the  7th,  and 
having  a  five  hours' engagement  with  them  on  the  8th,  which  compellel 
them  to  abandon  their  position;  but  owing  to  the  worn-out  condition  of  his 
army  trains  he  found  it  impracticable  to  follow.  This  ended  the  campaign 
of  1876.  In  the  spring  of  1877  Lame  Deer,  another  hostile  chief,  'was 
attacked  at  his  village  of  fifty  lodges  on  Rosebud  river,  by  Miles.  The  Ind 
ians  fled,  but  their  horses,  provisions,  and  camp  equipage  were  captured. 
Raids  by  this  band  on  settlers,  surveyors,  and  wagon  trains  followed,  contin 
uing  until  July. 

In  July  1876  Sheridan  requested  the  interior  department  to  turn  over  to 
the  military  the  management  of  the  Lower  Brule,  Cheyenne  river,  and  Stand 
ing  Rock  agencies,  on  the  Missouri  river,  and  also  the  Red  Cloud  and 
Spotted  Tail  agencies,  which  were  placed  in  charge  of  army  officers.  From 
time  to  time  during  the  summer  and  autumn,  numerous  small  parties  sur 
rendered,  being,  as  they  acknowledged,  'tired  of  war.'  Those  whom  Miles 
captured  on  the  Yellowstone  were  ordered  to  go  to  the  Cheyenne  river 
agency  in  November,  hostages  being  retained  for  their  obedience.  In  the 
spring  other  parties  came  in,  rspresenting  that  the  main  body  were  willing 
to  do  the  same,  upon  which  report  Spotted  Tail  was  induced  to  visit  the 
hostile  camps  with  a  deputation  of  head  men,  and  persuade  the  Indians  to 
return  to  their  allegiance.  He  returned  in  May  with  1,100.  In  June,  Crazy 
Horse  formally  surrendered  with  his  Cheyenne  allies  at  Red  Cloud  agency. 


WYOMING.  781 

But  his  submissson  was  rather  to  gain  time  than  to  be  at  peace,  and  being 
found  inviting  the  Indians  to  renewed  hostilities,  he  was  arrested,  and  hi3 
followers  disarmed.  He  soon  escaped,  and  being  re-arrested  Sept.  4th,  at 
the  agency,  to  which  he  had  returned,  was  taken  to  Camp  Robinson  on  the 
5ch,  and  while  being  disarmed,  resisted,  and  was  wounded  by  the  guard, 
from  which  wound  he  died  the  following  day. 

In  this  month  Lame  Deer  voluntarily  surrendered,  making  an  end  of 
the  Sioux  war.  A  commission  visited  the  agencies  in  October,  to  negotiate 
with  the  Sioux  for  a  surrender  of  the  Black  hills,  and  the  privilege  of  hunt 
ing  outside  the  reservation,  which  had  been  guaranteed  to  them  by  the  treaty 
of  1868.  They  were  asked  to  relinquish  all  claim  to  any  country  west  of  the 
103d  meridian;  to  grant  a  right  of  way  for  three  roads  across  their  reserve; 
to  consent  to  the  removal  of  the  Red  Cloud  and  Spotted  Tail  agencies  to  the 
Missouri  river;  to  receive  their  supplies  at  such  points  as  the  president 
might  designate,  and  to  enter  into  arrangements  looking  to  their  becoming 
self-supporting  at  an  early  day. 

These  concessions  were  made,  though  partly  under  protest,  as  to  removal. 
Oa  the  side  of  the  United  States  it  was  agreed  that  their  subsistence  should 
be  provided  for  until  they  should  become  self-supporting,  and  they  be  fur 
nished  with  schools,  and  instruction  in  agriculture  and  the  mechanical  arts. 
This  treaty  congress  ratified  February  28,  1879.  Their  removal  to  the  Mis 
souri  river  took  place  late  in  1877,  when  14,000  of  these  people  were  taken 
in  winter  to  new  and  unprepared  situations,  where  the  usual  unhappinesa 
and  rebelliousness  prevailed.  In  the  following  spring  an  effort  was  made  to 
find  land  suitable  for  farming  on  the  western  side  of  their  reserve,  where  at 
Pine  ridge  and  Rosebud  agencies  the  two  principal  chiefs  of  the  Ogalallas 
and  Brules  were  finally  settled  with  their  people.  They  roamed,  by  per 
mission,  in  small  bands  through  the  Black  hills  in  search  of  game. 

The  northern  Cheyennes  to  the  number  of  300  were  removed  to  the  Ind 
ian  territory,  to  which  they  went  willingly  in  May  1877,  but  where  they, 
with  characteristic  restlessness,  soon  became  troublesome,  and  in  September 
187S  left  the  territory  to  return  north.  Troops  from  Camp  Robinson  pur 
sued  to  bring  them  back.  Fighting  occurred,  in  which  both  sides  sustained 
losses,  and  the  Cheyennes  subsequently  committed  atrocities  in  Nebraska, 
as  of  old.  They  finally  surrendered,  were  taken  back  south,  and  again  in 
January  Dull  Knife's  band  attempted  to  escape,  when  forty  of  them  were 
killed  by  guards,  and  the  troops  being  called  out,  the  fugitives  were  pur 
sued  for  two  weeks  and  nearly  all  cut  off. 

The  remainder  of  the  band  in  1881  was  permitted  to  be  incorporated  with 
the  Sioux  at  Pine  ridge  agency,  where  a  vigilant  police  system,  in  which 
service  the  most  trusty  natives  were  employed,  preserved  order,  and  pre 
vented  thieving  and  mischievous  roving.  In  1881  the  Indians  at  Pine  ridge 
agency  earned  $41,382  freight  money,  using  their  ponies  and  wagons  to 
transport  the  agency  goods  from  the  nearest  point  on  the  Missouri  river. 
This  would  seem  an  improvement  on  the  chase,  whether  the  game  were  buffa 
loes  or  white  men. 

The  northern  Arapahoes,  who  surrendered  themselves  with  the  Chey- 
eunes  in  1876,  a^ked  to  bo  allowed  to  go  upon  the  Shoshone  reservation,  and 
the  consent  of  that  tribe  being  gained,  were  placed  there,  where  they  have 
remained  at  peace.  The  Shoshone  chief,  Washatin,  was  a  rare  Indian,  for 
he  would  work,  and  also  weep  over  the  idleness  and  drunkenness  of  his 
young  men.  According  to  some  authorities,  the  good  behavior  of  the  Sho 
shone  *  and  Bannacks  was  due  to  the  severe  treatment  of  them  by  General 
Conner  at  Bear  river  in  1SC7,  when  they  lost  nearly  500  warriors.  But  pre 
vious  to  that  engagement,  Washakie  withdrew  his  band;  therefore  he  has 
the  benefit  of  the  doubt,  and  has  certainly  been  a  consistent  friend  of  the 
white  people  ever  since  the  treaty.  In  compliment  to  his  fidelity,  his  musi 
cal  name  has  been  bestowed  upon  a  military  port  on  Wind  river,  and 
a  group  of  mountain  peaks,  the  Washakie  Needles,  m  the  Shoshone  moun 
tains. 


782  MILITARY  AND  INDIAN  AFFAIRS. 

When  Ute  Jack  was  planning  the  outbreak  of  1879  in  Colorado  he  vis 
ited  the  Shoshones  to  incite  them  to  insurrection,  which  caused  an  order  to 
be  issued  for  his  arrest.  He  seized  a  gun,  and  going  into  a  lodge  where  was 
the  sergeant  of  the  guard,  shot  him  dead,  and  wounded  another  man,  when 
he  was  killed.  This  incident  checked  any  tendency  to  insubordination 
which  the  Utes  may  have  created, 


CHAPTER  VII, 

RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

1868-1888. 

DIVISION  OF  TERRITORY  INTO  COUNTIES— BIRTH  OF  TOWNS,  AND  GROWTH  OF 
POPULATION— PIONEERS  AND  PROMINENT  MEN— COMMERCE  AND  INDUS 
TRIES—GRASSES  AND  GRAZING— RANCHOS  AND  RANGES— STOCK-RAISING 
—SOME  OF  THE  GREAT  CATTLE  MEN— LAND  SURVEYS  AND  SALES -IM 
PROVEMENT  OF  BREEDS— CATTLE  DRIVING  FROM  TEXAS  AND  OREGON- 
GENERAL  CONDITION  OF  THE  COUNTRY — AGRICULTURE  AND  MINES 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

THE  growth  in  population  of  Wyoming  was  slow 
during  the  Indian  wars,  first,  from  the  natural  evi 
dence  of  danger,  and  second,  from  the  exclusion  of 
white  people  from  the  best  lands  in  the  territory. 
The  government  surveys  were  also  impeded  except 
along  the  line  of  the  railroad,  where  the  population 
was  gathered  into  towns.  The  legislature  ot  1875 
established  two  counties  in  the  northern  portion  of  the 
territory,  which  had  not  enough  white  inhabitants  for 
the  four  years  following  to  organize.1  The  amount  of 
land  which  had  been  entered  for  settlement  in  1876, 
before  the  northern  portion  of  the  territory  was  thrown 
open,  amounted  altogether  to  38,734  acres.  It 
increased  steadily  thereafter,  and  in  1883,  over  79,- 
000  acres  were  entered  at  the  land  office.  The  whole 
amount  filed  upon  from  1873  to  1883  was  201,264 
acres.2  The  population  at  this  time  did  not  exceed 
30,000.  In  1886,  with  a  population  of  65,000,  the 

lMess.  Gov.  H&yt,    1870,  p.    33;  Compiled  Laws  Wyom.,   1876,   198-201; 
Wyom.  Sess.  Laws,  1877,  34. 

a  Rept  ofOav.  Hale,  1883,  p.  51;  U.  S.  H.  Ex.  Doc.,  72,  p.  156,  vol.  19;  4/ 

cong.,2Sess, 


784  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

amount  of  land  entered  under  the  homestead  and 
other  acts  of  congress  was  20,991,967  acres.  The 
first  division  into  counties,  of  the  territory,  was  by 
running  imaginary  lines  from  the  northern  to  the 
southern  boundary.  Carter  county,  first  organized  by 
miners  and  established  by  the  Dakota  legislature 
December  27,  1867,  was  bounded  by  the  33d  merid 
ian  on  the  west,  and  extended  east  two  and  one-half 
degrees.3 

The  counties  above  referred  to  as  having  been 
erected  in  1875,  were  named  Crooks  and  Pease;  the 
former  being  taken  from  that  portion  of  the  counties 
of  Laramie  and  Albany  lying  north  of  43°  30',  and 
including  as  much  of  the  Black  hills  country  as  lies 
in  Wyoming ;  and  the  latter  from  Carbon  county, 
north  of  the  same  line.4 

Uinta  county,  containing  15,000  square  miles,  was 
the  most  western  division.  Historically,  it  is  the 
most  interesting  portion  of  the  territory,  having  been 
occupied  by  adventurers  ever  since  1823.5 

3  The  first  legislature  of  Wyoming  changed  its  name  to  Sweetwater,  as 
has  before  been  mentioned.  On  the  5th  of  March.  1884,  the  legislature  cre 
ated  the  county  of  Fremont  out  of  that  portion  of  Sweetwater  lying  between 
an  east  and  west  line  as  drawn  by  the  survey  between  townships  twenty-six 
and  twenty-seven  north,  and  the  line  of  43°  30'  north  latitude,  including  the 
Sweetwater  and  the  Little  Wind  river  valleys,  leaving  to  Sweetwater  county 
the  Red  desert  and  the  broken  country  south  of  the  Union  Pacific  railroad. 

*  This  rectangular  mode  of  division  is  extremely  simple,  and  in  this 
mountainous  region  as  convenient  as  any.  The  county  of  Pease  had  its 
name  changed  in  1879  to  Johnson,  in  honor  of  Edward  P.  Johnson,  territorial 
auditor,  and  beloved  pioneer  of  Wyoming.  These  three  additions  to  the 
original  five  counties  constituted  in  1884  the  whole  of  Wyoming  not  reserved 
to  the  use  of  the  Indians. 

5  It  was  taken  off  from  Utah  and  Idaho  on  the  organization  of  the  terri 
tory  of  Wyoming,  to  straighten  the  west  boundary,  and  was  by  the  first 
legislature  attached  to  Carter  county  for  judicial  purposes.  Evanston,  a 
town  which  the  Union  Pacific  railroad  company  founded  and  nourished,  was 
then  in  its  infancy,  having  been  located  in  June,  1869;  but  in  August  it  was 
declared  a  voting  precinct  for  the  purpose  of  electing  a  member  of  the  legis 
lature.  On  the  1st  of  December  the  county  was  organized,  and  Merrill,  a 
place  which  no  longer  exists  as  a  town,  named  as  the  temporary  county  seat. 
The  officers  appointed  by  the  governor  were  J.  Van  A.  Carter  county  clerk, 
R.  H.  Hamilton  sheriff,  W.  A.  Carter  treasurer  and  probate  judge,  and  E. 
S.  Jacobs  superintendent  of  public  schools.  The  first  election  to  permanently 
1  >cate  the  county  seat  was  held  September  6,  1870,  Evanston  having  a  small 
majority  over  Merrill.  The  commissioners  elected  were  J.  Van  A.  Carter, 
Russell  Thorp,  and  J.  L.  Atkinson.  Jos.se  L.  Atkinson  was  born  in  Nova 
Scotia  in  1330,  aad  Lettle.l  i:i  Uiata  co.  in  1370,  engaging  in  lumbering,  get- 


WYOMING.  786 

Uinta  was  the  fourth  county  in  population,  having 
about  4,000  inhabitants.  Its  resources  are  timber, 
coal,  iron,  sulphur,  of  which  there  is  a  mountain  on 
the  west  fork  of  Bear  river,  agriculture,  and  grazing. 
Coal  oil  is  also  believed  to  exist  in  the  county.6 

ting  timber  from  the  Uinta  mountains.  Then  he  went  to  cattle-raising 
with  Benj.  Majors  of  Colo,  and  accumulated  a  fortune.  Sheriff  of  Carter 
county  was  Harvey  Booth,  county  clerk  Lewis  P.  Scott,  probate  judge  and 
treasurer  W.  A.  Carter.  Evanston,  the  county  seat,  is  the  chief  office  of  the 
western  division  of  the  Union  Pacific  railroad,  altitude  7,000  feet.  It  was 
incorporated  in  December  1873,  disincorporated  in  1875,  and  incorporated 
again  in  1882.  Its  population  in  188G  about  2,000.  Frank  M.  Foote  pro 
cured  its  disincorporation.  He  was  born  in  South  Bend,  Ind.,  in  1840,  came 
to  Bryan,  Wyoming,  in  1871,  where  he  was  employed  by  the  U.  P.  R.  R, 
as  clerk,  and  subsequently  as  agent.  In  1872  he  removed  to  Evanston, 
where  he  subsequently  resided.  He  was  elected  to  the  legislature  in  1875. 
•was  elected  probate  judge  and  treasurer  the  following  year,  and  reflected  in 
1878.  In  1879-80  he  served  also  as  deputy  sheriff,  and  in  1881  -2  as  under 
sheriff  of  the  county.  He  engaged  in  cattle-raising  in  1883,  his  range  being 
near  Medicine  Butte,  15  miles  from  Evanston.  Evanston  was  surveyed  and 
lots  offered  for  sale  June  25, 1870,  E.  S.  Whittier  being  the  first  purchaser.  A 
post-office  was  established  in  April,  with  Charles  T.  Devel  postmaster.  In  July 
Whittier  took  the  office,  which  he  held  8  years.  A  public  school  was  opened 
July  8,  with  8  pupils.  There  were,  in  1883,  12  school  districts  in  the  county, 
with  622  children  in  attendance.  The  first  marriage  celebrated  in  the  county 
was  on  June  1, 1871,  between  George  East  and  Annie  Porter.  The  first^church, 
presbyterian,  was  incorporated  July  17th,  the  baptist  church  Sept.  7th,  and 
soon  after  the  methodist  church.  The  railroad  machine  shops  were  located 
here  in  Nov.  1871.  On  the  10th  of  Oct.  1872,  the  first  newspaper,  the 
Evanston  Age,  was  started.  The  Times,  The  Chieftain,  and  the  Uinta  Co.  Arym 
were  all  published  at  Evanston.  On  the  6th  of  June,  1873,  the  Evanston 
library  and  literary  association  was  incorporated,  which  received  much  as 
sistance  from  W.  W.  Peek.  The  Evanston  Water  Ditch  co.  was  incorporated 
to  bring  water  to  the  town  from  Bear  river,  8  miles  distant.  F.  L.  Arnold,  in 
Trans.  Wyom.  Acad.  Sciences,  1882,  96-7.  A  court-house  and  jail  were 
authorized  at  Evanston  in  1874.  Wyom.  Sess.  Law*,  1874,  226.  A  land  dis 
trict  was  created,  with  an  office  at  Evanston,  in  1876.  U.  S.  Statutes,  126-/, 
44th  cong.,  1st  sess.  Almy,  near  Evanston,  is  a  coal-mining  town. 
are  a  number  of  small  towns  in  the  county,  namely,  Aspen,  Hilliard,  Old 
Bear  City,  Piedmont,  Leroy,  Bridger,  Carter,  Hampton,  Millersville,  Coke- 
vffle  Beckwith,  Nugget,  Fossil,  Twin  Creek,  Ham's  Fork,  Waterfall,  \\  right, 
Opal,  Nutria  Moxa,  and  Granger,  the  latter  being  on  the  boundary  line 
between  Uinta  and  Sweetwater  counties,  and  the  initial  point  of  the  Oregon 
short  line  railroad. 

6  In  the  summer  of  1868  coal  was  found  three  miles  from  Evanston. 
1869  the  first  mine  was  opened.     In   1870  the  Rocky  Mountain  Coal  and 

Ontario  co,  ?. 


Newell  Beeman,  born  in  Ontario  co.,   «•  *-i  ™  /^T«wo 

1871,  engaging  as  book-keeper  of  the  R.  M.  C.  &  I.  company,  and  in  If 
became  supt  and  business  manager.     He  was  elected  county  commissioner 
in  1874,  and  twice  reflected;  was  also  school  trustee    and  several  times  on 
the  republican  central  committee  for  the  territory.     The  coal,  according  to 
Beeman,  is  semi-bituminous  brown  coal    of  good  [quality,  v 
the  company  and  the  towns  along  the  railroad.        »  qua 


UnlJustein  Pomeroy  was  the  first  agricultural  settler  ^*£*£^S* 
of  th3  railroad  in   Uinta  co.,    where   a  large  number  of  farms  wer( 


HIST.  NEV.    50 


786  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

Since  the  completion  of  the  Oregon  Short  Line  rail 
road,  this  county  has  progressed  rapidly  in  improve 
ments,  and  is  destined  to  be  one  of  the  most  impor 
tant  in  the  future  state.  Its  assessed  valuation  in 
1883,  was  $2,096,377. 

Sweetwater  county  by  the  erection  of  a  new  coun 
ty,  Fremont,  out  of  the  Sweetwater  region,  has  lost 
the  significance  of  its  name,  as  well  as  the  most  val 
uable  portion  of  the  territory.  The  county  seat, 
which  in  early  times  was  at  South  Pass  City,  was 
removed  in  1874  to  Green  river.7 

Fremont  county  established  in   1884,  contained  an 

opened,  chiefly,  however,  for  raising  hay,  oats,  potatoes,  and  vegetables.  In 
1868  Moses  Byrn  and  C.  Guild  located  themselves  on  Muddy  creek,  12  miles 
east  of  Fort  Bridger. 

John  V7.  Myers  took  a  land  claim  at  the  crossing  of  Bear  river  on  the 
old  stage  road.  In  1877  a  Mormon  colony  located  in  Salt  river  valley,  140 
miles  north  of  Evanston.  The  valley  is  20  miles  long,  and  7  to  9  miles  wide, 
with  beautiful  scenery.  In  1868  Beck  with,  Quinn,  and  company  took  up  a 
tract  about  50  miles  north  of  Evanston,  containing  15,000  acres,  4,000  of 
which  is  under  cultivation,  400  acres  being  in  lucern,  which  yielded  from  2 
to  3  tons  to  the  acre,  and  cut  twice  a  year.  From  3,000  acres  of  irrigated 
meadow  land  they  cut  in  1881,  3,500  tons  of  hay,  and  thrashed  1,800  bushels 
of  barley.  They  wintered  2,500  head  of  cattle,  of  which  97  were  thorough 
bred  Durham  bulls  and  40  thoroughbred  cows.  They  owned  a  large  number 
of  thoroughbred  horses,  and  fattened  a  herd  of  Berkshire  hogs  on  lucern, 
turnips,  and  barley  raised  on  the  rancho.  Blythe,  Pixley,  Christie,  Lank- 
tree,  and  many  others  had  extensive  ranchos  on  Bear  river  previous  to  1880, 
since  which  time  there  has  been  a  marked  increase  in  settlement.  Trans. 
Wyom.  Acad.  Sciences,  etc.,  1882,  98-9. 

Robert  L.  Hereford  was  born  in  Va,  in  1827,  and  crossing  the  plains  in 
1851,  wandered  about  the  Rocky  mountain  region  and  west  coast,  always 
occupying  high  and  responsible  positions,  when  he  went  to  Big  Thompson 
river,  Colo.,  in  1860. 

Jesse  Knight,  born  in  1850,  and  educated  at  an  academy,  went  to  Omaha 
in  1869,  to  Wyoming  in  1871,  remaining  at  South  Pass  city  until  1873,  being 
one  year  in  merchandising  business,  and  two,  clerk  of  the  court  for  the  3d 
judicial  district.  Uiiita  county  being  added  to  the  district  in  1873,  and  he 
has  been  in  the  same  office  ever  since. 

7  Green  river  was  an  interesting  point  to  travellers  on  account  of  the  fos 
sils  found  in  the  Green  river  sholes.  These  are  arranged  in  thin  layers  of 
different  colors,  some  of  which  contain  thousands  of  impressions  of  fish, 
insects,  and  water  plants.  At  Burning  Rock  cut,  between  layers  of  a  light 
colored,  chalky  limestone,  were  strata  of  a  dark  color,  saturated  with 
petroleum,  which,  being  ignited,  burned  for  several  days  hence  the  name. 
The  Sweetwater  Gazette  is  published  at  Green  river.  Green  river,  named  after 
a  member  of  Ashley's  expedition  of  1823,  and  not  on  account  of  its  color  as 
is  commonly  asserted,  furnishes  some  of  the  finest  views  of  the  passage  of 
the  continent.  All  the  other  towns  in  the  county  with  the  exception  of 
Downieville,  on  Green  river,  are  simply  railroad  stations.  They  are  Mars- 
ton,  Bryan,  Wilkins,  Salt  Wells,  Point  of  Rocks,  Hallville,  Black  Butte, 
Bitter  Creek.  Table  Rock,  Tipton,  Red  Desert,  Washakie,  Latham,  Creston, 
and  Fillmors.  Wolfe,  Mercantile  Guide,  178-84. 


787 


area  of  about  20,000  square  miles,  inclusive  of  the 
whole  Sweetwater  mining  country,  the  Shoshone  res 
ervation,  and  the  elevated  valley  of  the  Bighorn  on 
the  west  side  of  that  river,  with  the  Shoshone  moun 
tains  on  the  western  border.8 


were, 

missioixers  elected  were,  R.  H.  Hall  dem.,  A.  J.  McDonald,  and  H~  E. 
Blinn  rep.,  J.  J.  Atkins  was  elected  sheriff  on  the  republican  ticket.  Erviii 
F.  Cheney  appointed  deputy  district  clerk.  South  Pass  city  is  the  oldest 
town  in  the  county.  A  newspaper  was  started  there  in  1868  by  N.  A. 
Baker  called  The  New*.  It  was  sold  to  E.  A.  Slack,  who  moved  it  to  Lara- 
mie.  This  paper  was  succeeded  by  the  Sweetwiter  Miner,  which  was 
removed  to  Bryan. 

Horace  E.  Blinn  was  born  in  Snelburn,  Vt,  in  1847,  and  educated  there. 
In  1870  he  migrated  to  Wyoming,  locating  himself  at  Camp  Brown,  now 
Fort  Washakie,  as  post  trader  with  J.  K.  Moore,  and  remaining  there  three 
years.  He  then  went  to  Boulder  co.,  Colo,  where  he  erected  a  saw  mill. 
In  1881  he  returned  to  North  Fork  city,  Popo  Agie  valley,  settling  three 
years  later  in  Lander. 

Louis  P.  Vidal,  born  in  France,  came  to  Wyoming,  located  himself  finally 
in  Atlantic  City,  and  took  up  the  extension  of  the  Buckeye  mine.  He 
erected  several  houses  there,  and  took  contracts  for  supplying  Camp  Brown 
with  certain  necessary  articles.  In  1871  he  went  to  this  post,  which  had 
been  removed  to  the  Shoshone  reservation,  and  named  Fort  Washakie,  but  in 
1872  engaged  in  stock  raising  with  his  residence  at  Lander,  the  most  impor 
tant  town  in  Fremont  county. 

Among  the  early  settlers  of  what  is  now  Fremont  county,  was  John  D. 
Woodruff,  born  in  Broome  co.,  N.  Y.,  in  1847,  and  in  I860  came  to  Wyoming. 
Being  well  acquainted  with  the  country,  he  acted  as  guide  to  generals 
Sheridan  and  Crook  when  selecting  the  site  Fort  Custer. 

The  pioneer  cattle  raiser  of  Fremont  county  was  John  Luman,  born  in 
1838,  in  Jackson  co.,  Va.  In  1854  he  settled  in  Kansas,  migrating  to  Colo 
in  1859,  and  soon  going  to  Fort  Bridger,  where  he  was  employed  by  the  post 
sutter  two  years.  He  then  returned  to  Colo,  remaining  there  seven  years, 
mining  and  prospecting.  He  later  became  a  successful  stock  raiser. 

Another  pioneer  was  James  A.  McAvoy,  born  in  Ohio  in  1842,  and  in 
1868  came  to  Cheyenne.  Thence  he  went  to  South  Pass  city  in  1869,  remain 
ing  there,  engaged  in  mining.  In  1873  he  located  himself  on  Willow  creek 
in  the  Wind  river  valley,  within  the  lines  of  the  Indian  reservation.  He  next 
engaged  with  Samuel  Fairfield  in  constructing  a  road  from  the  timbered 
lands  at  the  head  of  Big  Popo  Agie  to  Lander.  When  Fremont  co.  was 
organized  he  was  elected  county  clerk. 

Still  another  sort  of  frontiersman  was  Major  Noyes  Baldwin,  born  in 
Woodbridge,  Conn.,  in  1826,  served  in  the  civil  war  and  afterward  came  to 
Wind  river  valley  and  established  a  trading  post,  dealing  with  the  Indian* 
for  three  years.  He  was  one  of  the  first  discoverers  of  gold  at  South  pass, 
with  him  being  Henry  Ridell,  Frank  Marshall,  Harry  Habbel,  Richard 
Grace,  and  others.  He  is  now  a  resident  of  Lander. 

Robert  H.  Hall,  born  at  Sacketts  Harbor,  N.  Y.,  in  18o2,  came  to  Camp 
Stambough  in  1873,  remaining  there  for  over  four  years,  when  he  removed 
Lander,  having  become  interested  in  cattle. 

James  J.  Atkins,   born  in  Wis.   in  1853,  came  to  Dakota  in  1, 
afterward  to  Lander,  where  he  secured  a  farm  and  raised  stock, 
elected  sheriff  on  the  organization  of  Fremont  co. 


788  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

Carbon  county  contains  13,500  square  miles.  As 
its  name  indicates,  it  overlies  extensive  coal  deposits, 
particularly  in  the  southern  portion.  It  has  several 
mineral  districts,  in  which  are  found  the  precious 
metals,  besides  copper,  iron,  iron-paint,  fire-clay, 
gypsum,  salt,  and  coal  oil.  The  latter  promises  to  be 
one  of  the  foremost  resources  of  the  territory,  and 
particularly  of  Fremont  and  Carbon  counties.  The 
petroleum  of  Wyoming  lies  near  the  surface,  and 
resembles  the  best  Russian  and  Rangoon  oils.  For 
lubricating  purposes  it  is  not  excelled  by  any  known.* 

9  This  county  embraces  a  large  extent  of  the  Laramie  plains,  devoted  to 
grazing.  Good  agricultural  lands  are  found  chiefly  along  the  north  Platte. 
Rawlins,  founded  in  1870,  and  named  in  honor  of  John  A.  Rawlins,  is  the 
county  seat,  and  has  about  1,800  inhabitants,  railroad  machine  shops,  banks, 
an  assay  office,  established  by  the  legislature  in  1877,  good  public  buildings 
erected  in  1882,  two  newspapers,  the  Tribune  and  Journal,  and  a  general 
condition  of  prosperity.  It  is  situated  in  the  midst  of  a  mineral  district, 
centrally  in  relation  to  other  districts,  and  the  east  and  west  portions  of  the 
territory,  and  is  the  natural  outlet  of  northern  Colorado.  The  mineral  paint 
mine  at  Rawlins  was  discovered  by  John  C.  Dyer  and  others.  It  was 
worked,  but  not  profitably,  owing  to  railroad  rates.  The  Rawlins  district 
contains  copper  mines  which  assay  40  per  cent  of  copper  to  the  ton,  with  an 
ounce  of  silver  and  traces  of  gold.  The  Ferris  mineral  district  near  Rawlins 
was  discovered  by  George  Ferris,  John  C.  Dyer,  and  others.  The  Medium  Bow- 
Range  contains  several  mining  districts.  Dexter  district,  40  miles  south  of 
Rawlins,  Summit,  Douglas,  Centennial,  and  Bramel  districts,  are  in  this 
range,  and  contain  both  quartz  and  placer  mines.  Hanspeck  gold  placer 
mines,  80  miles  south  of  Rawlins,  yield  well  to  the  hydraulic  process.  The 
Seminole  district,  35  miles  north  of  Rawlius,  contains  quartz,  free  milling, 
yielding  from  $12  to  $30  per  ton. 

Carbon  is  a  coal  mining  town,  where  about  500  miners  are  employed. 
Warm  Springs  is  a  settlement  of  250  people  in  the  Platte  valley,  and  the 
only  agricultural  town  in  the  county.  Large  herds  of  cattle  have  been  kept 
on  the  ranges  for  stock-raising  purposes,  but  there  is  a  tendency  to  dairying 
and  farming,  which  will  ultimately  drive  out  the  stock  cattle,  and  result  in 
more  compact  settlement.  The  population  of  Carbon  co.  in  1883  was  about 
5,000,  distributed  upon  farms,  in  railroad  towns,  and  in  the  mines;  and  the 
assessed  valuation  $3,662,368.  The  railway  stations  are  Separation,  Green 
ville,  Fort  Steele,  Edson,  Station  House,  Percy,  Medicine  Bow,  and  Aurora. 
Taking  into  consideration  the  age  of  the  territory,  the  wealth  of  this,  the 
third  county  in  value,  is  worthy  of  remark.  Its  property  had  increased  in 
1886  to  between  $4,000,000  and  $5,000,000.  The  history  of  the  men  who 
founded  the  prosperity  of  the  county  is  proper  in  this  place. 

James  France,  born  in  Pa  in  1838,  came  to  Wyoming  in  1868,  and  opened 
store  under  the  firm  name  of  H.  C.  Hall  &  Co.  A  branch  store  was  estab 
lished  at  Rawlins  in  1869,  of  which  France  took  charge.  He  continued  in 
merchandising  until  1884,  when  he  engaged  in  banking,  erecting  a  building 
for  that  purpose.  He  was  elected  to  the  legislative  council  in  1874,  and 
was  appointed  territorial  auditor  by  Gov.  Hoyt,  vice  Downey,  elected  to  con 
gress.  He  was  appointed  postmaster  in  1871,  retaining  the  office  until  1885; 
and  was  several  times  county  commissioner,  being  chairman  of  the  board 
for  three  terms. 

Dewitt  C.  Kelley,  born  in  Pa  in  1850,  came  to  Rawlins  in  the  spring  of 


WYOMING.  789 

Johnson  county  was  organized  out  of  the  northern 

1870,  engaging  as  book-keeper  for  France,  which  situation  he  retained  until 
1882,  when  he  was  transferred  to  the  James  France  bank,  of  which  he  was 
made  cashier.  In  Dec.  1882  he  went  into  merchandising  for  himself.  The 
same  year  he  was  elected  probate  judge  and  county  treasurer,  and  reflected 
in  1884. 

John  C.  Davis,  born  in  Ireland  and  educated  in  England,  came  to  Wyom 
ing  in  1869,  and  was  engaged  in  different  situations  for  7  years,  when  he 
went  into  mercantile  business,  managing  the  establishment  of  J.  W.  Hughes 
for  four  years,  and  being  made  partner  in  1880. 

Barton  T.  Ryan,  born  in  Ind.  in  1838,  and  accompanied  Gen.  Sully  on 
his  march  across  Dakota  to  the  Yellowstone,  to  intimidate  the  Sioux,  and 
being  in  the  battle  of  Deerstand,  where  15,000  Indians  were  opposed  to 
3,000  troops.  In  the  fight  585  Indians  were  killed  against  a  loss  of  a  few 
men  killed  and  wounded  on  the  side  of  the  army.  In  1870  he  purchased  an 
interest  in  a  lot  of  cattle  shipped  from  Iowa  to  Carbon  co.,  and  engaged  in 
the  business. 

Isaac  C.  Miller,  born  in  Denmark  in  1844,  came  to  Omaha  in  1866,  and 
the  following  year  to  North  Platte,  merchandising  at  Bitter  creek  until  1870, 
when  he  located  himself  at  Rawlins.  In  1871  he  went  to  mining  at  Hahn's 
peak,  and  in  1873  returned  to  Rawlins  and  engaged  in  cattle  raising.  He 
was  elected  sheriff  in  1880,  holding  the  office  two  terms. 

Perry  L.  Smith,  born  in  111.  in  1836,  came  to  Rawlins  in  1868,  dealing  in 
icattle  and  keeping  a  meat  market.  He  was  appointed  county  commissioner 
in  1869,  and  subsequently  elected  two  terms,  being  chairman  of  the  board 
each  term.  In  1874  he  was  elected  county  clerk  for  two  years,  and  in  1879 
was  elected  to  the  council  of  the  legislature,  being  reflected  in  1881.  He 
was  appointed  territorial  auditor  in  1884. 

Samuel  Fairfield,  born  in  New  Hampshire  in  1836,  came  to  Lander  in  1873, 
and  erected  three  saw-mills,  one  of  which  he  sold  to  the  government,  remain 
ing  in  that  region  until  1880.  He  then  moved  to  Rawlins,  where  he  remained 
three  years,  when  he  went  to  Garfield  co.,  Colo,  and  with  others  located  the 
town  of  Meeker  on  land  purchased  of  the  government,  and  partly  improved 
for  a  military  post. 

John  C.  Dyer,  born  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  in  1845,  came  to  Fort  Bridger, 
Sweetwater  mines,  and  Cheyenne  in  1867,  where  he  engaged  in  merchandis 
ing,  following  the  railroad  west  to  Rawlins.  He  became  interested  in  min 
ing,  and  was  one  of  the  discoverers  of  the  Ferris  district,  George  Ferris, 
another  of  the  company,  discovering  the  first  mine,  which  entitled  him  to 
have  the  district  named  for  him. 

Robert  M.  Galbraith  was  born  in  England  in  1844.     He  had  charge  of 


ing  at  Rawlins,  selling  out  in  1884,  and  going  into  the  stock  business  with 
Blake,  his  cattle  range  being  30  miles  south  of  Rawlins.     He  was  elected  to 


the  territorial  council  in  1882. 

James  V.  Cantlin,  born  in  111.  in  1848,  went  to  western  Neb.  m    1868, 
and  thence  to  Rawlins  in  1871.     He  was  appointed  postmaster  at  Ferris 
1877,  and   deputy  sheriff  of  Carbon  co.  m  18/8H  holding  until      184,  unde 


"HomeTMe'rrill,  bcrn  in  Rochester,  N.  Y  in  1846  came  to  Wyoming,  in 
1872,  and  was  admitted  to  the  practice  of  the  law  at  LaramioCity,  amoving 
to  Rawlins  in  1874.  He  was  elected  prosecuting  attorney  for  Carbon  co. 
!oonaTter,  which  office  he  held  almost  continuously  for  10  years,  and  waa 

1846,  of  German  and  French  parentage,  came 
»  1837,  and  after  some  rnimng 


790  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

portion  of  Carbon  county  in  March  188 1.10  It  pos 
sessed  at  this  period  assessable  property  valued  at 
$1,259,981,  which  had  increased  in  1883  to  $2,481,- 
404.  It  contains  a  large  amount  of  good  land  which 
is  being  brought  into  a  condition  for  farming  by  irri 
gating  canals  cut  on  the  bench  lands  lying  back  of  the 
meadows  along  the  numerous  streams  in  the  county. 
Coal  is  abundant  and  of  good  quality.  The  county 
seat  is  Buffalo,  founded  in  1879-80  by  W.  L.  Andrews, 
A.  J.  McCray,11  William  H,  Phillips,  and  Charles 
Williams,  on  the  south  side  of  Clear  creek.  It  is  now 
chiefly  on  the  north  side  of  the  stream,  and  within  a 
short  distance  of  Fort  McKinney.18 

The  town  was  incorporated  in  1884,  having  at  the 
age  of  three  years  500  inhabitants  and  a  municipal 

experiences  in  Colorado,  became  to  Eureka,  Nev.,  Cal.,  and  Mont.,  returning 
to  Utah  and  Colo,  and  finally  settling  in  Rawlins  in  1875.  He  accompanied 
Gen,  Crook  in  his  expedition  to  the  Powder  river  in  1876. 

Frank  A.  Hinman,  born  in  Iowa  in  1857,  and  educated  in  Colo  common 
schools,  engaged  in  placer  mining  in  1877  at  Hahn  peak. 

Benjamin  F.  Northington,  born  in  Ky  in  1833,  of  English  parentage, 
was  educated  in  Cal.  His  father  erected  the  first  grist-mill  in  Ky.  In  1849 
he  went  to  Texas  in  the  cattle  business,  and  to  Cal.  through  Mex.  and  Ariz, 
in  1849,  in  a  company  commanded  by  David  S.  Terry,  the  first  to  take  that 
route  and  cross  the  Colorado  near  Yuma.  In  1873  he  settled  in  Raw- 
lins,  giving  up  mining,  though  he  went  to  the  Black  hills  in  1876.  He  wa8 
elected  sergt-at-arms  of  the  house  of  representatives  in  1875. 

Charles  E.  Blydenburgh,  A.  B.,  A.  M.,  and  Em.  was  born  in  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y.,  in  1854.  and  came  to  Wyoming  in  1878,  locating  himself  at  Rawlins, 
with  J.  G.  Murphy,  in  the  business  of  mining  engineering.  When  the  terri 
torial  assay  office  was  completed,  according  to  an  act  of  the  legislature  of 
1877,  the  firm  took  charge  of  it. 

10  Mess.  G&o.   Hoyt,  1882,  p.  19.     This  county  was  first  established  under 
the  name  of  Pease  in  Dec.  1875,  but  was  not  to  be  organized  until  it  should 
have  500   electors    residing  within  it.   Comp.  Laws   Wyom.,   1876,   198-201. 
Owing  to  the  obstinacy  with  which  the  Sioux  resisted  white  occupation,  it 
was  not  settled  until  after  the  Indians  were  placed  on  reservations  xinder 
renewed  treaties.     Its   advance   since  1877  has  been  rapid.     It  was  finally 
named  Johnson,  in  honor  of  E.  P.  Johnson  of  Cheyenne.  Johnson  Memorial, 
24. 

11  Alvin  J.    McCray,  of  Buffalo,  Wyoming,  was  one  of  the  first  settlers. 
He  was  born  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  in  1852.     In  the  spring  of  1876  he  joined  the 
migration  to  the   Black  hills,  locating  himself  at  Deadwood,  where   he  es 
tablished  the  first  hotel. 

12  The  first  actual  permanent  settler  in  the  county  was  Elias  N.  Snider, 
post-trader  at    Fort    McKinney.      Snider  was  born  in  Mansfield,   Ohio,  in 
1842,  and  in  1877  was  made  post-trader  of  Fort  McKinney,  which  appoint 
ment  he  resigned  in  1879  to  engage  in  stock  raising  and  farming.     Major  B. 
J.  Hart  was  the  first  to  locate  land  west  of  Snyder,  and  Hart's  claim  became 
a  part  of   Buffalo.      When  the  county  was  organized  he  was  elected  probate 
judge,  and  served  one  term.      In  1882  he  was  elected  to  the  lower  house  of 
the  legislature  and  reflected  in  1884. 


WYOMING. 


791 


792  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

government.13  The  citizens  are  intelligent  and  liberal, 
supporting  law,  order,  and  education  generously.  It 
has  one  newspaper,  the  Echo,  founded  by  a  company, 
and  first  edited  by  T.  V.  McCandlish.14  In  the  mean 
time,  stock-raising  is  the  principal  source  of  wealth, 
there  being  a  number  of  stock  companies  in  the  coun 
try,  as  well  as  individual  owners.15  The  military  post 

13  The  first  mayor  of  Buffalo  was  H.  A.  Bennett,  born  in  Tenn.  in  1854, 
and  removed  in  1877  to  Cheyenne,  and  thence  to  Rock  creek,  where  he 
engag  d  as  clerk  with  G.  D.  Thayer,  and  remained  until  1881,  when  he 
removed  to  Powder  river  and  went  into  business  with  Conrad,  to  whom  he 
sold  out  in  1882. 

Another  early  settler  was  Richard  Kennedy,  who  was  born  in  N.  Y.,  and 
brought  up  in  Iowa.  In  1872  he  drifted  to  Montana,  mining  near  Helena, 
prospecting  on  Clark  fork  in  1873,  trapping  in  the  Bighorn  mountains,  trad 
ing  with  the  Crows,  organizing  a  town  site  co.  in  1877  and  calling  it  after 
Gen.  Miles.  Before  it  had  obtained  a  good  start  a  rival  Miles  city  was 
started  two  miles  nearer  the  fort,  which  overshadowed  his  town. 

Stephen  T.  Farwell  assisted  in  forming  the  county  organization,  and  was 
a  justice  of  the  peace  previously.  He  was  elected  probate  judge  and  county 
treasurer  in  1884.  Farwell  was  born  in  Cambridge,  Mass.,  in  1836. 

Noel  T.  Webber,  another  early  settler,  was  born  in  N.  Y.  in  1822.  In 
1864  he  joined  the  3d  Colo  regt.,  Capt.  Talbot's  co.,  and  served  four  months, 
being  at  the  battle  of  Sand  creek.  He  has  had  a  varied  experience. 

James  M.  Lobban,  who  was  born  in  Miss.,  came  to  Fort  McKinney  in 
1879,  engaging  as  clerk  to  the  post  trader,  J.  H.  Conrad,  and  remaining  until 
1882.  Lobban  was  elected  probate  judge  and  county  treasurer  in  1882, 
and  member  of  the  lower  house  of  the  legislature  in  1884. 

Frank  M.  Canton,  a  native  of  Va,  born  in  1854,  removed  to  Colo  in  1868, 
with  his  father,  who  settled  himself  southwest  of  Denver.  He  soon  went  to 
Montana,  and  engaged  with  William  Jamison,  who  was  in  the  stock  busi 
ness,  remaining  until  1877,  when  he  came  to  Cheyenne  and  went  into  the 
service  of  the  Wyoming  Stock  growers  association,  as  a  detective.  He  made 
many  arrests  of  horse  and  cattle  thieves,  and  some  worse  criminals,  estab 
lishing  his  reputation  for  nerve  and  ability.  In  1882  he  was  elected  sheriff 
of  Johnson  co.,  to  which  he  had  removed  with  his  family  in  1881. 

uCulleii  Watt  was  born  in  Scotland  in  1864,  and  educated  in  Canada. 
In  1867  he  came  to  Laramie  river  in  Wyoming.  When  Fort  McKinney  was 
building  in  1878,  he  located  a  large  tract  of  land  2^  miles  east  for  a  farm 
and  stock  range. 

Eugene  B.  Mather  and  George  W.  Munkers  brought  in  the  first  consign 
ment  of  goods  for  Robert  Foote  of  Buffalo  in  1882,  consisting  of  80,000 
pounds.  I  have  already  mentioned  Munkers.  Mather  was  born  in  Pa  in 
1849,  and  in  1868  went  to  Butler  co.,  Kan.,  and  established  the  first  saw 
mill  in  that  region,  20  miles  e.  of  Wichita,  remaining  there  until  1873.  In 
1876  he  went  to  Colo  with  his  brother-in-law,  Munkers,  and  thence  to  Buf 
falo,  where  both  took  up  their  residence.  Mrs  Mather  is  a  daughter  of 
Justice  Pomeroy  of  Uinta  co.,  the  first  white  settler  of  Fouteville. 

15  William  J.  Clarke,  a  native  of  Yorkshire,  England,  born  in  1859,  and 
educated  at  York,  came  to  Wyoming  in  1878.  He  remained  there  until  1881. 
Clarke  made  his  residence  at  Buffalo. 

Fred.  G.  S.  Hesse,  born  in  England  in  1852,  came  to  Wyoming  in  1876 
from  Tex. ,  where  he  had  arrived  3  years  previous. 

Delos  Babcock,  born  in  Iowa  in  1857,  went  to  Colo  in  1873.  In  1878  he 
came  to  Wyoming. 

Charles  H.  Burritt,  born  in  Vt  in  1854,  and  educated  in  Middlebury  col- 


WYOMING.  793 

has  assisted  materially  in  opening  up  the  frontier. 
The  legislature  of  1879  passed  an  act  to  locate  and 
establish  a  territorial  wagon  road  from  Kawlins  to 
Fort  McKinney,  which  being  used  by  the  military  is 
improved  by  the  soldiers.  The  presence  of  a  garrison 
gives  a  feeling  of  security  which  settlers  would  lack, 
surrounded  as  the  territory  is  on  the  west,  north,  and 
east  by  Indian  reservations. 

The  second  town  in  the  county  was  Sheridan,  sit 
uated  where  the  Bozeman  road  crosses  the  middle 
fork  of  Tongue  river.16  Bighorn  city,  a  few  miles 
south  of  Sheridan,  on  the  same  stream,  is  the  third. 
There  are  post-offices  at  Depot  McKinney,  Trabing, 
and  at  Colo,  all  on  the  road  to  Montana 

Albany  county,  with  less  area,  has  more  population 
than  any  county  except  Laramie.  It  comprises  the 
eastern  portion  of  the  Laramie  river,  the  remainder 
of  its  surface  being  broken  and  mountainous.17 

lege  and  at  Brown  university,  R.  L,  studied  law  in  Detroit  with  Wm  A. 
Moore.  He  came  to  Cheyenne  in  1879.  In  1883,  he  settled  at  Buffalo  in 
the  practice  of  the  law. 

Chauncy  Stoddard,  born  in  Peru,  N.  Y.,  in  1829,  came  to  Wyoming, 
Johnson  co.,  in  1879,  an  important  cattle  man. 

John  R.  Smith  was  born  in  Ohio  in  1844.  In  1879  settled  near  Trading 
P.  O.  He  was  one  of  the  commissioners  appointed  to  organize  the  county, 
and  was  treasurer  of  his  school  district. 

16  Sheridan  was  incorporated  in  1884.    Wyom.   Sess.  Laics,  1884,   129.     Its 
first  mayor  was  John  D.  Loucks,  who  was  born  in  N.  Y.  in  1845.     With  J. 
M.  Works,  he  settled  in  1880  on  Big  Goose  creek.     He  was  appointed  post 
master  in  1882,  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace,  and  chosen  on  the  school 
board,  which  he  was  active  in  establishing.     The  first  40  acres  of  the  town 
were  laid  off  in  lots,  and  about  four  buildings  erected;  the  2d  year  there  were 
50  buildings,  and  every  lot  sold. 

Henry  Held,  born  in  Bavaria  in  1849,  came  to  Cheyenne  in  1808  and  to 
Sheridan  in  1882. 

Marion  C.  Harris,  born  in  Ind.  in  1856,  came  to  Wyoming  in  1883. 

James  B.  Culver,  born  in  N.  Y.  in  1857.  In  1S84  he  came  to  Sheridan, 
and  engaged  with  J.  W.  Conrad  &  Co. 

17  Its  resources  are  principally  grazing  and  mining.     It  is  especially  rich 
in  iron,  its  Iron  mountain  yielding  85  per  cent  pure  metal.     Laramie  City, 
the  county  seat,   has  4,000  inhabitants.     The  military  post  and  reservation 
of  Fort  Sanders  adjoins  it  on  the  south.     The  Union   Pacific  railroad  oper 
ates  large  rolling  mills  at  this  place,  and  in  1883  erected  soda  manufacturing 
works.     There  are  2,000  inhabitants  divided  among  a  dozen  railroad  sta 
tions,  and  a  number  of  ranches  devoted  chiefly  to  cattle-raising.     The  as 
sessed  valuation  of  the  county  in  1883  was  $2,833,515.     Nathaniel  K.  Bos- 
well  discovered  the  soda  lakes  in  1869,  and  subsequently  sold  them  to 
railway.     He  was  then  shipping  20  tons  per  week,  at  a  profit  of  S,.oO  per 
ton.     The  railway  men  would  only  pay  what  the  mine  had  cost;  and  when 


794  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

Laramie  county  was  divided  in  1877,  and  the  north 
ern  portion  given  the  name  of  Crook.  It  remained 
for  some  time  unorganized,  being  very  sparsely  popu 
lated.  On  the  western  flanks  of  the  Black  hills,  in 

Boswell  refused  to  sell,  made  the  shipping  rates  so  high  as  to  take  away  his 
profit,  and  compell  him  to  sell  at  their  price,  $12,000,  the  property  being 
worth  $2,000,000.  The  soda  is  from  2  to  21  feet  thick,  over  about  200  acres, 
and  forms  as  fast  as  it  is  removed.  Boswell  was  born  in  N.  H.  in  1840,  and  in 
1867  removed,  to  Cheyenne  and  went  into  the  drug  business,  having  a  branch 
at  Laramie,  where  he  settled  himself  in  1868.  He  was  sheriff  9  years,  during 
which  time  he  made  several  arrests  of  noted  desperadoes.  See  Cook's  Hands 
Up,  143.  He  has  been  also  U.  S.  dept.  marshal  ever  since  1869.  Fort  San 
ders  took  charge  of  the  prisoners  before  a  jail  was  erected,  and  had  at  one 
period  37  convicts,  14  of  whom  were  in  for  murder,  and  all  arrested  by  Bos 
well.  He  was  appointed  chief  of  the  Wyom.  stock-growers'  asso.  in  1883, 
and  had  from  30  to  50  subordinates,  recovering  stolen  stock,  and  seeing  that 
branding  was  properly  done.  He  stopped  that  kind  of  stealing  when  the 
thieves  turned  their  attention  to  horses,  300  of  which  were  stolen  in  1884. 
The  thieves  were  well  organized,  and  had  their  stations  extending  from 
Oregon  to  North  park,  where  were  their  headquarters.  In  1881  he  engaged 
in  cattle -raising  on  the  Laramie  river,  30  miles  s.  w.  of  the  town  of  Wyom 
ing,  where  he  had  8  miles  of  river  front. 

The  station  of  Sherman  is  the  highest  point  on  the  U.  P.  R.  R.,  and  has 
200  population.  Tie  Siding,  Red  Butte,  Wyoming,  Cooper  Lake,  Look 
out,  Miser,  Rock  Creek,  and  Wilcox  are  on  the  road.  Cummins  City  ia  on 
the  Laramie,  North  Park,  and  Pacific  R.  R.,  and  has  about  300  voters.  It 
is  a  mining  town  in  the  Bramel  district,  which  is  partly  in  this  and  partly  in 
Carbon  co.  Laramie  City  was  incorporated  in  1873,  and  reincorporated  in 
1884.  Wyom.  Sess.  Laws,  1873,  201.  Id.,  1884,  84. 

Among  the  foremost  of  the  Albany  co.  men  are  the  following:  James  H. 
Hay  ford,  born  in  Pottsdam,  N.  Y.,  in  1826,  removed  to  Cheyenne  in  1867, 
and  edited  the  Rocky  Mountain  Star  for  two  J7ears,  when  he  came  to  Laramie 
and  purchased  the  Laramie  Sentinel.  He  was  appointed  terr.  auditor  in 
1870.  Mr  Hay  ford  has  been  active  in  forwarding  every  good  undertaking 
in  his  city  and  territory  since  their  foundations  were  laid. 

In  regard  to  newspapers,  Laramie  has  had  several  which  did  not  long 
survive.  That  peripatetic  journal,  the  Frontier  Index,  belonging  to  the 
erratic  Freeman,  was  the  first  newspaper  published  in  Laramie,  the  next 
being  the  Daily  Sentinel,  which,  after  running  2  years,  was  changed  to  a 
weekly.  In  1879  the  Times  newspaper  was  first  issued  here.  It  came  from 
Salt  lake  originally,  where  it  had  been  a  Danish  journal.  It  was  moved  to 
Evanston,  and  thence  to  Laramie  by  C.  W.  Bramel  and  L.  D.  Pease.  Pease 
ran  it  about  2  years.  In  March  1880  was  organized  the  Boomerany  Publish 
ing  Co.,  which  issued  the  d.  and  w.  Boomerang,  E.  W.  Nye  editor  and  man 
ager.  The  stock  was  held  by  H.  Wagner,  J.  J.  Strode,  Jacob  Blair,  A.  S. 
Peabody,  and  others.  The  Times  was  revived  for  a  short  time  as  the  Miss 
ing  Link,  and  again  as  the  Tribune.  The  Boomerang  and  the  Sentinel  also  sur 
vived. 

Robert  Marsh,  an  Englishman,  came  to  Wyoming  in  1868.  He  was  with  the 
railway  co.  for  11  years,  in  various  capacities.  He  was  elected  mayor  of  Lara 
mie  in  1880,  through  the  city  council,  of  which  he  was  a  member.  He  was  on 
the  school  board  7  years;  vice-president  of  the  board  of  trade  several  years; 
and  appointed  by  the  county  commissioners  com'r  on  live  stock  brands  many 
years  in  succession,  associated  with  S.  F.  Phillips.  He  thorougly  identified 
himself  with  the  interests  of  Laramie  and  the  county,  and  became  one  of 
the  largest  owners  in  the  Wyoming  Central  Land  and  Improvement  com- 


WYOMING.  795 

the  valleys  of  Sun  Dance  and  Sand  creeks  there  was 
an  agricultural  district  and  settlements.  The  small 
grains  were  found  to  do  well,  and  experiment  proved 
that  it  was  not  necessary  to  irrigate  in  this  region,  the 

pany,  from  which  he  himself  purchased  50,000  acres.  He  married  a  daugh 
ter  of  George  Harper,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  in  the  county,  and  has  sev 
eral  children. 

Mortimer  N.  Grant  was  born  at  Lexington,  Mo.,  in  1851,  and  came  to 
Wyoming  in  1869  in  the  service  of  the  gov't  as  surveyor,  and  surveyed  in 
every  part  of  the  territory. 

Thomas  Alsop,  from  Staffordshire,  England,  discovered  the  coal  banks  at 
Carbon  on  the  railroad,  taking  out  in  the  winter  of  1868,  $128,000  worth  of 
coal,  locating  himself  8  miles  above  Laramie  City  on  Laramie  river.  He  was 
elected  county  commissioner  in  1875. 

Robert  E.  Fitch,  born  in  N.  Y.  in  1843,  came  to  Laramie  in  1872,  and 
took  charge  of  the  public  schools  until  1882. 

Ora  Haley,  born  in  east  Corinth,  Me,  in  1844,  settled  himself  in  Laramie 
City  in  1868,  engaging  in  butchering  with  Charles  Hunton.  Haley  was 
elected  to  the  lower  house  of  the  ter.  legislature  in  1871,  and  in  1881  to  the 
upper  house;  and  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  city  council  in  1878-9  and 
1880.  He  was  highly  esteemed  in  the  community,  and  felt  a  just  pride  in 
his  success. 

Charles  E.  Clay,  born  in  Va  in  1838,  came  to  Fort  Laramie  in  1865.  In 
1875  he  removed  to  Cheyenne;  in  1882  to  Rock  Creek.  His  brother,  William 
Clay,  came  to  WTyommg  in  1875,  and  established  himself  in  cattle-raising  on 
the  Chugwater. 

John  H.  Douglas-Willan  was  born  in  Dublin  in  1852,  of  Scotch  parent 
age,  and  went  to  Lurimer  co.,  Colo,  in  1875  to  engage  in  cattle-raising,  but 
removed  in  1877  to  Wyoming,  locating  himself  on  LaBonte  creek  in  Albany 
co.  In  1883  he  formed  the  Douglas-Willan  Sartoris  co.,  of  which  he  was 
prest  and  manager. 

J.  E.  Yates,  born  in  Canada  in  1834,  came  to  Colo,  and  enlisted  in  the  3d 
Colorado  regt  in  1864,  and  was  with  Chivington  at  Sand  creek.  When 
Cheyenne  was  founded  he  removed  to  this  place,  and  assisted  in  establishing 
Ike  Leader  newspaper.  In  1870  he  again  removed  to  Laramie,  taking  a 
position  on  the  Sentinel,  managed  by  J.  H.  Hayford.  In  May  1871  he  en 
tered  into  partnership  with  Hayford,  and  purchased  the  Sentinel. 

Michael  H.  Murphy,  born  in  Pa  in  1845,  came  to  Laramie  City  in  1861), 
and  in  1875  was  elected  on  the  democratic  ticket  to  a  seat  in  the  legislature. 

John  W.  Blake,  bom  in  Bridgeton,  Me,  came  to  Laramie  in  1874,  stud 
ied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  practice  in  1877.  In  1884  he  was  elected  to 
the  upper  house  of  the  legislature. 

Charles  W.  Spalding,  born  in  Marysville,  Ky,  in  1835,  came  to  Laramie 
in  1876,  as  one  of  her  best  citizens. 

William  Lawrence,  born  in  Scotland,  came  to  Laramie  in  1876,  engaged 
in  divers  business  ventures  with  success. 

Otto  Gramm,  born  in  Ohio  in  1845,  came  to  Laramie  City  in  1870. 
fire  department  of  Laramie  was  organized  by  Gramm,  aided  by   \\  anless 
He  was  on  the  school  boaMl  which  made  the  first  purchase  of  lots  for  school 
purposes.     In   1878  he  was  appointed  dept.  fish  commissioner  und.-r  H 
Rumsey;  was  sec.  of  the  board  appointed  by  the  legislature  in  II 
pointed  ter.  fish  commissioner  in  1884;  one  of  the  solid  men  of  Laramie,  ar 
a  man  of  culture;  was  elected  probate  judge  and  county  treasurer  in  K 
for  two  years.     In  1885  he  was  elected  city  treasurer. 

William  Crout,  born  in  N.  Y.  in  1826,  served  in  both  the  Mexican  and 
civil  war,  after  which  he  was  sent  to  the  frontier,  via  Leaven  worth  ami  tort 
Collins,  escorting  the  mail  from  Denver  to  Salt  Lake,  where  he  was  dis 


796  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

precipitation  being  sufficient  for  perfecting  crops. 
The  farming  lands  were  surrounded  by  uplands  suita 
ble  for  grazing,  and  the  mountains  were  covered  with 
pine  and  oak  timber.  The  assessed  valuation  of 
improved  land,  town  lots,  cattle,  and  horses,  in  1877, 
was  $1,607,882,  and  of  personal  property  $81,987. 

Laramie  county  proper18  contained  6,800  square 
miles,  and  a  population  of  9,000.  Its  assessed  valua 
tion  in  1883  was  $7,345,055,  more  than  two-thirds  of 
which  was  in  personal  property.  The  amount  of 
property  represented  by  these  figures,  compared  with 
the  population,  makes  Laramie  one  of  the  wealthiest 
counties  in  this  or  any  other  territory.19 

Cheyenne,  the  county  seat  and  capital  of  the  terri 
tory,  had  a  population  in  1886  of  about  7,000.  It 
was  the  centre  of  the  stock  interests  of  Wyoming,  and 
portions  of  Nebraska,  Dakota,  and  Montana,  and  had 
a  large  trade  with  miners,  stockmen,  freight  contract 
ors,  and  with  the  military  establishments  of  Camp 

charged  in  the  spring  of  1866,  and  in  1883  engaged  in  stock-raising  in  Car 
bon  co.,  60  miles  due  w.  of  Laramie. 

Gustave  Schnitger,  born  in  Prussia  in  1823,  was  in  1878  appointed  U.  S. 
marshal  of  Wyoming,  with  headquarters  at  Cheyenne.  In  1883  he  removed 
to  Laramie.  William  R.  Schnitger  of  Cheyenne,  son  of  Gustave,  was  dep 
uty  marshal  under  his  father,  and  also  city  marshal  of  Cheyenne,  by  ap 
pointment  and  election. 

18By  reference  to  U.  S.  Sen.  Doc.,  62,  p.  99,  vol.  ii;  41  cong.,  2  sess.,  it  will 
be  seen  that  an  attempt  was  made  to  have  the  name  of  Ogallala  adopted  in 
place  of  Laramie. 

19  The  average  wealth  of  Colorado,  a  notably  rich  state,  is  over  $500  per 
capita,  while  the  average  wealth  of  Wyoming  is  neany  $800.  The  usual  av 
erage  in  agricultural  counties  is  $200  to  $300  per  capita.  Carbon  county 
averages  over  $700  per  capita;  Albany  county  $472;  Sweetwater  $984;  and 
Laramie  over  $800.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  only  one  of  these  districts 
which  has  no  railroad  property  to  assess  sustains  the  highest  rate  of  value  to 
the  individval.  Copper  mining  districts  have  been  formed  in  Laramie 
county  at  Platte  Canon,  Rawhide  Buttes,  Black  Buttes,  Sand  Creek,  and 
Hurricane.  At  Silver  Crown,  an  abandoned  district,  new  and  rich  discov 
eries  of  copper  were  made  in  1882.  The  first  smelting-works  erected  were 
at  Platte  Canon,  twelve  miles  west  of  Fort  Laramie,  in  Dec.  1882  by  the 
Wyoming  Copper  company.  There  is  a  coal  oil  basin  in  Crook  county,  in 
the  vicinity  of  Jenny's  stockade.  Coal  and  salt  are  found  in  close  proxim 
ity  to  the  oil.  Mica  exists  in  the  Laramie  range,  and  a  deposit  twenty  miles 
north  of  Fort  Laramie  was  sold  to  a  New  York  company  in  1882,  which 
began  shipping  it  east.  This  body  of  coal  was  discovered  by  Cyrus  *lba  in 
1880.  Associated  with  Iba  in  the  ownership  were  Johnson  and  Edward  J. 
Baker.  Iba  was  born  in  Pa  in  1830,  and  after  busy  and  adventurous  life, 
came  to  Cheyenne  in  1875,  and  thence  proceeded  to  the  Black  hills,  where 
he  made  his  coal  discovery  and  his  fortune. 


WYOMING.  797 

Carlin  and  Fort  Eussell.  It  covered  an  area  of  1,500 
acres,  was  generally  well  built,  and  ornamented  with 
shade  trees.  It  had  one  street,  Ferguson,  with  more 
handsome  residences  than  any  avenue  in  any  town  of 
equal  population  in  the  United  States.2' 

20  The  first  really  fine  structures  were  erected  by  stockmen.  This  gave 
confidence  to  the  merchants.  Slaughter,  Life  in  Colo  ami  Wyom,,  MS  6  The 
Cheyenne  Sun  published  an  especial  edition  in  Sept.  1885,  illustrated  with 
views  of  the  churches,  school-houses,  public  amusement  halls,  and  handsome 
residences,  which  goes  far  to  substantiate  Slaughter's  statement.  There 
were  32  private  residences  delineated,  from  cottages  to  mansions  costing 
$40,000;  all  in  excellent  taste,  and  showing  the  presence  of  abundant  means. 
The  presence  of  shade  trees  is  largely  due  to  Dwight  Fisk,  who  was  mayor 
in  1877.  He  brought  trees  from  Colorado,  and  was  careful  to  attend  to  their 
growth.  He  was  born  in  1839  near  Syracuse,  N.  Y.;  settled  himself  at 
Cheyenne,  carrying  on  a  business  as  freight  contractor  for  the  gov't,  and 
supplying  ties  to  the  railroad.  In  18G9  he  erected  a  house  on  Lodge  Pole 
creek,  and  engaged  in  cattle-raising. .  He  was  a  member  of  the  city  council 
of  Cheyenne  in  187-1-5-6. 

The  schrol-houscs  of  Cheyenne,  particularly  the  Central  school,  were  of 
the  best  order,  the  latter  seating  550  pupils.  The  library  contains  800  vol 
umes  of  well  chosen  reference  books.  The  graded  course  requires  8  yeara 
for  its  completion,  when  the  pupil  is  prepared  to  enter  the  high  school  for  a 
3  years'  course.  The  catholic  academy  is  a  handsome  and  costly  edifice.  It 
is  4  stories  high,  in  the  French  style  of  architecture.  The  whole  number  of 
pupils  enrolled  in  1883  was  604. 

The  court-house  and  jail  completed  in  1872  cost  $47,000.  It  was  used 
for  a  capitol  building  in  1873.  The  city  hall,  erected  in  1874,  cost  $11,000. 
The  Cheyenne  club-house  is  a  modern  improvement,  being  erected  in  1881 
for  the  comfort  of  men  of  wealth,  who  objected  to  hotel  living.  It  was  built 
of  brick,  and  cost  $40,000.  The  club  prohibits  gambling,  and  requires  a  high 
standard  of  character  in  its  members.  The  board  of  trade  has  its  headquar 
ters  there,  and  there  are  received  the  prices  current  of  the  eastern  markets. 
The  opera-house  was  built  of  brick,  with  stone  trimmings.  The  first  of 
seven  church  organizations  was  of  the  methodists,  by  D.  W.  Scott,  in  Sept. 
1867.  The  church  edifice  was  built  of  wood,  in  1871,  and  dedicated  Sept. 
23d.  A  brick  parsonage  was  added;  total  cost,  $6,000. 

St  Mark's  episcopal  church  was  organized  Sept.  27,  1868.  A  wooden 
edifice  was  completed  on  the  23d  of  Aug.,  1869,  which  was  the  first  building 
consecrated  to  worship  in  the  city.  The  convocation  of  Colorado  and  Wy 
oming  was  formed  in  1879.  St  Mary's,  catholic,  was  organized  in  the  spring 
of  1868,  and  the  same  year  a  building  costing  $7,000  was  completed,  which 
was  used  for  two  years,  when  a  new  and  handsome  church,  costing  $9,000, 
was  erected.  The  1st  congregational  was  organized  June  13,  1 869,  by  J.  D. 
Davis.  A  church  building  was  erected  on  Hill  and  19th  streets  in  1879,  and 
dedicated  Dec.  19th;  cost,  $5,000.  The  1st  presbyterian  was  organized, 
with  9  members,  Feb.  1,  1870.  A  church  edifice,  costing  $6.500,  was  built, 
and  dedicated  July  17,  1870.  In  1883  a  new  church  was  erected  costing 
$15,500.  A  church  was  erected  in  1881  by  the  baptists,  at  a  cost  of  98,000. 
The  colored  methodists  had  their  house  of  worship. 

The  county  hospital,  of  brick  and  wood,  cost  $21,000.  Its  arrangement 
for  the  comfort  of  the  inmates  is  very  complete. 

There  were,  in  1886,  three  odd  fellow  lodges,  Cheyenne  No.  I,  instituted 
April  15,   1868,  Hope   No.  2,  instituted    Aug.  30,   1871,  Allemama  Na   c 
(German),  instituted  Jan.  1,  1883.   Wyom.  Or.  Lodge,  I.  0  0 >.  F -,  !«£     There 
were  four  masonic  lodges,  Cheyenne  No.  1,  organized  Feb.  29, 
ming  No.  1,  March  15,  1873,  Western  Star  (col),  March  13,  18/9,  member- 


798  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

The  stations  along  the  railroad  have  scanty 
resources  and  small  populations,  a  condition  which 

ship  24,  Aug.  18,  1880.  N.  Max.  Proceedings  Gr.  Lodge,  1879,  p.  93.  The 
Knights  of  Pythias,  Cheyenne  lodge  No.  2,  organized  Jan.  9,  1875. 

Cheyenne  fire  department  organized  as  follows:  Pioneer  H.  and  L.  co.  in 
1867.  Its  building  and  apparatus  cost  $4,500.  The  Alert  Hose  co.,  organ 
ized  in  Oct.  1877;  building  and  apparatus,  $3,000.  The  Durant  steam  fire- 
engine  co.  organized  in  1868;  apparatus  cost  $10,000.  The  J.  T.  Clark  hose 
co.  organized  in  1879.  Water  came  from  Lake  Mahpahlutah,  1^  miles  north. 
The  city  is  lighted  by  electricity,  being  the  first  town  in  the  world  to  use 
electric  lights  before  gas. 

The  Wyoming  Academy  of  Science,  Arts,  and  Letters,  founded  in  1882, 
and  located  at  Cheyenne,  is  an  exponent  of  the  progressive  tendencies  of 
the  people.  The  territorial  library,  at  Cheyenne,  in  1886  contained  over 
ll,000vols. 

The  manufactures  of  Cheyenne  are  chiefly  those  connected  with  the  rail 
road  car  and  machine  shops,  the  manufacture  of  wagons  and  harness,  some 
small  boot  and  shoe  factories,  2  breweries,  a  planing  mill,  and  foundry  and 
machine  works.  The  most  interesting  industry  pursued  here  is  that  of 
making  jewelry  out  of  native  metals  and  gems. 

The  first  of  four  banks  established  was  the  First  National,  by  A.  R.  Con 
verse,  in  1871,  with  a  paid  up  capital  of  $75,000,  which  has  been  increased 
to  $200,000,  with  a  surplus  of  $50,000.  Mr  Converse  died  in  the  summer  of 
1883,  when  T.  B.  Hicks  succeeded  to  the  presidency.  The  bank  of  Morton 
E.  Post  &  Co.  was  established  in  1876  by  Stebbins,  Post  &  Co.  Stebbins 
retired  in  1883.  The  Stockgrowers'  National  bank  began  business  in  1882, 
its  organizers  being  J.  M.  Carey,  Thomas  Sturgis  (president),  H.  G.  Hay, 
and  W.  C.  Lane.  Its  paid  up  capital  in  1883  was  $447,000.  The  banking 
house  of  A.  T.  Kent  is  also  a  savings  deposit  bank.  In  1868  Mowry  A. 
Arnold  opened  the  first  savings  bank  in  Wyoming,  which  continued  only 
until  1873. 

Cheyenne  had  in  1886  three  newspapers:  The  Cheyenne  Leader  was  started 
in  July  1867  by  Nathan  A.  Baker  and  J.  E.  Gates.  Baker  sold  in  April 
1872  to  H.  Glafeke,  who  owned  it  until  Oct.  1881,  when  it  was  sold  to  the 
Leader  Printing  co.,  composed  of  Morton  E.  Post,  A.  H.  Swan,  G.  L.  Hall, 
J.  W.  Collins,  J.  C.  Baird,  E.  A.  Reed,  Frank  H.  Clark,  and  H.  B.  Kelly. 
Before  the  year  was  out,  the  company  sold  to  W.  C.  Irvine,  and  he  again  to 
Morrow  &  Sullivan.  Soon  after  it  was  owned  by  Morrow  alone,  and  in 
1884  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Democratic  Leader  co.,  composed  of  W. 
C.  Irvine,  J.  C.  Baird,  N.  N.  Craig,  John  F.  Coad,  Fred.  Schwartze,  Luke 
Murrin,  David  Miller,  Thomas  Mulqueen,  Charles  F.  Miller,  Luke  Voorhies, 
C.  P.  Organ,  and  others.  The  democrats  needed  a  newspaper  for  campaign 
purposes,  and  the  republicans  allowed  them  to  get  it. 

The  Cheyenne  Sun  was  originally  the  Daily  News,  started  by  Benton  and 
Fisher  in  1875,  and  had  run  about  half  a  year  when  it  was  purchased  by  A. 
E.  Slack,  and  its  name  changed  to  The  Sun.  Slack  started  the  Independent 
at  Laramie,  a  daily,  changing  its  name  to  The  Sun,  and  conferring  the  name 
on  the  News,  as  above.  Slack  was  born  in  N.  Y.  He  served  in  the  civil 
war,  and  came  to  Wyoming  in  1868,  mining  for  a  time  at  South  pass,  and 
running  a  saw-mill,  which  furnished  lumber  to  the  military  posts,  until  1871, 
when  he  went  to  Laramie,  and  engaged  in  newspaper  business.  He  became 
sole  proprietor  of  the  Sun. 

The  Northwest  'Live-stock  Journal,  devoted  entirely  to  stock  interests,  was 
owned  and  controlled  by  A.  S.  Mercer,  who,  with  8.  A.  Marney,  started  it 
in  1883.  I  have  had  occasion  to  mention  Mercer  in  my  History  of  Washington, 
216,  this  series,  in  connection  with  the  territorial  university.  He  was  born, 
in  111.  in  1839,  and  went  to  Washington  ter.  as  a  surveyor  for  the  govt  in 
1861.  The  following  year  he  took  charge  of  the  infant  university.  In  1863 
he  was  appointed  com'r  of  immigration,  and  proceeded  east  on  this  business. 


WYOMING.  799 

must  exist  so  long  as  grazing  without  agriculture  con- 
tinues  to  be  the  bias  of  the  people.  A  movement  was 

He  brought  back  with  him  in  1864  a  number  of  women  who  were  competent 
teachers,  but  who  soon  married.  In  1865  he  returned  to  New  England,  and 
brought  out  a  shipload  of  300  women,  who  also  soon  settled  in  homes  of  their 
own.  He  erected  the  first  grain  wharf  at  Astoria  in  1866,  and  originated 
the  project  of  shipping  direct  to  the  east  by  sailing  vessels.  He  sent  the 
first  cargo  of  wheat  from  Oregon  to  Liverpool,  assisted  by  a  pool  of  farmers. 
In  1874  he  started  the  Oregon  Granger  at  Albany,  but  soon  went  to  Texas, 
and  started  the  Sherman  Courier,  and  no  less  than  5  other  newspapers  at  dif 
ferent  points  in  Tex.  before  coming  to  Cheyenne,  in  1883. 

The  Wyoming  Tribune  was  started  Nov.  20,  1869,  by  Edward  M.  Lee, 
Samuel  A.  Bristol  editor.  It  suspended  in  Sept.  1872.  Bristol  was  born  in 
Conn,  in  1841,  migrated  to  Colo  in  1867,  and  to  Cheyenne  in  1869.  The  tirst 
exclusively  job  printing  office  and  book  bindery  in  Wyoming  was  started  in 
May  1882  by  Bristol  and  John  J.  Knopf,  the  latter  soon  selling  out  to  Wil 
liam  M.  Knabe.  Bristol's  Newspaper  Press,  MS.,  is  a  history  of  these 
journals. 

Of  other  publications  which  had  but  a  brief  existence  at  Cheyenne  was 
the  Star,  started  by  0.  T.  B.  Williams  in  1867,  which  ran  for  about  1  year. 
The  Argus,  a  democratic  newspaper,  started  in  1867  by  L.  L.  Bedell,  and 
suspended  in  1869.  It  was  resuscitated  by  Stanton  and  Richardson,  prac 
tical  printers,  but  only  ran  a  few  weeks.  The  Cheyenne  Gazette,  established 
by  Webster,  Johnson,  and  Garrett  in  1876,  only  ran  a  few  months,  and  wa.s 
removed  to  the  Black  hills.  It  came  originally  from  Plattsmouth,  Neb.,  to 
Laramie  City,  where  it  was  called  the  Chronicle,  the  name  it  bore  at  Platts 
mouth.  Directories  of  Cheyenne  and  Laramie  were  published  about  1873  by 
J.  H.  Triggs.  A.  R.  Johnson  and  T.  N.  Tuthill  published  a  Cheyenne  Direc 
tory  in  1883,  from  which  I  have  made  some  quotations.  For  other  notes 
about  Cheyenne,  I  have  consulted  Wyoming  Territorial  Affairs.  MS.,  consist 
ing  of  selected  extracts  from  the  Cheyenne  Sun,  1875;  Slaughter,  Life  in  Colo 
and  Wyom.,  MS.;  Wyominy  Indians  and  Settlers,  M.S.,  consisting  of  selected 
extracts  on  the  subject  indicated,  taken  from  the  Cheyenne  Sun,  1876,  and 


Hand-book  of  Wyom.,  142-5;  Hayden,  Great,  Wext,  204-8;  Corlett,  Found, ny  oj 
Cheyenne,  MS.;  Ingersoll,  Knocking  Around  the  fiockies.  31;  Rept  Gov.   Wyom., 


1881,  and  1883,  and  many  private  dictations. 

There  were  few  towns  in   Laramie  county.     Hartville,  Fairbank,  and 
Millersburg,  on  the  North  Platte  river,  are  camps  belonging  to  the  copper 
mines.     Chugwater  is  a  road  station  at  the  south  end  of  the  timber  region. 
Hat  Creek  is  a  post-office  merely.     There  are  a  great  number  of  ranches, 
and  the  land  is  largely  occupied  and  owned  by  cattle  raisers.     F.  B.  Haight 
lives  at  Chugwater,  and  John  Storrie  at  Hat  Creek.      The  amount  of  land 
surveyed,  in  1882,  in  Wyoming  was  412,270.91  acres;  sold,  58,307.2o  acres, 
In  1883  there  were  1,216,611.03  acres  surveyed,  and  187,488 
In  Laramie  and  Johnson  counties  there  were  incorporated  in  1882-J 
teen  irrigating  canals,  tunnels,  and  ditches. 

Horace  A.  Roy,  born  in  la  in  1857,  in  1881  came  to  Cheyenne  as  surveyor. 
He  ran  the  llth  auxiliary  meridian  172  miles,  from  Latham  north  to  Beaver 
creek,  and  the  7th,  8th,  9th,  and  10th  standard  parallels,  subdiv 
sectionizing  this  area,  under  the  contract  of  C.  W.  Brown^In  1884  he  w 
elected  surveyor  of  Laramie  co.,  in  which  he  ran  nearly  2,000  miles  of  lines, 
including  the  irrigating  ditches  of  the  lone  Land  company  and  the  Unioi 

a  Amon?  threading  residents  of  Cheyenne,  most  of  them  at  some  time 
stock-raisers,  are:  J.  M,  Carey,  who  first  engaged  in  the  business  in  18,1 


800  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

made  in  the  direction  of  agriculture  by  the  Wyoming 
Development  company  of  Cheyenne,  which,  in  1883, 

with  his  brother.  He  drove  Texas  cattle  into  the  country,  and  improved 
them. 

One  of  the  first  to  engage  in  stock-raising  was  E.  W.  Whitcomb,  born  in 
Oxford,  Mass,  who  came  to  Wyoming  in  1857,  freighting  for  Johnson's  army 
en  route  to  Salt  lake.  In  the  spring  of  1868  he  went  to  the  north  Platte. 
He  made  a  business  of  stock-raising,  including  sheep. 

Another  early  stock-raiser  was  H.  B.  Kelly,  born  in  Mo.  in  1834.  He 
was  elected  to  the  ter.  council  in  1875.  The  following  year  he  burnt  a  kiln 
of  brick,  and  erected  a  house  on  the  Chugwater,  where  he  remained  until 
1880,  when  he  sold  a  herd  on  that  range  to  the  Swan  Land  and  Cattle  co.  for 
$105,000,  and  put  another  herd  on  the  north  Crazy  Woman  creek  of  Powder 
river,  which  he  sold  soon  after  for  $100,000,  and  turned  his  attention  to  rais 
ing  high  grade  bulls.  He  was  elected  county  commissioner  in  1881,  and 
reflected  1884. 

John  Hunton,  born  in  Va  in  1839,  came  to  Wyoming  in  1867.  In  1884 
he  incorporated  his  stock  as  the  John  Hunton  Cattle  company. 

John  W.  Snyder,  born  in  Wis.  in  1837,  after  a  life  of  vicissitudes,  with 
his  brother  drove  from  Texas  3,300  stock  cattle  to  Nebraska,  and  sold  them 
to  Edward  Creighton  at  Omaha.  In  1876  they  came  to  Cheyenne. 

A.  C.  Snyder,  a  native  of  Pa,  came  to  Cheyenne  in  1869.  He  engaged 
in  stock  business  on  the  Chugwater. 

Mo  wry  A.  Arnold  is  of  the  Rhode  Island  family  which  settled  in  that 
state  in  1635;  migrated  to  Colo  in  1865,  and  mined  and  taught  school  at  Cen 
tral.  In  1867  he  came  to  Cheyenne  and  taught.  His  wife  was  elected  supt 
of  public  schools  of  Laramie  co.  in  1871,  holding  the  office  two  years. 

Charles  F.  Coffee  born  in  Mo.  in  1847;  in  1871  he  moved  to  Cheyenne 
from  Texas,  and  raised  high  grade  cattle  and  horses. 

A.  H.  Swan  came  to  Wyoming  in  1872,  and  in  1874  was  joinsd  by  his 
brother,  Thomas  Swan,  and  they  were  in  time  among  the  largest  owners 
north  of  Texas.  Among  their  first  investments  was  the  purchase  of  John 
Sparks'  herd  on  the  Chugwater.  They  invested  heavily  with  a  Scotch 
syndicate  under  the  name  of  Swan  Brothers'  Land  and  Cattle  co.,  and  con 
trolled  200,000  head.  They  purchased  a  large  herd  of  A.  R.  Converse  in 
1884,  and  made  other  purchases  in  the  territory  without  moving  the  cattle, 
and  had  between  40  and  50  ranches. 

George  T.  Morgan,  an  Englishmen,  came  to  Wyoming  in  1876  to  look 
about  with  the  view  of  introducing  choice  English  stock.  In  1878  he  came 
again  in  charge  of  a  consignment  of  Hereford  bulls  to  A.  H.  Swan,  the  first 
introduced  into  Wyoming,  and  cost  $10,000  to  import.  In  1883  and  1884 
they  imported  500  head  of  thoroughbred  cattle.  The  Swan  brothers,  with 
Morgan  for  manager,  established  the  Wyoming  Hereford  association,  the 
largest  and  finest  blooded  breeding  farm  in  the  world,  consisting  of  40,000 
acres  under  fence,  with  good  buildings,  windmills  for  lifting  water,  and 
other  improvements. 

Hiram  S.  Manville,  born  in  Mass  in!829,  came  to  Wyoming  in  1879.  About 
1881  A.  R.  Converse  combined  with  him,  forming  the  Converse  Cattle  com 
pany,  with  a  capital  of  $500,000.  The  officers  of  the  company  were:  A.  R. 
Converse,  prest;  W.  C.  Irvine,  vice-prest;  James  S.  Peck,  sec.  and  treas 
urer;  H.  S.  Manville,  gen.  manager;  and  Judge  A.  C.  May,  all  of  whom 
were  trustees. 

Samuel  Haas,  a  native  of  Pa,  is  a  very  prominent  cattle  man  of  Lara 
mie  co. 

A.  T.  Babbitt,  member  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  stock  growers' 
association,  came  to  Cheyenne  in  1878.  In  1881  he  organized  the  Standard 
Cattle  co.,  consisting  of  A.  T.  Babbitt  of  Ohio,  George  R.  Blanchard  of 
New  York,  and  R.  M.  Alley  of  Boston,  of  which  Babbitt  was  manager. 
Babbitt  is  the  author  of  the  comprehensive  Report  on  the  Grazing  Interest  and 


WYOMING.  801 

was  organized  for  the  purpose  of  irrigating  a  tract 
of  60,000  acres  lying  southeast  of  Big  Laramie  river 
and  eighty  miles  northwest  of  Cheyenne  in  Laramie 
county.  This  land  is  considered  as  among  the  fin 
est  in  the  territory  for  agricultural  purposes.  The 
soil  is  deep,  some  of  it  being  of  a  clay  formation,  but 
the  greater  portion  consisting  of  a  rich  sandy  loam, 
well  adapted  to  irrigation.  Its  fertility  has  already 
been  demonstrated  by  the  raising  thereon  of  a  succes 
sion  of  valuable  crops.21 

Beef  Supply,  1884.  He  organized  iu  1882  the  Wyoming  Copper  co.,  whose 
works  are  located  at  Fairbanks,  100  miles  n.  of  Cheyenne,  in  which  was  in 
vested  $200,000,  and  which  produced  in  1883,  100,000  pounds  of  copper 
bullion. 

Harry  Olerichs,  born  in  Baltimore  in  1854  came  to  Cheyenne  in  1878;  en- 
gaged  successfully  in  the  cattle  business.  He  was  elected  to  the  lower  house 
of  the  legislature  in  1880,  and  was  talked  of  for  governor  when  Hale  de 
ceased. 

H.  E.  Teschmacher  was  born  in  Mass  in  1856;  came  to  Wyoming  in  1879. 
In  1885  he  owned,  with  his  brother,  Arthur,  6  ranches  and  a  residence  in 
Cheyenne.  He  served  in  the  territorial  legislature  in  both  houses.  His 
father,  H.  F.  Teschmacher,  came  to  Cal.  in  1842,  and  was  alcalde  of  San 
Francisco. 

Thomas  W.  Peters,  born  in  Philadelphia,  came  to  Wyoming  in  1879;  is  a 
wealthy  and  influential  citizen,  being  a  successful  cattle  raiser. 

T.  B.  Hord,  born  in  Ohio  in  1850,  came  to  Wyoming  in  1880  to  engage  in 
stockraising,  and  invested  judiciously. 

John  Chase,  born  in  N.  Y.  in  1842,  migrated  to  Atchison,  Kan.,  in  1863, 
and  from  there  to  Denver  the  same  year.  The  party  for  Colo  consisted  of 
Gen.  Bela  M.  Hughes,  William  R.  Ford,  and  Thomas  Stevens.  He  remained 
in  Denver  10  years  in  the  banking  business.  From  Denver  he  came  to  Chey 
enne  in  1873,  where  he  kept  the  Inter-Ocean  hotel,  the  first  in  the  world  to 
be  lighted  with  an  electric  lamp  in  every  room. 

C.  A.  Campbell,  born  in  lower  Canada  in  1850,  came  to  Colo  in  1871.  In 
1876  he  went  to  Chicago.  In  1880  he  returned  west,  settling  at  Cheyenne, 
and  engaging  in  stock-raising. 

Charles  Hecht  was  born  in  Germany  in  1842.  During  the  civil  war  he  was 
agent  for  purchasing  horses  for  the  govt.  In  1866  he  went  to  Colo.  In  his 
experience  he  had  many  skirmishes  with  Indians.  He  now  owns  several 
ranges  stocked  with  blooded  horses  and  cattle. 

C.  S.  Morgan  was  appointed  territorial  secretary  in  1880,  and  reap- 
pointed  in  1884.  During  most  of  this  period  he  was  acting-governor  of 
Wyoming.  Having  selected  Cheyenne  for  his  home,  he  is  doubly  interested 
in  the  development  of  the  country.  Morgan  is  from  Pa,  and  was  a  member  of 
the  legislature  of  that  state  for  5  years  before  his  appointment  to  Wyoming. 

Deane  Monahan,  born  in  Ireland  in  1836,  came  to  the  U.  S.  in  1848, 
joined  the  army,  and  served  until  1884,  when  he  was  honorably  retired  on 
account  of  injuries  received  by  his  horse  falling  with  him  on  the  ice.  He  was 
with  Crook  in  his  Bighorn  expedition  in  1876. 

E.  R.  Kurd,  born  in  England  in  1852,  came  to  Cheyenne  in  1876;  is  a 
successful  contractor  and  builder. 

21  In  order  to  bring  water  upon  this  tract  it  was  necessary  to  tunnel  3,00 
feet  through  a  mountain,  and  to  conduct  the  water  of  the  Laramie  river  into 
HIPT.  NEV.    51 


802  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

Blue  Grass  creek,  thence  into  Sabille,  and  from  the  .atter  stream  into  a 
canal,  the  whole  distance  being  86  miles,  more  than  half  of  which  was  dug 
out.  Two  hundred  miles  of  lateral  ditches  were  required  to  irrigate  the 
tract.  Nearly  half  a  million  dollars  was  expended  in  completing  the  work, 
which  was  finished  in  1886.  It  is  estimated  that  the  tract  thus  reclaimed 
will  support  a  farming  population  of  3,750,  and  cause  the  building  of  a  town 
of  2,000  inhabitants.  The  elevation  of  this  tract  is  from  4,500  to  5,000  feet, 
and  consequently  its  climate  will  not  interfere  with  the  raising  of  any  farm 
products  that  can  be  matured  anywhere  in  the  neighboring  states  and  terri 
tories.  The  founders  of  this  enterprise  were  J.  M.  Carey,  H.  C.  Plunkett, 
Thomas  Sturgis,  M.  E.  Post,  A.  Gilchrist,  W.  C.  Irvine,  and  W.  P.  Max 
well.  Another  land  company  was  organized  in  1884  under  the  name  of 
Wyoming  Central  Land  and  Improvement  company,  the  object  of  which  was 
to  acquire  agricultural,  mineral,  grazing,  and  timbered  lands  and  railroad 
lands,  and  to  sell,  lease,  or  develop  them  at  pleasure;  to  engage  in  stock- 
growing  or  mining,  or  to  cultivate  by  irrigating  and  farming  any  portion  of 
them  suited  to  agriculture. 

Andrew  Gilchrist,  general  manager  of  the  W.  D.  co.,  was  born  in  Ayr 
shire,  Scotland,  in  1841;  came  to  Wyoming  and  engaged  in  the  cattle  busi 
ness,  having  several  ranchos,  and  meeting  with  much  success. 

The  advancement  making  in  the  farming  interest  is  further  illustrated  by 
the  enterprise  of  Thomas  W.  Rutledge  and  Benjamin  Hellman,  who  in 
1883  dug  ditches  by  which  10,000  acres,  42  miles  north-west  of  Cheyenne, 
were  reclaimed.  In  1885  the  whole  tract  was  fenced  with  wire,  and  half  of 
it  well  irrigated  and  cultivated.  Their  principal  ditch  was  27  miles  in 
length,  20  feet  wide  at  the  mouth,  and  6  feet  at  the  lower  end.  On  the  irri- 

§ated  land  they  raised  two  and  a  half  tons  of  hay  per  acre,   oats  weighing 
2  pounds  to  the  bushel,  and  wheat  which  averaged  47  bushels  per  acre.  One 
potato  having  22  eyes  produced  22  hills  of  potatoes. 

Rutledge  was  born  in  Canada  in  1828.  He  migrated  to  Denver  in  1865, 
and  to  Cheyenne  in  1867. 

The  future  of  the  country,  whether  devoted  to  farming  or  grazing,  de 
pends  largely  upon  irrigation,  although  it  is  almost  universally  conceded 
that  since  settlement  began,  there  has  been  a  change  in  the  climate  and  a 
greater  rainfall.  In  1889  over  5,000  miles  of  canal  had  been  constructed, 
whereby  some  2,000,000  acres  had  been  reclaimed,  and  it  was  estimated  that 
4,000,000  additional  acres  could  be  placed  under  cultivation.  The  legislature 
of  1873  asked  for  the  aid  of  congress  in  irrigating  arid  lands,  and  congress,  as  I 
have  before  mentioned,  has  legislated  on  the  subject  of  artesian  wells  in  the 
territories.  The  territorial  laws  also  deal  with  the  subject  of  irrigation,  each 
county  being  authorized  to  appropriate  $3,500  for  the  purpose  of  sinking  arte 
sian  wells  at  the  county  seats,  or  at  any  town  where  there  is  a  voting  popula 
tion  of  400  or  more.  The  legislature  of  1879  protested  by  memorial  to  congress 
against  the  great  cattle  companies  fencing  streams  of  water  away  from  the 
public,  where  they  had  no  title  to  the  lands  enclosed,  or  only  a  portion.  So 
difficult  is  it  to  combat  a  reputation  established,  however  falsely,  that  no 
effort  was  made  in  the  first  ten  years  of  the  history  of  the  territory  to  in 
troduce  farming  anywhere  except  in  a  few  small  and  comparatively  low  val 
leys.  The  census  of  1880  contained  a  most  discouraging  report,  the  number 
of  acres  given  as  improved  being  less  than  2,000,  and  the  number  of  bushels 
of  wheat  raised  in  1879  less  than  5,000.  This  was  increased  to  25,000  in 
1882,  which  was  good  evidence  of  what  the  country  could  produce  should 
farming  be  undertaken  in  earnest.  The  oat  crop  for  1882  was  47,000  bush 
els.  The  value  of  these  crops  was  $53,500.  The  potato  crop  amounted  to 
85,000  bushels,  worth  $94,050.  The  farmers  of  Wind  river  valley  alone 
raised  48,329  bushels  of  grain.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  agricul 
tural  or  land  improvement  companies  had  not  then  got  their  land  under  cul 
tivation,  and  that  the  increase  in  production  would  be  rapid  after  they  were 
colonized  or  settled.  The  amount  of  cultivable  land  in  the  territory  was 
estimated  in  1884  to  be  not  less  than  8,000,000  acres,  and  the  productions 


WYOMING.  803 

which  might  be  considered  as  sure,  were  wheat,  oats,  barley  potatoes  roota 
fSSfSfrl gaid 1U  Cables  and  all  the  hardier  fruits.  There  were  'raised 
1,000,000  bushels  of  oats  m  1887. 

The  per  cent  of  persons  engaged  in  farming  in  Wyoming  in  1882  was  18 
SS3-  ?f  Va^!e-  •  ! yea'  °£  farm  Products  Per  capita  of  those  engaged  was 
*?  Vi 'ifTi  *  1Sf  alowhguf  compared  with  California  or  Nevada,  only 
about  half  that  of  Oregon;  about  two-thirds  that  of  Colo;  equal  to  that  of 
Utah;  and  greater  than  that  of  New  Mexico,  Dakota,  or  Arizona.  The  locust 
and  the  grasshopper,  these  pests  of  all  dry  and  most  open  countries  make 
periodical  visits  to  Wyoming,  but  as  the  farmers  learn  how  to  entrap  them 
become  less  formidable.  From  all  these  facts  it  will  be  seen  that  the  set 
tlers  of  the  future  will  have  a  choice  between  agriculture  and  grazing  Worse 
things  might  happen  to  Wyoming  than  to  be  altogether  a  cattle  country 
provided  the  land  and  the  herds  should  be  divided  up,  as  in  time  they  must 
l)e.  Beef-making  and  dairying,  added  to  farming,  however,  would  secure 


* j 

the  greatest  amount  of  profit  and  permanent  wealth.  A  large  number  of 
well-to-do  men  are  worth  more  to  the  state  than  a  few  extraordinarily  rich 
ones.  Few  phenomenal  things  in  society  have  a  continued  existence.  In 
the  past  large  profits  were  made  by  buying  cheap  cattle,  fattening  them,  and 
selling  them  for  double  the  amount  given.  This  profit  decreases  with  the 
increase  of  cattle  buying,  which  raises  the  price  of  the  cheap  cattle,  but  not 
of  the  beef  cattle.  The  annual  loss  of  from  three  to  five  per  cent  is  interest 
paid  on  the  capital  invested  to  that  amount.  As  the  country  settles  up,  the 
large  herds  will  become  unwieldy,  and  the  owners  glad  to  sell,  because  they 
will  not  have  room  for  them  on  their  own  land,  and  the  government  is  bound 
to  protect  the  settler  rather  than  the  tenant.  There  is  always  the  danger 
that  the  native  grasses,  which  could  not  be  excelled  for  the  stock  interest, 
may  be  crowded  out  by  seed  introduced  by  the  breaking  of  the  soil,  even  by 
the  roads,  in  which  case  a  change  would  occur  in  the  cattle-raising;  and 
whereas  now  from  ten  to  fifteen  acres  a  head  are  necessary,  more  land  would 
be  required;  and  whereas  now  a  steer  can  be  raised  in  a  large  herd  for  one 
dollar,  and  in  a  small  herd  for  four  or  five  dollars,  it  will  then  cost  double, 
and  be  profitable  enough  at  that. 

The  number  of  cattle  in  Wyoming  in  1884  was  1,151,900,  and  the  capital 
invested  in  the  business,  without  the  land  purchased,  was  estimated  at 
$100,000,000.  Although  a  superior  horse-raising  climate,  on  account  of  the 
lung  power  imparted  by  the  altitude  and  dry  air,  and  notwithstanding  horses 
take  care  of  themselves  by  pawing  through  the  snow  when  cattle  are  not 
able,  the  investment  in  this  class  of  stock  has  been  only  about  one  twentieth 
that  put  into  horned  stock.  There  were  in  the  territory  in  1885  about 
500,000  head  of  sheep,  valued  at  something  over  a  million  and  a  half,  making 
a  total  invested  in  stock  of  $106,500,000.  To  protect  such  an  amount  of 
movable  property  from  loss  by  theft,  accident,  and  disease  is  the  object  of 
the  Wyoming  Stockgrowers'  association,  an  organization  which  has  admitted 
members  from  Nebraska,  Colorado,  Kansas,  Montana,  Texas,  and  some  of 
the  states  east  of  the  Missouri  river  to  its  benefits.  It  establishes,  besides, 
by  special  legislation,  the  laws  which  govern  the  stock  interest.  It  employs 
a  police  force,  with  the  best  detective  talent  in  the  country,  and  constitutes 
a  power  from  which  it  is  difficult  for  offenders  against  the  laws  to  escape. 
The  inspection  of  cattle  is  an  important  part  of  the  association's  labor.  In 
1883  there  were  189,838  inspected  at  points  of  shipping,  and  100,000  on  the 
ranges.  Over  1,000  estrays  were  found,  and  their  value  returned  to  their 
owners.  Over  600  were  killed  by  the  railroad,  for  which  the  law  requires 


have  already  stated,  has  been  actually  smelted  at  Fairbank,  in  Laramie 
county.  It  occurs  in  Silver  Crown  district,  twenty-two  miles  west  of  Chey 
enne,  on  Rawhide  creek,  on  the  Platte  river  west  of  Fort  Larnmie,  near 
Rawlins,  near  Laramie  peak,  near  Inya  Kara,  in  Crook  county,  in  the  south- 


804  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

east  slope  of  the  Wind  river  mountains,. in  Uinta  county,  and  near  the  Colo 
rado  line  in  Carbon  county.  This  pretty  general  dissemination  of  copper 
ores  seems  to  promise  that  it  will  become  in  the  future  a  leading  industry. 

The  oil-basins  before  referred  to  are  two  of  them  in  Fremont  county,  two 
in  Carbon  county,  one  in  Crook  county,  one  on  the  border  between  Carbon 
and  Johnson  counties,  and  one  in  Uinta  county,  near  Aspen  and  Hilliard. 
This  product  is  regarded  as  of  great  value  to  the  territory,  but  as  yet  has 
not  been  more  than  simply  tested  for  its  quality,  although  several  companies 
have  been  formed  to  sink  wells.  Soda  and  mica  are  the  only  other  mineral 
products  being  worked.  A  mine  of  pure  graphite  was  discovered  near  Lara- 
mie  in  1887.  The  railway  company  erected  furnaces  at  the  soda  lakes  in 
Albany  county  in  1883.  This  deposit  is  a  sulphate,  and  is  several  feet  in 
thickness,  over  an  area  of  fifty-six  acres.  There  are  several  lakes  of  the  bi 
carbonate  of  soda  near  Independence  rock,  in  Carbon  county,  aggregating 
460  acres.  It  has  been  tested  for  glass-making,  and  found  to  be  superior  for 
that  purpose.  Glass  works  have  been  erected  in  Laramie  and  Cheyenne. 
One  mica  mine  has  been  opened  in  Laramie  county.  Iron,  fire-clay,  natural 
soap,  gypsum,  and  building  stone  are  abundant  but  neglected  resources. 

Wyoming  has  not  yet  established  a  reputation  as  a  gold  and  silver  mining 
territory,  notwithstanding  the  incorporation  of  various  companies  whose 
purpose  was  to  work  certain  mines  in  certain  districts.  A  small  amount  of 
gold  has  been  annually  extracted  from  the  Sweetwater  mines  ever  since 
1868,  but  the  amount  has  been  diminishing  rather  than  increasing,  if  we 
may  believe  the  reports,  official  and  otherwise.  In  1879  the  product  was  over 
$23,000,  and  but  $5,000  in  1882.  This  report,  however,  takes  no  account  of 
the  recently  discovered  mining  districts,  applying  only  to  Sweetwater. 
Manufactures  have  almost  no  existence  beyond  those  operated  by  the  railroad, 
and  half  a  dozen  breweries.  The  raw  material  still  awaits  the  application 
of  capital  to  its  development. 

The  animal  food  supply  of  the  territory  has  been  increased  by  the  good 
offices  of  the  board  of  U.  S.  fish  commissioners,  for  which  the  laws  of  Wyo 
ming  provided  in  addition  to  the  national  commission.  The  distribution  for 
1885  was  50,000  whitefish  in  each  of  the  following  streams  and  lakes:  Bear 
river,  Green  river,  the  lakes  north  of  Rawlins,  Lake  Creighton,  and  in  Lake 
Mapalutah  in  Laramie  county.  In  Lake  Minnehaha,  the  same  county,  Lake 
Hattie  in  Albany  county,  the  lakes  north  of  Rawlins,  in  Green  river  and 
Bear  river  40,000  lake  trout  each.  In  the  streams  about  Evanston,  25,000 
brook  trout;  in  the  streams  about  Rawlins,  30,000  brook  trout,  and  in  the 
Laramie  county  streams  25,000  of  the  same.  The  legislature  in  1886  appro 
priated  2,000  for  a  hatchery,  which  was  not  erected  because  congress  failed 
to  give  a  title  to  the  land  on  which  the  improvements  were  to  be  made,  since 
which  40  acres  have  been  secured  for  the  purpose.  At  the  U.  S.  hatchery, 
750,000  trout  and  whitefish  were  produced  in  1886.  The  wild  game  of  the 
territory  is  protected  by  law,  and  also  by  an  association  of  citizens,  who  have 
voluntarily  assumed  the  duties  of  guardians  of  the  few  herds  of  buffalo  left 
on  the  plains,  and  the  elk  and  deer  of  the  hills,  to  prevent  their  being 
slaughtered  merely  for  the  peltries. 

The  want  of  Wyoming,  after  the  settlement  of  the  Indian  troubles,  was 
railroads.  These  it  did  not  get  for  some  time,  except  the  Union  Pacific, 
which  merely  crossed  the  territory  at  its  least  productive  latitude,  and  the 
branch  to  Denver,  which  was  of  little  value  to  the  business  of  Wyoming. 
Cattle,  wool,  and  coal  were  all  that  was  to  be  exported  over  either,  while 
everything  used  in  the  industries  of  the  territory,  or  that  was  consumed  by 
the  people,  with  the  exception  of  meat  and  a  small  proportion  of  their  bread 
and  vegetables,  was  imported  at  a  high  rate  of  transportation.  The  con 
struction  of  the  Oregon  Short  Line  railway  was  a  partial  relief  to  the  most 
western  division.  The  Central  Pacific  of  Wyoming,  owned  by  the  Chicago 
and  Northwestern,  was  a  benefit  to  the  central  and  eastern  divisions.  But 
there  was  still  the  whole  country  between  that  road  and  the  Yellowstone 


WYOMING.  t03 

river  in  Montana  dependent  entirely  upon  wagon  transportation.  The 
Cheyenne  and  Northern  was  completed  120  miles  to  Douglas  in  1888 
thereby  securing  $400,000  from  Laramie  county  to  the  Union  Pacific,  its 
owner.  The  Chicago  and  Northwestern  in  1887  extended  its  line  from 
Douglas — old  Fort  Fetter  man — west  to  Fort  Caspar,  60  miles,  with  the  evi 
dent  intention  of  continuing  westward  to  meet  the  Oregon  Pacific.  Rival 
roads  soon  entered  the  field,  the  Burlington  and  Missouri  running  its  main 
line  from  Broken  Bow  in  Nebraska  to  Fort  Laramie;  a  branch  from  southern 
Nebraska  to  Cheyenne;  and  another  branch  from  the  main  line  in  northern 
Nebraska  to  the  Black  hills  and  northeastern  Wyoming.  The  projected 
Laramie  and  Denver  Short  line  was  strongly  urged  about  this  time.  Indeed, 
it  cannot  be  long  before  railroads  will  penetrate  all  the  valleys  of  Wyoming, 
climbing  the  intervening  ranges  as  do  the  Colorado  lines,  and  extending 
northward  and  westward  to  British  Columbia  and  the  Pacific  ocean.  Where 
they  lead,  immigration  will  follow. 

The  formation  of  a  new  land  district  in  1887  was  indicative  of  the  drift 
of  population,  embracing  as  it  did  Johnson  and  Crook  counties.  In  the 
eastern  portion  of  the  new  county  of  Converse  300  settlers  began  farming  in 
1887-8.  For  the  first  time  flouring -mills  were  erected.  A  flouring  mill  was 
erected  at  Buffalo,  in  Johnson  co.,  one  west  of  Buffalo,  a  third  at  Sheridan, 
in  the  new  county  of  Sheridan,  and  a  fourth  at  Laramie,  which  went  into 
operation  in  1888.  The  first  woollen  mill  was  erected  at  Laramie  1887.  In  the 
upper  Platte  valley  there  were  2,000  persons  living  upon  farms,  and  500,000 
acres  were  sown  to  grain  in  1888.  This  change  would  have  come  in  time, 
but  it  was  hastened  by  the  check  which  was  given  to  stock-raising  by  a  suc 
cession  of  severe  winters,  making  it  necessary  to  confine  herds  within  limits 
where  they  could  be  sheltered  and  fed.  This  could  not  be  conveniently 
done  where  the  numbers  were  very  great,  the  natural  food  supply  becoming 
soon  exhausted.  Men  naturally  reflected  that  while  a  few  became  wealthy 
quickly  under  the  former  system,  by  resorting  to  farming  a  greater  number 
would  become  comfortably  well  off,  the  cattle  would  be  divided  among  them, 
population  would  increase,  taxes  diminish,  and  that  men  were  of  greater 
value  to  the  country  than  herds  of  wild  cattle. 

Cheyenne  and  Laramie  each  maintained  a  board  of  trade,  which  published 
information  calculated  to  attract  the  capitalist  or  the  home-seeker.  I  am, 
myself,  indebted  to  them  for  various  interesting  facts  of  importance  in 
history. 

Among  those  who  have  assisted  to  build  up  the  state  are  the  following: 
Allen  Thompson,  born  in  Oswego,  N.  Y.,  in  1849,  entered  the  union  army  in 
1861,  and  served  through  the  war.  He  came  to  Fort  Laramie  in  1867,  and 
in  1869  to  Cheyenne. 

Charles  W.  Riner,  born  in  Ohio  in  1854,  went  to  Colo  for  his  health  in 
1869,  and  settled  himself  in  Cheyenne  in  1870.  He  was  elected  to  the  lower 
house  of  the  legislature  in  1882,  and  to  the  city  council  in  1884. 

W.  P.  Carroll  came  to  Cheyenne  in  1873,  and  was  associated  with  W.  \\ . 
Corlett  in  the  practice  of  law.  He  was  elected  county  attorney  in  1874-7, 
and  afterwards  city  attorney.  He  was  appointed  supreme  court  reporter  in 
1 880,  which  office  he  retained  for  several  years. 

E  F  Stahle,  born  in  San  Francisco  in  I860,  in  1881  was  appointed  dept 
U.  S.  surveyor  for  the  dist  of  Wyoming,  and  for  4  years  was  engaged  m 

'  Shark's  F.  Miller  came  to  Cheyenne  in  1867.  In  Jan.  1877  he  was  elected 
probate  judge,  and  reflected  in  1879.  He  has  an  interest  in  the  Union  Mer- 

•t  J         o_  y ,  Jl  _• a nf  xV.^   ,*o«   /»rt 

cantile  co. 
Walter 


of  Cheyenne,  and  was  the  projector  of  the  gas  co.       _ 
S.    Hurlbut,  born  in  Mo.  in  1840,  migrated  to  Colo  in  1862 


and 


to  Idaho  in  1863.     In  1884  he  was  appointed  receiver  m  the  U.  S.  land  office. 
Will  R.  Swan,  a  native  of  Ohio,  came  to   Wyoming,  and  engaged  in 
plumbing  and  gas-fitting,  having  branch  establishments  m  different  j 
the  territory  and  in  Iowa.     Being  a  natural  mechanic,  he  became  interested 


806  RESOURCES  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

in  this  trade,  personally  superintending  the  setting  up  of  engines  and  steam 
boilers. 

James  E.  Tuttle,  born  in  New  Jersey  in  1832,  came  in  1859  to  Colo.  He 
was  elected  treasurer  of  Park  co.  in  1862,  and  again  in  1864.  In  1866  he 
went  to  Denver,  and  in  1871  to  Cheyenne. 

E.  Nagle,  born  in  Ohio  in  1833,  came  in  1868  to  Cheyenne.  He  was  ap 
pointed  penitentiary  comm'r  in  1881,  being  chairman  of  the  board.  He  was 
elected  county  comm'r  in  1876,  and  was  tendered  the  nomination  as  delegate 
on  the  republican  ticket  in  1881. 

Samuel  Aughey,  naturalist,  born  in  Pa  in  1832,  found  in  his  botanical 
researches  in  Wyoming  72  different  species  of  grass,  which  he  believed  might 
be  doubled.  The  govt  published  for  him  Notes  on  the  Nature  of  the  Food  of 
the  Birds  of  Nebraska,  and  other  works  of  the  same  class.  He  was  appointed 
territorial  geologist  of  Wyoming  by  Gov.  Hale  in  1883. 

A.  J.  Gray,  born  in  Mass,  in  1837,  was  with  Gen.  Miles  in  his  campaign 
against  the  plains  Indians  in  1871;  was  in  military  service  19|  years.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Mass.  Medical  society,  and  vice-prest  of  the  Wyoming 
Academy  of  Science,  etc.,  of  which  he  has  been  general  secretary. 

W.  W.  Crook,  born  in  Ky  in  1836,  came  from  Kansas  to  Wyoming  in 
1875,  remaining  2  years  at  Laramie  City,  then  removing  to  Cheyenne. 

Orin  C.  Waid,  born  in  Ohio  in  1845,  went  to  N.  Mex.  in  1864,  and  thence 
to  Wyoming  in  1867.  He  states  that  in  1886  there  were  but  three  men  in 
the  ter.  who  were  alone  in  the  cattle  business,  namely,  Charles  Hecht, 
Charles  Coffin,  and  himself,  the  others  being  in  companies. 

A.  H.  Reel,  born  in  Jacksonville,  111.,  in  1837,  came  to  Colo  in  1860.  In 
1869  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  city  council  on  the  democratic  ticket, 
which  office  he  filled  until  1871,  being  again  elected  in  1878  for  three  years. 
He  was  elected  to  the  lower  house  of  the  legislature  in  1875,  to  the  upper 
house  in  1877,  and  reflected  in  1882.  He  was  one  of  the  originators  of  the 
Stockgrowers'  association,  of  the  city  water  works,  and  one  of  the  incor- 
porators  of  the  gas  company.  In  1885  he  was  chosen  mayor  of  Cheyenne. 
He  was  married  in  Denver  in  1879. 


INDEX. 


NOTE.— For  names,  as  of  pioneers,  officials,  etc.,  in  addition  to  alphabetical 
list,  see  also  under  heading  of  '  Names. ' 


A 


Adams,    Gov.    Alva,    biog.    of,    634 

election  of,  1886,  647. 
Adams,    Lt-gov.    J.  W.,    election  of, 

192,  biog.  of,  321. 
Adams,  Samuel,  biog.  of,  508. 
Agriculture,  great  basin,  21-3;  Ne 
vada,  1852,  73,  244-5,  262-3,  266-7, 
270,  275;  White  Pine  co.,  279-80; 
Eureka co.,  284;  Colorado,  soil,  etc., 
330;  first  farming,  355;  1864-8,  492, 
public  land  surveys,  533;  area  in 
cultivation,  etc.,  1866-70,  534-5; 
soil,  535-6;  irrigation,  536  et  seq. ; 
canals,  etc.,  538-40;  grain  counties, 
540;  fruit-growing,  541;  horticul 
tural  society  ancl  state  board  of 
agric.,  542-3;  stock-raising,  543  et 
seq.;  Fremont  Co.,  604;  Weld  co., 
638;  summary  of,  639;  Wyoming, 
802  et  seq. 

Aiken,  T.  A.,  biog.,  576. 

Aikins,  S.  J.  biog.  of,  576. 

Alamosa,  town,  descript.  of,  593. 

Albany  county,  Wyo.,  organized,  739; 
hist,  of,  793-4. 

Albertson,  N.,  founds  Central,  382. 

Albrecht,  C.  H.,  mention  of,  74. 

Albrecht,  Miss    K.  F.,  marriage  con 
tract  of,  74. 

Alexander,    Col   E.    B.,    mention   of, 
697. 

Alexander,  J.  F.,  att'y-gen.,  322. 

Allen,  Capt.,  mention  of,  104. 

Allen,  B.  D.,  biog.  of,  592. 

Allen,  G.  B.,  biog.  of,  380. 

Allen,  Mrs,  school  of,  1854,  75. 

Allen,  W.  P.,  mention  of,  76. 

Alma,  town,  384. 

Alsop,  Thos,  biog.  of,  795. 

Ambrosia,  N.,  mention  of,  76. 

American  desert,  descript.  of,  17. 

Anderson,  W.  W.,  biog.  of,  653. 


Antelope  island,  descript.  of,  12. 

Anthony,  Edmund,  biog.  of,  654. 

Antiquities,  Colo,  499;  Wyo.,  prehis 
toric  race,  673. 

Anza,  Col,  exped.,  1775,  27. 

Apache  canon,  battle  at,  422. 

Applegate,  Jesse,  explor.  of,  62. 

Applegate,  Lindsey,  explor.  of,  62. 

Arapahoe  county,  Colo,  attempted  or 
ganization,  etc.,  of,  1858,  401-2; 
hist,  of,  548  et  seq.;  general  de- 
script.,  548-9. 

Arbutlmot,  S.,  biog.  of,  576. 

Archuleta,  A.  D.,  biog.  of,  593. 

Archuleta  county,  Colo,  creation  of, 
644;  democratic  rioters  in,  648-9. 

Arkansas  valley,  settlement  of,  387  et 
seq. 

Armor,  J.,  founds  Central,  382. 

Armstrong,  A.,  biog.  of,  627. 

Arnold,  M.  A.,  biog.  of,  800. 

Arthur,  J.  B.,  biog.  of,  626. 

Ashlev,  Congressman  D.  R.,  elections 
of,  188. 

Ashley,  E.  M.,  biog.  of,  653. 

Ashley,  W.  H.,  mention  of,  38;  ex- 
plor.  of,  679-80. 

Atchison,  J.  H.,  mining  share  of,  107- 
8. 

Atchison,  Topeka,  &  Santa  Fe  R.  R., 
Grand  Canon  contest,  605-7. 

Atkin,  J.  D.,  biog.  of,  654. 

Atkin,  Leonard,  biog.  of,  658. 

Atkins,  J.  J.,  biog.  of,  787. 

Atlantic  and  Pacific  Telegraph  co., 
231. 

Aughey,  Saml,  biog.  of,  806. 

Augur,  Gen'l,  mention  of,  725-6. 

Auraria,  Colo,  founding,  etc.,  of,  367 
et  seq.;  election  at,  1860,  403. 

Austin,  Nev.,  hist,  of,  267-8. 

Authorities,  Colo,  Nev.,  and  Wyo., 
list,  xiii.-xxvii. 

A.UX,  George,  biog.  of,  382. 

(807) 


808 


INDEX. 


Avery,  D.  E.,  mention  of,  142. 
Ayre,  Lieut,  Indian  battles  of,  460. 


Babbitt,  A.  T.,  biog.  of,  801. 

Babcock,  Delos,  mention  of,  792. 

Bacon,  C.,  biog.  of,  615. 

Bacon,  J.  L.,  biog.  of,  639. 

Bailey,  J.  L.,  biog.  of,  546. 

Baker,  explorations  of  Colo,  497-8. 

Baker,  James,  biog.  of,  353. 

Balch,  W.  R.,    'Mines   and   Miners,' 

149. 
Baldwin,  A.  W.,  secedes  from   tinion 

party,  178-9. 

Baldwin,  C.  P.,  biog.  of,  589-90. 
Baldwin,  Major  N.,  biog.  of,  787. 
Ballou,  W.  T.,  town  founded  by, 

276. 

Bancroft,  Dr.  F.  J.,  biog.  of,  572. 
Bank  of    California,  White  Pine  min 
ing  control,  effort  for,  279. 
Banking,   Colo,  567. 
Bannacks,     Indians,    attack    Reese's 

party,  67-8. 

Barela,  C.,  biog.  of,  627-8. 
Barker,  A.  H.,  biog.  ofr  367. 
Barnard,    E.   L.,  mention   of,    69-70; 

absconding  of,  71. 
Barnard,  Frank,  death  of,  70-1. 
Barnard,  J.  P.,  mention  of,  70-1  . 
Barnard,  T.  G.,  mention  of,  71. 
Barney,  Libens,  biog.  of,  385. 
Barry,  David,  mention  of,  73. 
Bartleson,    John,  co.,  etc.,   of,  47   et 

seq. 
Bartlett,  Judge    A.,    appointment  of, 

737. 

Bassick  mine,  hist,  of,  596. 
Bateman,  A.  L.,  mention  of,  293. 
Bates,   Capt.,   defeats   Indians,   1874, 

772. 

Bates,  G.  C.,  bitg.  of,  657-8. 
Bates,  Mary  Barker,  biog.  of,  657. 
Battle  mountain,    name,    206;   Nev., 

town,  descript.  of,  267. 
Beall,  S.  W.,  delegate  to  Washington, 

1861,  407. 

Beaman,  J.  S.,  biog.  of,  616. 
Bean,  Robert,  mention  of,  42. 
Beatie,   H.   S.,  first  house   in   Genoa, 

66-7. 

Beatty,  Judge  W.  H.,  biog.  of,  203. 
Beaubien  grant,  hist,  of,  594. 
Beck,  Judge  W.  E.,  election  of,  452. 
Becker,     G.    F.,    'Monograph,'   etc., 

149. 
Becker,  Peter,  biog.  of,  624. 


Beckwith,    Capt.   E.    G.,    explor.    of, 

mention  of,  699. 
Beckwith,  G.  L.,  biog.  of,  650. 
Beckwourth,    J.    P.,  mention   of,  45; 

biog.  of,    352;  in   Ashley's   exped., 

680. 

Bee,  F.  A.,  biog.  mention,  228;  tele 
graph  line  built  by,  230. 
Beeman,  Newell,  biog.  of,  785. 
Belden,     Josiah,      mention      of,     47; 

'Statement,'   48;    further   account, 

54. 
Belford,     Congressman,     election    of, 

449. 

Belford,  J.  B.,  biog.  of,  445. 
Belford,  J.  B.,  judge,  1870,  1874,440. 
Belknap,    C.     H.,    election    of,    203; 

assoc.  just.,  322. 
Bell,  Dr  W.  A.,  biog.  of,  604. 
Belty  (William),  mention  of,  52. 
Benevolent  societies,  Nev.,  301. 
Bennett,  H.  A.,  biog.  of,  792. 
Bennett,  Delegate  H.  P.,  election  of, 

415-16;  biog.,  416;  election  of,  1862, 

429. 

Bennett,  Rev.   J.  L.,  pioneer  clergy 
man,  293. 

Bennett,  John,  biog.  of,  487. 
Bent  county,  Colo,  hist,  of,  574—5. 
Bent  family,  biog.  mention,  353. 
Bent,  W.  W.,  rept,  etc.,  of,  458. 
Bergh,  Abraham,  biog.  of,  630. 
Berry,  L.  W.,  biog.  of,  616. 
Berry,  Robt,  biog.  of,  623. 
Berthoud,  E.  L.,  survey  of,  551. 
Betts,  J.  A.,  biog.  of,  634. 
Beverly,  J.  M.,  biog.  of,  381,  615. 
Beverly,  W.  H.,  biog.  of,  615. 
Bibliography,    Nev.,    243-4,     308-9; 

Colorado,  525  et  seq. 
Bid  well,  John,  journey  to  CaL,  1841, 

47;  troubles  of,  49  et  seq. 
Big  Meadows,  battle  of,  214. 
Bingham,  Lieut,  death  of,  421-2. 
Bishop,  Frederic,  mention  of,  73. 
Bishop,  John,  mention  of,  100. 
Black  Hawk  camp,  382. 
Black   hills,  Wyo.    (see  also   mining), 

descript.,   661;    explor.  of,    773   et 

seq. 
Blackburn,    Abner,    gold   discov.    of, 

93. 
Blackburn,     J.   L.,    assassination    of, 

167. 
Blackfeet,  Indians,   attack  Nidever's 

party,   40. 

Blake,  J.  J. ,  mention  of,  90. 
Blake,  J.  W.,  biog.  of,  795. 
Blake  and  Williams,  mention  of,  371. 
Blakeslee,  Senator,  mention  of,  290. 


INDEX. 


Blasdel,  Gov.  H.  G.,  election  of,  1864, 
184;  message  of,  185;  re-election  of, 
1866.  188. 

Blinn,  H.  E.,  biog.  of,  787. 
Blossom,  J.  A.,  biog.  of,  268. 
Blunt,  Gen.,  victory  of,  424. 
Blydenburgh,  C.  E.,  biog.  of,  790. 
Bonanza  firm,  hist,  of,  134etseq.;  tax 

troubles  of,  196-8. 
Bonneville,    Capt.    E.    L. ,  adventures 

of,  41,  43;  explor.  of,  681. 
Boone,  A.  G.,  mention  of,    439;  Iiid. 

treaties  of,  1861,  458. 
Boswell,  N.  K.,  mention  of,   759 
Boughton,  J.  H.  biog.   of,  627. 
Boulder  county,  hist  of,  575-80. 
Boulder   creek,  Colo,    gold  found  at, 

1859,  575. 
Boulder,  town,  founding  of,  376;  hist. 

of,  576,  579-80. 

Boundary,  Cal.  and  Nev..  commis. 
appointed  1854,  76;  Colo  and  New 
Mex.,  1869-9,  498-900;  Wyo.,  de- 
script.,  659;  1868,  740;  survey  of, 
752. 
Bowen,  Senator  T.  M.,  election  and 

biog.  of,  451-2. 

Bowers,  J.  W.,  mention  of,  574. 
Bowers,  L.  S.,  biog.  of,   171. 
Bowles,  J.  W.,  biog.  of,  385-6. 
Boyd,  Judge  T.  P.,  biog.  410. 
Brace,  C.  C.,  biog.  of,  579. 
Bradford,    Delegate   A.    A.,    election 
and    biog.    of,   434;    reelection   of, 
1868,  435-6. 
Bradley,  Judge  George,  appointment 

of,  72. 
Bradley,    Gov.    L.    R.,    election   of, 

1870^  189-90;  biog.  of,  194. 
Brazee,  A.  W.  judge,  1885,  440. 
Brantner,  Samuel,  biog.  of,  386. 
Breene,  Lieut-gov.  P.  W.,  election  of, 

1884,  449;  biog.  of,  508. 
Brendlinger,  H.  J.,  biog.  of,  572. 
Brevoort,   Henry,  mining  invent,  of, 

119. 

Bridger,  James,  anecdotes  of,  3-4; 
explorations  of,  37;  biog.,  etc.,  of, 
684-5. 

Brisbane,  W.  H.,  biog.  of,  508. 
Bromwell,   H.    P.  H.,  defeat  of,  elec 
tion  1874,  etc.,  439. 
Brookfield,  A.  A.,  biog.  of,  57J5. 
Brown,  Clara,  biog.  of,  616-17. 
Brown,  George,  mention  of,  74. 
Brown,  J.,  mention  of,  71. 
Brown,  J.  M.,  biog.,  384. 
Brown,  S.  W.,  biog.  of,  384. 
Buckland,  S.  S.,  mention  of,  209. 
Bucknum,  Dr  A.  C.,  biog.  of,  656. 


Buffalo,  town,  hist,  of,  790-2;  plan  of, 

701. 
Bunker,   B.    B.,    app't'd   U.  S.  att'y, 

157. 

Burdsal,  C.  S.,  biog.  of,  385. 
Burlington  and  Colorado  R.  R.  555. 
Buruham,  Dr  N.  G.,  biog.  of,  657. 
Burning   Moscow  company,  hist,  of, 

122  et  seq. 

Burritt,  C.  H.,  biog.  of,  792-3. 
Busby,  Michael,  death  of,  214. 
Bute,  explor.  of,  388. 
Byers,  W.  N.,  biog.  of,  374;    attack 

on,  409. 
Byrnes,  William,   mention  of,  69-70; 

attempted  assassination  of,  71. 


California  legislature,  boundary  reso 
lution  of,  1858,  152;  gov's  mess., 
1861,  153;  volunteers  from  against 
Inds,  212. 

California  gulch,  descript.  of,  396. 

California  Mining  co.,  organization, 
etc.,  of,  136  etseq.;  output,  etc., 
137. 

California  State  Telegraph  co.,  231. 

Calkins,  C.  C.,  biog.  of,  651. 

Call,  Judge  Anson,  ap't'ment  of.  72. 

Campbell,  C.  A.,  mention  of,  801. 

Campbell,  E.  L.,  defeat  of,  guberna 
torial  election,  449. 

Campbell,  H.  A.,  biog.  of,  615. 

Campbell,  Gov.  J.  A.,  appointment 
and  biog.  of,  741;  aaminist.  of, 
750. 

Campbell,  R.,  mention  of,  683. 

Canby,  Gen.,  milit.  movements  of, 
1861,  421  et  seq. 

Canon  City,  founding  of,  391-4;  hist, 
of,  605-8. 

Canon  City  and  San  Juan  R.  R.,  hist, 
of,  606-8.  <f? 

Canons,  Colo,  descript.  of,  326-7. 

Cantlin,  J.  V.,  biog.  of,  789. 

Canton,  F.  M.,  biog.  of,  792.  _ 

Capital,  Colo,  rivalry  for,  417. 

Capital,  Wyo.,  descript.  of,  760. 

Carbon  county,  Wyo.,  organized, 
739;  hist,  of,  788. 

Cardenas,  Capt.    G.  L.   de,  route  of, 


eog,.  of,  741  790-|00: 
defeat  and  election  of,  18/4,  1  >«4, 
749-50. 

Carlin,  Nev.,  settlement  of,  2/6. 

Carlisle,  J.  N.,  biog.  of  634. 

Carpenter,  C.C.,  Black  hill  exped.,  t  /b. 


810 


INDEX. 


Carpenter,  M.  B.,  biog.  of,  570.  Chivington,  Col,  biog.  of,  421;  Sand 

Carrington,  H.  B.,  Ind.  campaign  of,        creek  battle,  466  et  seq. 

718-19.  Cholera,  Nev.,  1850,  68. 

Carroll,  W.  P.,  biog.  of,  805.  j  Chollar  mining  co.,  litigation  of,  126- 

Carson,  Kit,  mention  of,  24,  353;  biog.,  t      7,  173. 

etc.,  45,  468;  with  Fremont,  57.          Chorpenning,  G.,  lawsuit  of,  76;  mail 
Carson   City,    founding  of,   1858,  86; ;      contracts  of,  226-7. 

capital   located   at,    163;  descript.,  j  Church,  Frank,  biog.  of,  653. 

169,  255.  ;  Churchill  county,  Nev.,  hist,  of,  262. 

Carson  co.,    creation  of,  75;    exodus  j  Civil  War,    Colo,  420  et  seq.;  battle 


of  Mormons  from,  80-1;  elimina 
tion  of,  165. 

Carson  lake,  mention  of,  13;  descript. 
of,  14. 

Carson  river,  bridge  over,  1852,  72-3. 

Carson  valley,  settlement  of,  66  et 
j. ;  annexation  petitions  of,  1853- 


Apache  canon,  422;  Pigeon  rancho, 

422-3;   Peralta,    423;    Cabin   creek 

victory,  424. 
Clapp,    Miss  H.    K.,  biog.    mention, 

171. 

Clark,  mention  of,  72. 
Clark,  H.  F.,  mention,  103. 


Clark,  J.  E.,  mention  of,  103. 
Clark,  Judge  I.,  appointment  of,  72. 
Clark,  W.  G.,  biog.  of,  444. 


6,  74-5,  78;  map,  94. 
Carson  and  Colorado  R.  R.,  239. 
Carstarphen,  0.,  biog.  of,  598. 

Carter   co.,    Wyo.,    organization    of,  i  Clarke,  R.  M.,  state  att'y-gen'l,  1865, 
732;  named  changed,  744;  organiza-        188. 

Clarke,  W.  J.,  biog.  of,  792. 
Clay,  C.  E.,  biog.  of,  795. 


tion  of,  784. 

Cary,  J.  L.,  mention  of,  73,  75. 
Case,  F.  M.,  mention  of,  533,  553. 


Cassidy,  Congressman  G.  W.,  election 
and  biog.  of,  203. 

Castle  island,  descript.  of,  12. 

Catlin,  W.  C.,  mention  of,  393. 

Caves,  Nevada,  descript.,  4. 

Central  City,  Colo,  founding,  etc.,  of, 
380-3;  hist,  of,  611-15. 

Central  Pacific  railroad,  Nevada,  af 
fairs  of,  232  et  seq.;  corruption  of, 
etc.,  234-6;  lands  of,  238. 

Chaffee  county,  Colo,    hist,  of,  581-5. 

Chaffee,  Senator  J.  B.,  election  of, 
432;  reelection  of,  437;  biog.  of, 
438;  election  of,  1876,  445. 

Chapman,  M.  R.,  biog.  of,  599. 

Charcoal  burners'  riot,  284-5. 

Chase,  John,  biog.  of,  801. 

Chatfield,  I.  W.,  biog.  mention,  556. 

Cheney,  E.  F.,  mention  of,  759. 

Cherokees,  in  Colo,  1858,  363-4. 

Cherry  creek,  descript.  of,  281. 

Cheever,  D.  A.,  biog.  of,  571. 

Chever,  C.  G.,  biog.  of,  384. 

Cheyennes  (see  also  Indians),  threat 
ened  attack  of,  Aug.  1864,  463; 


Clayton,  P.  H.,  mention  of,  89. 

Clayton,  T.  S.,  biog.  of,  654. 

Clear  Creek  county,  Colo,  hist,  of, 
586  et  seq. 

Clemens,  Gov.  0.,  acts,  etc.,  for 
boundary,  154-4;  app't'd  terr.  sec., 
157. 

Cleveland,  Pres.,  silver  views  of,  201. 

Cleveland,  C.  C.,  quells  Ind.  trouble, 
221. 

Climate,  great  basin,  descript.  of,  4- 
6;  Nevada,  245;  Colo,  temperature, 
etc.,  329;  storm  and  flood  at  Den 
ver,  1864,  490;  Wyoming,  670. 

Cline,  J.  W.,  biog.  of,  386. 

Cloudbursts,  Nev.,  245. 

Cobb,  F.  M.,  biog.  of,  366. 

Cobb,  E.  W.,  biog.  of,  386. 

Coffee,  C.  F.,  mention  of,  800. 

Coffman,  E.  J.,  biog.  of,  650. 

Cole,  William,  biog.  of,  368. 

Colfax  Agricultural  and  Industrial 
Colonization  company,  hist,  of, 
595. 

Collier,  D.  C.,  bios',  of,  370;  mention 
of,  497. 

Collins,  Dr  J.  W.,  biog.  of,  655. 

^    n  •  T  L         t      T-_  J     .   •  _j_ .        .   ~£     n  i  K 


hostilities  of,  711. 
Cheyenne,  town,  rise  of,  733;   capital  i  Collins,  Lt-col,  Ind.  victory  of,  715. 

located  at,  etc.,  746;  hist,  of,  796.      Collins,  R.  J.,  biog.  of,  590. 
Chilcott,  Senator  G.  M.,  election  and  ,  Collins  &  Co.,  mention  of,  104. 

biog.  of,  435;  app'tment  of,  451.        ;  Colonies,    Nev.,     Mormons,     Carson 
Childs,   Judge  J.  S.,  mention  of,  74;  j      valley,    1855,  78;  list   of  colonist,, 

app'tment  of,  84.  1855,   79;  Mormons  abandon,  80. 

Chiles,  J.  B.,  visit  to  Cal.,  1841,  47; 


co.  of,  1843,  55. 

Chinese,  Nev.,  292. 


Colorado,  history  of,  323  et  seq. ; 
physical  features,  323  etseq.;  di  - 
covery  and  occupation,  338  et  se^  ; 


INDEX. 


811 


French     occupation,     343;     Pike's  i  Cook,  G.  W.,  biog.  of,  510-11. 

exped.,    344  et   seq.;    Long's,  348;    Cook,  Richard,  mention  of,  520. 

progress    of     settlement,    1859-00,    Cooper,  Gen.,  defeat  of,  424. 

387  et  seq.;  organization  of    govt,    Cooper,  J.  A.,  biog.  of,  573. 

1858-61,    401   et  seq.;  territory  or-    Cooper,  Thos,  biog.  of,  589. 

ganized,    1861,    413;    seal   of,    418;    Copeland,  S.,  biog.  of,  616. 

Indian  wars,    1860-80,  455  et  seq.;    Corlett,  W.  W.,  biog.  of,  749. 

mining,  1859-75,  482  et  seq.;  floods    Corning,  G.  C.,  biog.  of,  444. 

and  Ind.  troubles,  489  et  seq. ;  boun-    Coronado's     expedition,     failure     in 

dary  with  New  Mex.,   1868-9,  498-        reaching  Colo,  338. 

90;    agriculture   and   stock-raising,  i  Cosser,  Mrs,  the  Colo  divorce  case, 

533  et  seq. ;  railroads  of,  552  et  seq. ;  '      73-4. 

education,    558-60;     religion,    560;    Cosser,  Walter,  mention  of,  73. 

counties,  574  et  seq.;  events,  1886-  j  Cosser,  W.  P.,  mention  of,  75 


8,  643  et  seq. 

Colorado  in  1863,  map,  409. 
Colorado  Central  R.  R.,  552^,  556. 
Colorado  City,  founding  of,  389-90. 
Colorado  river,  descript.  of,  16. 
Colorado  springs,  hist,  of,  388,  600. 
Colorado   springs   and  vicinity,  hist. 

of,  600-4;  map,  602. 
Colter,  John,  explor.  of,  675-6. 
Commerce,    Nev.,    prices,    1850,    68; 


Costilla  co.,  hist,  of,  594  et  seq. 
Counties,  Nev/,  organization,  etc.,  of, 

159,    253;    Colo,    organization    of, 

1859,    402;    hist,    of,    574   et   seq.; 

Wyoming,  784  et  seq. 
County  commissioners,  Nev.,  1861-2, 

list,  162. 

Cowan,  A.,  mention  of,  78. 
Cowan,  Mrs  A.,  biog.  of,  171. 
Coyner,  D.  H.,  'The  Lost  Trappers,' 

350-1. 


transportation,  226  et  seq.;    Colo 
rado,  566. 

Como,  Nev.,  decline  of,  258. 

Comstock,  H.  T.   P.,  career,  etc.,  of,    Craig,  L.  W.,  biog.  of,  586. 


Cradlebaugh,    Judge   J.,    app'tment, 
etc.,  of,  89;  election  of,   1861,  158. 


98  et  seq. ;  disposal  of  mining  title, 


Craig,  W.  B.,  biog.  of,  653. 


etc.,  105"-6.  Cramer,  F.,  biog.  of,  655. 

Comstock,     Henry,    the    Gold     Hill    Crandall,  J.  B.,  stage  line  of  227. 

mines,  io9-10.  Crane,  J.  M.,  ter'l  delegate,  1858,83; 

Comstock  lode,  see  Mining.  death  of,  89. 

Conejos  county,  Colo,  hist,  of,  591-3,    Crawford,  D.  C.,  biog.  of,  44-J 
Congress,  U.  S.,  Nev.  boundary  com-  !  Crazy  Horse,   Ind.   chief,   battles  ot, 

mis.  app't'd,  1860,  152;    additional  j      777,  780;  death  of,  781. 

ter.  granted  to  Nev.,  1866,  156;  act    Crested    Butte,   town,    founding    of, 

for*R.  R.  survey,  1853,  360;  admis 
sion  of   Colo  territory.    1861,   413; 

appropr.  for  Colo,  1862-3,  429;  ap- 

Wyo.,    Cheyenne   vig.    committee, 
1867,  738;  road  agents,  758-9. 


Crime,    Nev.     291-2;    Colo,    1860-1, 
408;  1860,  412;    Lea.lv.lU-,  512-13 


propr.,  1863-6,  434;    1880  et  seq., 

450-  appropr.  for  Wyo.,  1846,  688.        ,  .--,  . 

Conner,  General,  operations,  etc.,  of,    Crook,  Gen.,  Sioux  campaign.    1 

218-19,  717. 
Connor,  Col,  regiment  of,  181. 


777  et  seq. 

Crook,  W.  W.,  mention  of,  80<>. 

Conrad',  Capt.  B.,  Indian  victory  of,    Crooks  co.,  Wyo.,  boundary  of,  784. 
220. 


Consolidated   Virginia,    see  Virginia 

Consolidated  Mining  co. 
Constitution,    Nev.    State,    vote    on, 

1863,  184;  amendments  to,  203-4. 
Constitutional  convention,  Colo,  1860, 

404;  1864,  430-1. 
Conventions,  Nev.,  for  ter  1  gov  t,  82, 

87;   state,  1863,  177  et  seq.;   1864, 

180. 

Converse,  A.  R.,  biog.  of,  758. 
Converse  county,  Wyo.,  75. 
Cook,  mention  of,  51. 
Cook,  Gen.  D.  J.,  biog.  of,  /bO. 


.,  ., 

Crossmaii,  G.  H.,  valley  named  for, 


24. 

Crout,  William,  biog.  of,  795-6. 
Crow,  Henry,  biog.  of,  384. 
Crowinshield,  W.,  mention  of,  228-9. 
Culver,  J.  B.,  mention  of,  793. 
Cummings,      Gov.     A.,     reorganizes 

Carson    co.,    84;    appointment   of, 

1865,  435. 

!  Curry,  A.,  mention,  103,  159. 
I  Curry,  A.  V.  Z.,  founds  Carson  city, 

86 

Curry   C.  W.,  mention  of,  103. 
Curtis,  Allen  A.,  gift  of,  297. 


812 


INDEX. 


Curtis,  Gen.  S.  R.,  Ind.  war  orders 

of,  446. 
Ouster,  Gen.,  milit.  exped.  to  Black 

Hills,  1874,  773;    defeat  and  death 

of,  778-9. 

Custer  city,  Wyo.,  founding  of,  777. 
Custer  county,  Colo,  hist,  of,  595. 


J) 


Daggett,  C.  A.,  mention  of,  73. 

Daggett,  C.  D.,  elected  pros,  att'y, 
1854,  76. 

Daggett,  Congressman  R.  M.,  biog. 
of,  203;  speech  of,  Feb.  25,  1881, 
235. 

Daley,  D.  C.,  silver  discov.  of,  493. 

Dargiii,  D.  G.,  mention,  622. 

Davis,  H.  C.,  322. 

Davis,  J.  A.,  mention  of,  596. 

Da  -is,  J.  C.,  biog.  of,  789. 

Damson,  J.  A.,  biog.  of,  647. 

Dayton,  town,  founding  of,  1856,  79; 
name,  95;  descript.  of,  258. 

Dead  Men's  gulch,  name,  383. 

Death  valley,  descript.  of,  3. 

Decker,  W.  S.,  biog.  of,  652. 

De  Coursey,  M.  L.,  biog.  of,  604. 

Deep  creek,  importance  of,  16. 

Defiance  mine,  yield  of,  278. 

Deidesheimer,  Philip,  timbering  sys 
tem  of,  113;  plan  of  cribbing,  114; 
biog.,  etc.,  of,  115;  arrest  of  'Ophir' 
men,  123. 

De  la  Martyr,  see  Martyr. 

Delta  co.,  Colo,  hist,  of,  596. 

Democrats,  see  Politics. 

De  Mont,  Capt.,  co.  of,  etc.,  66. 

Denver,  Lieut-go v.  F.,  election  of, 
1870,  190;  state  prison  war,  314. 

Denver,  Gen.  J.  W.,  mention  of,  372. 

Denver,  founding  of,  369;  capital  es- 
tabl.  at,  417-18,  551-2;  riots  in 
1879-80,  448;  storm  and  flood,  1864, 
490;  hist,  of,  1859-86,  548;  incorp. 
of,  land  titles,  etc.,  549;  plan  of, 
550;  immigrant  route  by,  551;  mint 
at,  551-2;  R.  R.  lines  to,  552  et 
seq.;  street  rail  ways,  558;  education 
in,  558-60;  religion,  560-4;  water 
supply,  562;  drainage,  563;  manu 
factures,  564;  chamber  of  commerce, 
565;  banking,  567;  society,  567-70. 

Denver  Circle  R.  R.,  555. 

Denver  expositions,  Wyoming  exhibit 
in,  752. 

Denver  Pacific  R.  R.,  Colo,  553^. 

Denver,  South  Park,  and  Pacific  R.  R., 
555. 


Denver,  Utah,  and  Pacific  R.  R. ,  555. 
Denver  and  Rio  Grande  R.  R. ,  strike, 

1885,  453;  extension  of,  1881,  524; 

map  of  the  alignment  around  Dump 

mountain,     organization,     etc.,    of, 

554  et  seq.;    Grand  canon  contest, 

605-8. 

Deseret,  state  of,  organized,  etc.,  66. 
Deseret  co.,  creation  of,  72. 
De  Smet,  P.  J.  de,  missionary  labors 

of,  686. 

Dickens,  W.  H.,  biog.  of,  650. 
Dickson,   see  Hancock  and   Dickson. 
Dickson,  L.  H.,  biog.  of,  650. 
Dittenrieder,  Mrs  L.   M.,  journal  of, 

73. 
Doane,  Lieut  G.   C.,  milit.  exped.  of, 

1870,  769. 

Doherty,  W.  F.,  biog.  of,  592. 
Dolores  county,  Colo,  hist,  of,  597. 
Dominguez,  F.  F.  A.,  explorations  of, 

36. 

Donelson,  T.,  biog.,  384. 
Dotson,  P.  K.,  biog.  of,  634. 
Dougan,  D.  H.,  biog.  of,  573. 
Douglas,  John  H.,  biog.  of,  795. 
Douglas  co. ,  organization  and  hist,  of, 

253-5,  598. 
Dover,  James,  marriage  contract,  etc., 

of,   74. 
Dovey,    W.  C.,   superintendent   pub. 

instruct.,  322. 
Downey,  Delegate  S.  W.,  election  of, 

750. 

Downing,  Jacob,  biog.  of,  651. 
Doyle,  J.  B.,  mention  of,  371. 
Drake,  G.  W.,  biog.  of,  386. 
Draper,  J.  A.,  mention  of,  393. 
Drummond,  Judge  W.  W.,  boundary 

communication  of,   151-2;    reagita- 

tion  of  boundary  question,  156. 
Du  Bois,  J.  J.,  biog.  of,  507. 
Dudley,  J.  H.,  biog.  of,  368. 
Duggan,  Martin,  biog.  of,  512-13. 
Dunagan,  J.  J.,  biog.  of,  655. 
Duncan,  Lieut,  victory  of,  220. 
Duncan,  Judge  C.,  mention  of,  72. 
Dyer,  J.  C.,  biog.  of,  789. 


D 


Eagle  co.,  Colo,  hist,  of,  599. 

Earthquakes,  Nev.,  245. 

Eaton,  Gov.  B.  H. ,  election  and  biog. 

of,  449. 

Eaton,  H.  C.,  biog.  mention,  618. 
Eberhardt  mine,  278. 
Eckley,  J.  E.,  mention  of,  188. 
Eddy,  H.  H.,  biog.  of,  638. 


INDEX. 


813 


Education,    Nev.,    292-3;    Colorado, 
393,  558-60;  Wyoming,  761. 

Eilers,  A.,  biog.  of,  519-20. 

Elbert,  Gov.  S.  H.,  appointment,  etc.,  ' 
of,  436-7;  election  of,  445. 

Elbert  co.,  Colo,  hist,  of,  599. 

El  Dorado,  Colo,  founding  of,  387-9.  ! 

Elections,  see  Politics. 

Elkins,  J.  T.,  biog.  of,  508. 

Elko  county,  Nev.,  hist,  of,  274. 

Elko,  town,  settlement  of,  276. 

Elliott,  V.  A.,  judge,  446. 

Ellis,  J.  B.,  mention  of,  73-4. 

El  Paso  claim  club,  389. 

El  Paso  co.,  Colo,  hist,  of,  599-604. 

Emigration,  see  Immigration. 

Empire,  town,  hist,  of,  592. 

Escalante,  Fr.  S.  V.  de,  map,  etc.,  i 
of,  35-6;  exped.  of,  339  et  seq.;j 
map  of  route,  342. 

Esmeralda  co.,  Nev.,  hist,  of,  259;  ju 
risdiction  difficulties  of,  162  et  seq.  i 

Espinosa's  bandits,  murders  and  death 
of,  424-5. 

Eureka  county,  Nev.,  hist,  of,  281. 

Eureka,  town,  hist,  of,  283. 

Eureka  and  Palisade  R.  R.,  239. 

Evans,  Col,  defeat  of,  218. 

Evans,  Senator  J.,  app't'd  gov.,  427; 
election  of,  432;  call  for  vol't'rs,  461. 

Everett,  Dr  A.  S.,  biog.  of,  656. 

Everts,  Philetus,  biog.  of,  322. 

Expeditions,  Nev.,  earliest,  26etseq.; 
Fremont's,  1843-4,  55  et  seq.;  Colo, 
338  et  seq. ;  local  expeds  from  New 
Mex.,  338;  Escalante's  exped.,  339 
et  seq. ;  Pike's,  344  et  seq. ;  Long's 
exped.,  348  et  seq.;  Fremont  s, 
1842-4,  357;  Gunnison's,  1853,  360; 
miscellaneous  govt,  361-2;  Wheel 
er's  and  King's,  362;  to  Gunnison 
country,  517  et  seq.;  Wyoming, 
Spanish  claims,  672;  Verendyre's, 
1743-4,  674;  Colter's,  675-6;  Lisa's, 
676;  Williams',  676-7;  Hunt's,  679; 
Long's,  679;  Ashley's,  679-80; 
Bonneville's,  681;  Wyeth's,  682; 
Fremont's,  1842,  688;  to  open  roads, 
699-700;  Stansbury's,  764;  War 
ren's,  765;  Rayn  old's,  765-6;  geol 
survey,  769;  inilit.  expeds,  1873, 
169-70. 

Eyser,  Charles,  biog.  of,  386. 
Eyster,  C.  S.,  judge,  1866,  440. 


Fain,  Sheriff  J.  C.,  mention  of,  70-1; 
election  of,  1854,  76. 


Fair,  Senator  J.  G.,  mention  of,  118; 
Con.  Virginia  purchase,  1 34  et  seq. ; 
biog.  135;  senator,  203. 
Fairfield,  Samuel,  biog.  of,  789. 
Farrell,  M.  J.,  biog.  of,  239. 
Farwell,  S.  T.,  biog.  of,  792. 
Fennimore,    James,    mention   of,  72; 

career  of,  99  et  seq. 
Ferguson,  Charles,  mention  of,  73. 
Fetterman,   Lt-col,  defeat  and  death 

of,  722-3. 

Finances,  Nev.,  taxes,  1861,  161; 
1871-88,  310;  rejection  national 
currency,  1863-4,  183;  mining  tax 
troubles,  195  et  eeq;  monetary 
standards,  198  et  seq.;  Colorado, 
Gilpin's  treasury  demands,  426; 
banking,  566;  summary  of,  640;  in 
1887,  648;  Wyoming,  755;  territory 
bonds,  760. 

Finfrock,  J.  H.,  biog.  of,  716. 
Finley,  A.,  map,  1826,  34-5. 
Fish   culture,  Nev.,  241;   Wyoming, 

804. 
Fisher,  A.  N.,  supt  pub.  instruction, 

1865,  188. 

Fitch,  R.  E.,  mention  of,  795. 
Fitch,     Congressman    Thos,    election 

and  biog.,  189. 
Flaniken,  Judge  R.  R.,  app'tment  of, 

89. 

Fieeson,  Capt.,  Ind.  battle  of,  214. 
Flood,  J.  C.,  Con.  Virginia  purchase, 

134  et  seq.;   biog.,  135. 
Floyd  peak,  height  of,  9;  name,  24. 
Flumes,  Nev.,  287-90. 
,  Foley,  M.  D.,  biog.  of,  225. 
'  Follensbee.  George,  mention  of,  71. 
Fontaine  City,  fight  with  Missourians, 

390-1. 

Foote,  F.  M.,  biog.  of,  785. 
i  Ford,  Gen.  J.  H.,  mention  of,  467. 
|  Forest  Queen,  mine,  discov.,  etc.,  of, 

523. 

I  Fort  Leavenworth,  351-2. 
Forts,  Colo,  352-5;  Wyoming,  682  et 
seq  •  Fort  William,  683;  Laramie, 
fort,  hist,  of,  683-4;  cut  of,  690; 
govt  purchase  of,  691;  Fort  Lara 
mie  in  1874,  plan,  692;  Fort  Brid- 
ger,  684;  cut  of,  685;  Fort  Platte, 
685;  Fort  Kearny,  established, 
1847,  489-90;  Fort  Supply,  697; 
Fort  Randal,  710;  Fort  Halleck, 
714;  Fort  Sedgwick,  714-15;  Fort 
Philip  Kearny,  Fetterman,  Ind. 
disaster  at,  720  et  seq;  Fort  Fet 
terman,  725. 

Fosdick.  H.  M.,  biog.  of,  634. 
Font,  Father  P.,  map,  etc.,  of,  27-8. 


814 


INDEX. 


Fountain  colony,  hist  of,  GOO-1. 

France,  occupation  of  Colo,  343. 

France,  James,  biog.  of,  788. 

France,  L.  B.,  biog.  of,  652-3. 

Franktown,  founded,  etc.,  79. 

Fremont,  J.  C.,  route,  etc.,  of,  1843, 
55  et  seq. ;  notoriety  of,  exploration, 
65;  explor.  of  Colo,  1842-4,  356; 
explor.  Wyo.,  1842,  688. 

Fremont  county,  Colo,  settlement  of, 
392;  hist,  of,  601-8. 

Fremont  county,  Wyo.,  hist,  of,  786-8. 

Frost,  John,  biog.  of,  267. 

Fuller,  C.  W.,  mention  of,  256. 

Fulton,  D.  J.,  biog.  of,  385. 

Fur-traders,  Colo,  350-1,  354-6;  Wy 
oming,  677  et  seq. 


G 


Gage,  S.  T.,  biog.  of,  187. 

Galbraith,  R.  M.,  biog.  of,  789. 

Gale,  Judge  W.  H.,  mention  of,  440. 

Galloway,  B.  S.,  biog.  of,  625. 

Gamble,  James,  mention  of,  231. 

Garber,  Judge,  mention  of,  191. 

Garces,  Father  F.,  explor.  of,  27-31. 

Garfield  county,  Colo,  hist,  of,  609. 

Garrison,  A.  F.,  pres't  of  comm.,  404. 

Garrison,  W.  H.,  sale  of  mining  title, 
123-4. 

Geist,  A.  W.,  biog.  of,  634. 

Genoa,  town,  name,  79;  avalanche  at, 
1882,  254. 

Geology,  see  Mining. 

Georgetown,  Colo,  hist,  of,  590-2. 

Gerry  brothers,  biog.  of,  353. 

Gerry,  Elbridge,  mention  of,  463. 

Gest,  J.  H.,  mention  of,  382. 

Geysers,  Wyo.r  668. 

Gibbs,  Elijah,  land  troubles,  etc.,  of, 
430. 

Gibson,  T.,  mention  of,  382. 

Gilchrist,  Andrew,  biog.  of,  802. 

Gilpin,  Gov.,  app'tment,  etc.,  of,  413; 
biog.  of,  414;  instructions,  etc.,  of, 
415;  message  of,  419;  organization 
of  troops,  420;  removal  of,  etc., 
426-7;  election  of,  1865,  432. 

Gilpin  county,  Colo,  mines  of,  map, 
380;  hist,  of,  610. 

Gird,  C.  C.,  biog.  of,  653. 

Goben,  E.,  mention  of,  280. 

Goddard,  L.  M.,  biog.  of,  508. 

Goddard,  0.  J.,  biog.  of,  559. 

Godey,  mention  of,  57. 

Godin,  exploit  of,  40. 

Gold  Hill  mines,  first  owners,  etc., 
of,  109. 


Gold  canon,  mining  camps,  etc.,  in, 
1857-9,  94-6. 

Golden,  founding  of,  380-1. 

Golden  Gate,  founding,  etc.,  of,  380-2. 

Goodwin,  C.  C.,  defeat  of,  1872,  191. 

Gore,  Sir  George,  travels  in  Wyo., 
695-6. 

Gorsline,  W.  B.,  judge,  1866,  440. 

Gosh  Utes,  hostilities  of,  219. 

Gould,  J.  B.,  biog.  of,  616. 

Government,  see  Politics. 

Graham,  Benj.,  prospecting  exped.  of, 
518. 

Graham,  H.  J.,  delegate  to  congress, 
403. 

Graham  gang,  expulsion  of,  597. 

Gramm,  Otto,  biog.  of,  795. 

Grand  county,  Colo,  hist,  of,  616. 

Grant,  Gov.  J.  B.,  election  and  biog. 
of,  449. 

Grant,  M.  N.,  biog.  of,  795. 

Grattan,  Indian  massacre  of,  709. 

Gray,  A.  J.,  biog.  of,  806. 

Great  American  desert,  see  American 
desert. 

Great  Basin,  descript.  of,  1 ;  Fremont's 
knowledge  of,  2;  wonders  of,  3; 
climate  of,  4-6;  geology  of,  6;  riv 
ers  of,  14-16;  springs  of,  16,  17; 
deserts  of,  17,  18;  vegetation  of, 
18,  19;  animal  life  in,  19,  20;  min 
erals  of,  20,  21;  agriculture  of.  21-3; 
soils  of,  21-3. 

Great  Salt  Lake,  see  Salt  Lake. 

Greeley,  Horace,  praise  of  Colo,  398; 

Green  river,  descript.  of,  etc.,  8,  786. 

Greene,  James,  mention  of,  73. 

Greenwood,  John,  mention  of,  60. 

Greenwood,  W.  H.,  biog.  of,  608. 

Gregory,  J.  H.,  biog.  of,  377. 

Gridley,  charitable  work  of,  182. 

Grigsby-Ide  company,  mention  of,  60. 

Grimes,  C.  M.,  mention  of,  595-6. 

Grimes,  W.  S.,  biog.  of,  656. 

Grosch  Bros.,  silver  discov.  of,  etc., 
96  et  seq. ;  death  and  books  of,  98. 

Gross,  C.  J.,  biog.  of,  571. 

Guerillas,  Colo,  1863,  424-5. 

Guiness,  Lieut,  death  of,  725. 

Gunnell,  A.  T.',  biog.  of,  624. 

Gunnison,  Capt.  J.  W.,  R.  R.  survey, 
etc.,  of,  360-1,  695;  party  of  mas 
sacred,  360-1. 

Gunnison  county,  organization,  etc., 
of,  522;  hist,  of,  617. 

Gunnison  county,  prospectors  in,  etc., 
516  et  seq. ;  rush  to,  1880,  524. 

Gunnison,  mining  region,  map,  521. 

Gunnison,  town,  settlement  of,  521  et 
seq.;  hist,  of,  617-18. 


INDEX. 


8ir> 


B 


Haas,  Hermann,  biog.  of,  716. 
Haas,  Sam'l,  mention  of,  801. 
Hague,  J.  D.,  mention  of,  362. 
Haguis,  J.  N.,  mention  of,  393. 
Haines,  James  W.,  biog.  of,  288-9. 
Hale,  Gov.   W.,  appointment,  death, 

etc.,  of,  752-3. 
Haley,  Ora,  biog.  of,  795. 
Hall,  C.  L.,  biog.  of,  623-4. 
Hall,  Frank,  mention  of,  71;  biog.  of, 

440. 

Hall,  Geo.  W.,  biog.  of,  590. 
Hall,  R.  H.,  biog.  787. 
Hall,  Spafford,  mention  of,  73-4. 
Hall,  W.  L.,  mention  of,  71-3. 
Hallack,  Chas,  biog.  of,  573. 
Hallett,   Judge  M.,  biog.  of,  411-12; 

app'tment,  etc.,  of,  1866,  439-40. 
Hallock,  J.  F.,  comptroller,  322. 
Hallock,  Nelson,  biog.  of,  623. 
Hamilton,  W.  H.,  mention  of,  280. 
Hamilton,  Nev.,  hist,  of,  280. 
Hanchette,  mining  invention  of,  318. 
Hancock    and    Dickson,     explor.    of, 

1804-7,  675. 

Harding,  silver  discov.  of,  103-4. 
Harding,  Justice  S.  S.,  succeeds  Hall, 

439. 

Hardenville,  founding  of,  103-4. 
Harney,  Gen'l,  defeats   Sioux,   1856, 

etc.,  710. 

Harris,  John,  map  of,  32. 
Harris,  M.  C.,  mention  of,  793. 
Hart,  Major  B.  J.,  mention  of,  790. 
Hart,    Wm,    the   Oomstock    discov., 

101. 

Harting,  S.  J.,  biog.  of,  658. 
Harvey,  John,  mention,  624. 
Harvey,  T.  J.,  app't'd  Ind.  commiss., 

208. 

Haskill,    N.  R.,  mention  of,   69;  at 
tempted  murder  by,   71. 
Hastings,    L.  W.,    '  Emigrant  Guide,' 

etc.,  55;  mention  of,  60. 
Hawes,  Jesse,  biog.  of,  639. 
Hawkins,  R.  T.,  mention  of,  73. 
Hawkins,   DrT.  H.,  biog.  of,  658. 
Hawley,  T.  P.,  mention  of,  191,  322. 
Hay  den,     Prof.     F.    V.,    explor.    of, 

361-2,  518-19. 

Haynes,  J.  H.,  mention  of,  73. 
Hays,    Col  J.  C.,  Indian  victory  of, 

213  et  seq. 

Hazzard,  G.  W.,  biog.  of,  385. 
Head,  Lafayette,  biog.  of,  444. 
Healy,  Mrs,  mention  of,  60. 
Hecht,  Charles,  biog.  of,  801. 
Held,  Henry,  mention  of,  793. 


Hellman,  Benj.,  mention  of,  802. 

Hellroaring  river,  667. 

Helm,  Judge  J.  C.,  election  of,  452. 

Helm,  W.  A.,  biog.  of,  394. 

Henderson,  E.  W.,  biog.  of,  377. 

Henderson,  G.  L.,  biog.  of,  386;  men 
tion  of,  622. 

Henry,  Alexander,  exped.  of,  678. 

Henry,  J.  W.,  Judge,  446. 

Heiishaw,  George,  mention  of,  47. 

Hereford,  R.  L.,  biog.  of,  786. 

Herzinger,  J.  L.,  biog.  of,  626. 

Hesse,  Fred.  G.  S.,  mention,  792. 

Hickman,  Bill,  Indian  murders  of, 
205. 

Hickman,  N.  C.,  biog.  of,  622-3. 

Hicks,  George,  Sr,  prospecting  party 
of,  364-5. 

Hidden  Treasure  mine,  discov.  of, 
277-8. 

Hinman,  F.  A.,  biog.  of,  790. 

Hinsdale,  G.  A.,  county  named  for, 
618. 

Hinsdale  co.,  Colo,  hist,  of,  618. 

Huuton,  John  A.,  mention  of,  800. 

Hill,  Senator  N.  P.,  election  and  biog. 
of,  450;  mining  developments  of, 
486. 

Hobart,    Semator    W.  W.,  public  ex 
pense  bill,  1881,  312. 
Hodges,  H.  M.,  mention  of,  76. 
Hoffman,  Maj.  Wm,  mention,  697. 
Hogle,  A.  W.,  biog.  of,  856. 

Holladay,   Ben,  mention  of,  73. 
Holly,  Justice  C.  F.,  mention  of,  440. 
Holman,  W.  J.,  gold  discov.,  383. 
Hopper,  Charles,    guide  of  Bartleson 

co.,  53. 

Hoppin,  J.  H.,  biog.  of,  263. 
Hord,  T.  B.,  mention  of,  801. 
Horn,  T.  G.,  mention,  610. 
Hover,  W.  A.,  biog.  of,  652. 
Howe,  Church,  biog.  of,  741. 
Howell,  PAigene,  biog.  of,  274. 
Howlaud,  J.  D.,  biog.  of,  369. 
Hoyt,  Gov.  J.  W.,  app'tment  of,  751. 
Hu^rfano  co.,  Colo,  hist.,  619. 
Huffaker,  G.  W.,  biog.  of,  86. 
Hughes,  B.  M.,  biog.  of,  572. 
Hughes,  Harvey,  mention  of,  74. 
Humboldt  co.,   Nev.,    hist,  of,  262-4. 
Humboldt  lake,  descript.  of,  14. 
Humboldt  river,  descript.  of,  15;  dis 
cov.  of,  36-7. 
Hunt,  Gov.  A.  C.,  app'tment  of,  430; 

founds  Salida,  584. 
Hunt,    A.  S.,  app't'd  U.  S.  marshal, 

427. 

Hunt,  W.  P.,  explor.  of,  679. 
Hurd,  E.  P.,  mention  of,  801. 


816 


INDEX. 


Hurlbut,  W.  S.,  mention  of,  805.          r      1868,  etc.,  766-7;  Arapahoe   depre- 
Huston,  G.  W.,  biog.  of,  623.  dations,   etc.,  767-8;  Bates   defeats 

Hutton,    Levi,  Indians  attack,   1856,        Arapahoes,     771-2;      Red     Cloud, 

206.  agency,  1873,  772-3;   Sioux  hostili- 

Hyde,  Judge  0.,  appointment   of,  76.        ties,  1876,  777  et  seq. ;  treaties  and 
Hyde,  Orson,  curse,  etc.,  of,  80.  reserves  of,  1877-81,  781-2. 

Hylton,  T.  A.,  mention  of,  69-70.  Industries,  Colo,  summary  of,  639. 

Insane  asylum,  Nev.,  317. 
I  Iron  co.,  creation  of,  72. 

Irrigation,  Nev.,  290-1,  317-18;  Colo- 

Iba,  C.,  biog.  of,  796.  rado,  536-40;  Wyoming,  801-2. 

Idaho,    Nevada    annexation   scheme,  j  Irwin,  J.,  biog.  of,  625. 

317.  :  Ives,  explorations  of  Colo,  517. 

Idaho  Springs,  town,  hist,  of,  598.         ;  Ives,  Butler,  boundary  commissioner, 
Iliff,  J.  W.,  biog.  of,  385.  1853,  155. 

Illustrations,  see  Maps. 
Immigration,    to    Oregon    and  Cal.,  j  J 

1839-46,  46;  route  of,  in  Colo,  1841,  j 

356;  Colo  prospecting   parties,  364  j  J.  0.  R.  stump,  cut,  678. 

et  seq.;   return  of,  375-6;  overland,  i  Jackson,  G.,  gold  disco v.  of,  376. 

1860-1,  398-400;  Wyoming,  1841-3,  I  Jackson,  H.  B.,  biog.  of,  639, 

687.  |  Jackson,  W.  S.,  R.  R.  president,  555. 


Indians,  Nev.,  victory  of  Pyramid 
lake,  209  et  seq.;  Hays  defeats, 
213  et  seq.;  troubles  with,  1861-2, 
217;  victory  of,  218;  treaty  with, 
1862,  218;  1863-4,  219;  battles 
with,  1864-6,  219-21;  affairs  of, 
1874-80,  221-3;  reservations,  221- 
3;  hostilities,  etc.,  1849-82,  205  et 
seq.;  attack  on  Hutton  and  Pier- 
son's  party,  1856-7,  206;  hostilities, 


Jameson,  H.  H.,  mention  of,  69. 

Jamison,  A.  E.,  mining  discov.  of, 
1865,  103-4. 

Janin,  Louis,  mention  of,  142. 

Jefferson,  Pres.,  encourages  explora 
tion,  344. 

Jefferson  county,  Colo,  hist,  of,  619- 
21. 

Jefferson,  territory  of,  attempt  for, 
1859,  403. 


1858-60,  207  et  seq.;  war  council,    Jenkins,   J.  W.,  correspondence  with 

208;  attack   at   Williams'    station,         Elbert,  436-7;  biog.  of,  653. 

209;  Colorado  tribes,  treaties,  etc.,  I  Jenney,  W.  P.,  explor.    Black   hills, 


455-7;  appropr.  for,  1860,  457;  bri 
gandage,  etc.,  of,  457;  the  Colo 
regiments,  459;  hostile  combina 
tion,  etc.,  1864,  460;  outrages,  etc., 
of,  1864,  461;  council  of,  etc.,  July, 
1864,  462;  threatened  devastation, 
463-4;  peace  proposals  of,  465-6; 
the  Sand  creek  battle,  466  et  seq. ; 


775. 

Jennings,  Wm,  mention,  98. 
Job,  Moses,  mention  of,  74. 
Johnson,    Pres.,    veto  of   Colo  state 

bill,  432. 
Johnson,  Gov.,  indorses  Nev.  petition, 

1858,  83. 
Johnson,  E.  P.,  biog.  of,  748. 


renewal    of    hostilities,  1865,    467;  i  Johnson,  W.  T.,  mention  of,  553. 

treaty,  1865,  468;  hostilities  renew-  I  Johnson  county,  Wyo.,  hist,  of,  789- 

ed,  1866-8,  469-70;  Utes,  tribes,  ter-        93. 

ritory,    etc.,    of,    470;    raids,    etc.,    Johntown,  mention,  95. 

1863,    471;  treaties   with,     1865-8,    Jones,    delegate,   election  and  defeat 

47] -2;  head  chief,  472-3;  war  with,        of,  1870-2,  749. 

1878,   474-9;  treaty,    1878,479-81;    Jones,  H.  F.,  biog.  of,  654. 

Wyoming,    hostilities    of,     1862-3,  I  Jones,    Judge,     app'tment     of,   1861, 

701;  Sioux  massacre,  Grattan,  709;        166. 


defeat  of,  710;  Cheyennes,  711; 
hostilities,  1867,  724;  treaty,  1867, 
726;  Arapahoe  and  Cheyenne  hos 
tilities,  714-15;  Sioux  hostilities, 
1864,  714-16;  Connor  and  Sully 's 
exped.  ag'st,  1865,  717;  treaty  with, 
717-18;  Fetter  man  massacre,  720 
et  seq.;  territory  of,  treaty  of, 


Jones,  Judge  W.  S.,  biog.  of,  741-2. 

Jones,  Senator  J.  P.,  biog.  of,  149; 
senator,  1873,  190-1;  reelection  and 
monetary  report  of,  198  et  seq.;  the 
silver  question,  320. 

Jones,  S.  L.,  mention  of,  225. 

Journals,  see  Newspapers. 

Juab  co.,  creation  of,  72. 


INDEX. 


817 


Justice,  Nev.  and  Utah,  and  judges, 
1852,  72;  3d  dist  created,  1854,  75- 
6;  first  suit  and  trial,  1853,  1855, 
76-7;  popular  admiiiist.  of,  80-7; 
U.  S.  court  established,  89;  judicial 
districts,  1861,  166;  admiiiist.  of, 
166  et  seq.,  172;  Colorado,  admin- 
ist.  of,  1860-1,  407-8;  judiciary, 
439^0,  445-6,  452;  Wyoming,  747. 

Julesburg,  town,  Inds.  destroy,  715. 


K 


Kansas,  territorial  affairs  of,  401. 
Kansas   Pacific   R.    R.,    Colo,  552  et 

seq. 
Kellog,    S.    B.,    gold  discov.  of,  397; 

biog.  of,  581. 

Kelly,  D.  C.,.biog.  of,  788-9. 
Kelly,  H.  B.,  biog.  of,  800. 
Kelly,  Henry,  mention  of,  280. 
Kelsey,  Benj .,  mention  of,  53. 
Kendall,  Congressman  C.,  election  of, 

1870,  190;  1872,  191;  bill  of,  291. 
Kennedy,  Richard,  biog.  of,  792. 
Kennedy,  W.  R.,  biog.  of,  624. 
Kenyon,  Asa,  mention  of,  74. 
Kern,  E.  M.,  mention  of,  62. 
Ketchum,    Capt.  W.  S.,  mention  of, 

692. 
Kimball,  H.  C.,  in  Wyoming,  1847-8, 

694. 

King,  B.  L.,  settler,    1852,   72;   men 
tion  of,  81. 

King,  Clarence,  explor.  of,  362. 
Kingman,    Judge  J.  W.,  app'tment, 

etc.,  of,  741-2. 
Kinkead,    Gov.    J.    H.,  election  and 

biog.  of,  1878,  193. 
Kinna  arid  Nye,  mention  of,  371. 
Kinsey,  S.  A.,  mention  of,  69,  71. 
Kir  by,  Joseph,  the  Comstock  discov., 

100  et  seq. 

Kitely,  W.  J.,  biog.  of,  650. 
Klein,  Jacob,  biog.  of,  172. 
Kline,  Perry  A.,  biog.  of,  484. 
Knott,  E.  H.,  mention  of,  73. 
Knott,  Thomas,  mention  of,  73,  75. 
Knox,  T.  W.,  mention  of,  382. 
Knight,  Jesse,  biog.  of,  786. 
Kountze,  L.,  mention  of,  553. 
Kuykendall,  W.  L.,  mention  of,  719. 


Lake  county,  Nev.,  jurisdiction  diffi 
culties  of,  164. 

Lake  county,  Colo,  hist,  of,  621-2. 
HIST.  NEV.    52 


Lake  Tahoe,  see  Tahoe. 

Lakes,  Nev.,  descript.  of,  10  et  seq. ; 
Colorado,  336-7. 

Lancaster,  A.  B.,  biog.  of,  277. 

Land  grants,  Mexican,  iu  Colo,  356. 

Lander  county,  Nev.,  hist  of,  264-5. 

Lands,  Nev.,  settlement  of,  etc.,  71, 
75,  250-3;  Colorado,  laws  for,  430; 
grants  to  Colo,  etc.,  1876,  447;  sur 
vey  of,  533;  Wyoming,  school,  761; 
govt  laws,  etc.,  762,  783. 

Laugford,  N.  G.,  supt  Yellowstone 
nat.  park,  771. 

La  Plata  county,  Colo,  hist,  of,  623. 

Larimer  county,  Colo,  hist,  of,  625. 

La  ramie,  see  also  Fort  Laramie. 

Laramie  city,  Wyo.,  founding  of,  739. 

Laramie  county,  Wyo.,  creation,  etc., 
of,  736;  hist,  of,  794-801. 

Laramie  hills  and  plains,  660. 

Las  Animas  county,  Colo,  hist,  of, 
627. 

Las  Animas  grant,  map,  etc.,  631. 

Las  Animas  mining  dist,  formation  of, 
1871,  500. 

La  Salle,  explorations  of,  343. 

Lassen,  Peter,  presides  at  meeting, 
1857,  83;  death  of,  207. 

Latter-day  saints,  see  Mormons. 

Law,  John,  biog.  of,  624. 

Lawrence,  William,  mention  of,  795. 

Lawrence  company,  prospecting  ex- 
ped.  of,  365-6. 

Laws,  Wyo.,  code,  1868,  745. 

Leadville,  Colo,  founding  of,  396;  riot, 
1879-80,  448,  514-15;  discov.  of 
silver,  organization,  etc.,  504  et 
seq.;  name,  509;  population  and 
growth,  510;  business  of  and  map, 
511-12;  crime,  etc.,  512-13;  riot  in, 
514-15. 

Leaven  worth,  Col  J.  H.,  com.  of, 
424. 

Leavenworth  company,  founding  of 
Denver,  369. 

Lee,  Judge  Alfred,  appointment  of, 
72. 

Lee,  C.  F.,  biog.  of,  625. 

Lee,  E.  M.,  app't'd  sec.  of  state,  741. 

Legislature,  Her.,  1861,  laws,  etc., 
158  et  seq.;  1862-3,  176;  loyalty  of, 
182-3;  mining  taxes,  194-5;  Colo 
rado,  427-8;  territory  of  Jefferson, 
406;  Wyoming,  743,  756-8. 

Lehow,  0.  E.,  biog.  of,  586. 

Leonard,  O.  R.,  chief-just.,  322. 

Lincoln  county,  Nev.,  hist,  of,  271. 

Linfrock,  W.  E.,  mention  of,  717. 

Lisa,  Manuel,  explor.  of,  676. 

Lobban,  J.  M.,  biog.  of,  792. 


818 


INDEX. 


Locke,  Judge  P.  B.,    decisions,  etc., 

of,  173;  resignation  of,  174. 
Londoner,  Wolfe,  biog.,  etc.,  412. 
Long,  R.  A.,  biog.  of,  652. 
Long,    Maj.    S.    H.,   explorations   of, 

348  et  seq.,  679. 

Longmont,  town,  hist,  of,  578-9. 
Loomis,  Abner,  biog.  of,  626. 
Loomis,  Washington,  mention  of,  70; 

execution  of,  71. 

Lovejoy,  F.  W.,  R.  R.  pres.,  555. 
Loveland,  Chester,  mention  of,  81. 
Loveland,  William  A.  H.,  biog.  of, 

556. 

Luman,  John,  biog.  of,  787. 
Lumber,  Nev.,  254,  287-90. 
Lykins,  D.  J.,  biog.  of,  654. 
Lyon,  J.  E.,  mention  of,  487. 
Lyon  co.,  Nev.,  hist,  of,  258-9. 


M 


Mackay,  J.  W.,  Con.  Virginia  pur 
chase,  134  et  seq.;  biog.,  135. 

Mackay,  Mrs.  J.  W.,  charitable  gift 
of,  301. 

Magin,  Antoine,  'Histoire  Univer- 
selle,'33. 

Magnus,  Peter,  biog.  of,  385. 

Magraw,  W.  M.  explor.  of  Colo, 
1857,  361;  mention  of,  699. 

Mails,  Nev.,  Salt  Lake  city  and  S. 
Bernardino  routes,  73;  1851-3,  226- 
7;  daily  overland,  1861,  229-30; 
Colo,  Indian  disturbances  of,  1864, 
462. 

Maineville,  F.  De,  biog.  mention, 
508. 

Maldonado,  Gabriel,  mention  of,  107. 

Mammoth  cave,  Nev.,  descript.  of,  4. 

Mankin,  John,  Mormon  property 
purchased,  81. 

Manufactures,  Nev.,  1884,  286  et  seq. 

Manville,  H.  S.,  biog.  of,  800. 

Maps  (also  plans  and  illustrations), 
probable  route  of  Cardenas,  27; 
Padre  Font's  map,  1777,  28;  map 
by  John  Harris,  1605,  30;  Granata 
Nova,  31;  Utah  and  Nevada,  1795, 
32;  Rector's  map,  1818,  33;  Finley's 
map,  1826,  34;  Escalante's  route, 
35;  Fremont's  route,  1843-4,  56; 
1845,  map,  61;  route  of  the  Oregon 
co.,  63;  Carson  valley,  94;  Esca 
lante's  route,  342;  mines  of  Gilpin 
co.,  380;  Colorado  in  1863,  409; 
Thornburg  battle-ground,  475;  Un- 
compahgre  agency,  478;  Uintah 
reservation,  480;  San  Juan  mining 


district,  495;  Leadvilleand  vicinity, 
511;  plan  of  Denver,  550;  maps, 
alignment  of  the  Denver  and  Rio 
Grande  R.  R.,  around  Dump  moun 
tain,  555;  railroads  of  Colo,  556; 
Salida  and  vicinity,  585;  Colorado 
springs  and  vicinity,  602;  Las  Ani- 
mas  grant,  031;  J.  0.  R.,  stump, 
cut,  678;  Old  Fort  Bridger,  cut, 
685;  Fort  Laramie  in  1874,  plan, 
692;  R.  R.  builders'  fort,  cut,  733; 
Yellowstone  national  park,  770; 
plan  of  Buftalo,  1884,  791. 

Marcy,  Capt.  R.  B.,  exped.  of,  Wyo., 
1857,  699. 

Marsh,  Rob.,  biog.  of,  794-5. 

Marshall,  F.  J.,  biog.  of,  589. 

Marshall,  G.  W.,  biog.  mention,  771. 

Marshall,  J.  Y.,  biog.  of,  507. 

Marshall,    Lieut  W.  L.,     explor.  of, 
362. 

Martial    law,    Colo,  proclamation  of, 
448,  514. 

Martin,  Thomas  S. ,  '  Narrative '  of,  62. 

Martyr,  G.  De  L.,  biog.  of,  652. 

Marys ville  mines,  disco v.  of,  566. 

Mather,  Eugene  B.,  biog.  of,  792. 

Mauk,  A.  L.,  mention  of,  789. 

Maxwell  grant,  see  Beaubien  grant. 

Maxwell,  J.  P.,  biog.  of,  579. 

May,  David,  biog.  of,  624. 

Mayfield,  Wm,  murder  of  Blackburn, 
167. 

McAllister,  H.,  biog.  of,  600. 

McAvoy,  J.  A.,  biog.  of,  787. 

McBrown,  I.  E.,  biog.  of,  385. 

McCarty,  Wm,  biog.  of,  789-90. 

McCaslin,  M.  L.,  biog.  of,  369. 

McCook,  Gov.  E.  M.,  app'tment  of, 
etc.,  436-7. 

McCoy,  G.  W.,  biog.  of,  649. 

McCray,  A.  J.,  biog.  of,  790. 

McDougal,  G.,  exped.  of  1885,  64-5. 

McDougal,  J.  H.,  mention  of,  90. 

McDougall,  George,  mention  of,  60. 

McFerran,  Judge  W.  B.,  biog.,  601-2. 

McGaa,  Wm,  biog.  of,  372. 

Mcllvoy,  D.  D.,  biog.  of.  615. 

McKay,  Thomas,  mention  of.  45. 

McLaughlin,  C.  H.,  biog.  of,  571. 

VIcLaughlin,   P.,  the    Comstock   dis- 
cov.,  100  et  seq. 

VIcMarlin,  James,  mention  of,  74,  76. 

McWilliams,  J.  W.,  biog.  of,  268. 

VIeek,  Joseph,  mention  of,  43-4. 

VIeeker,  N.  C.,  app'trnent  and  murder 
of,  473-5. 

Meek,  Stephen,  mention  of,  43-4. 

VIeldrum,    J.    M.,    defeat,    election, 
1882,  750. 


INDEX. 


819 


Meldrum,  N.  H.,  elected  sec.  of  state 
448. 

Mercer,  A.  S.,  biog.  of,  798. 

Merchant,  Harmon,  biog.  of,  654. 

Meredith,  Henry,  deatlfof,  212. 

Merrill,  Homer,  biog.  of,  789. 

Merritt,  Colo,    relief  of,  Ute  war,  475. 

M>sa  co.,  Colo,  hist,  of,  628. 

'Mex'can  '  mine,  support  system  of, 
112  cave  in  of,  113. 

Mexico,  Colo  boundary,  settlement  of 
1819,  348. 

Meyers,  W.  H.,  lieut-gov.,  449. 

Mighels,  Henry,  biog.  of,  170. 

Mighels,  R.  H.,  defeat  of,  election 
1878,  193. 

Miles,  Col,  battle  with  Sioux,  June 
1876,  778;  captures  Ind.  supplies, 
etc.,  780. 

Miles,  A.  H.,  biog.  of,  385. 

Milheim,  John,  biog.  of,  385. 

Military,  Nev.,  1861-3,  181;  Colorado 
posts  and  stations,  1847-57,  359- 
60;  1865-6,  469;  troops  organized 
1861,  420;  hist,  of  the  1st  reg't, 
421-3;  2d  regiment,  423-4;  3d  regi 
ment,  424;  militia  in  Ind.  service, 
1864,  461;  Wyoming,  stations  es- 
tab.  1816,  688;  post  commanders, 
1867,  list.  724. 

Millard  co.,  creation  of,  72. 

Miller,  C.  F.,  biog.  of,  805. 

Miller,  C.  P.,   biog.  of,  627. 

Miller,  Isaac  C.,  biog.  of,  789. 

Miller,  Joseph,  mention  of,  679. 

Miners'  League  of  Storey  co.,  organ 
ization  of,  etc.,  131-2. 

Miners'  Protective  association,  organ 
ization  of,  130. 

Mining,  Nev.,  geology  of  great  basin, 
64-7;  great  basin,  minerals  of,  20-1; 
gold  discovery,    1859,  86;  geol.  and 
config.     of    Comstock    lode,    92-3; 
early  gold  mining,   Nev.,    93;    the 
Grosch  silver  discov.,  1853,  96;  Com- 
stock's  discov.,  98    et   seq.;    claims 
located,  103   etseq.;  Hardin's   dis 
cov.,  1849,  103-4;  Reese  River  dist, 
103-4;    Potosi   dist,    104;    Washoe, 
name,  etc.,   104;    claims,  etc.,    105  j 
etseq.;  quartz    law,     1859,    107-8;  I 
Gold  hill  mines,  109;   mills  and  pro- 1 
cesses,   110  et    seq.;  processes  and  | 
machinery,   111   et  seq.;  timbering 
system,  etc.,    112  et  seq.;  tailings, 
processes,  etc.,  116  et  seq. ;  descript. 
of  mining  terms,  121-2;  litigation,  j 
etc.,    122,      173;     laws,    127,     177; 
stock    board  organized,   1862,   129;  j 
stocks,  129  et  seq.;  temperature  of 


mines,  table,  130;  miners'  wages, 
130  et  seq.;  yield,  etc.,  132  et  seq., 
stocks,  rise  and  decline  of,  137  et 
seq.;  yield  of  Comstock,  1881,  140; 
Sutro  tunnel,  141  et  seq.;  depths  of 
mines,  174-8;  geol.  of  Comstock, 
149;  litigation  over,  173;  taxation, 
194;  mineral  productions,  etc.,  201; 
questionable  value  of  mines,  224; 
Comstock  ethics,  225;  coal,  241-2; 
miscellaneous  minerals,  242-3; 
Reese  river  mines,  265;  mineral 
laud,  253;  White  Pine  mines,  277-9; 
Eureka  co.,  281-2;  yield,  283;  Es- 
meralda  county,  259;  Elko  county, 
275-6;  Lincoln  co.,  271;  miners' 
union,  304;  legislation,  18S7,  318, 
320;  Colorado  geology,  330-2; 
minerals,  332-3;  gold  discoveries, 
1852,  363  et  seq. ;  prospecting 
expeds,  364  et  seq. ;  disappointed 
gold-seekers,  1859,  374-5;  gold  dis 
coveries,  1859,  376;  Gregory's  dis 
covery,  377-9;  laws  adopted,  1859, 
378;  yield  and  finds,  1859,  379; 
mines  of  Gilpin  county,  map,  380; 
other  finds,  1859,  381  et  seq.;  atCal. 
gulch,  etc.,  1860-1,  396-7;  mining 
ditch,  1859,  397;  mills,  etc.,  1860, 
398;  production,  1859-00,  419; 
placers,  production  and  decline 
of,  482;  quartz-mills,  483;  processes, 
484;  yield,  484-5;  silver  discov., 
485-6,  492;  Colorado  Smelting  co., 
486;  lead,  486-7;  management  of 
mines,  488-9;  mines  and  mills,  494; 
San  Juan  mining  dist,  map,  etc., 
495;  diamonds,  497;  surrender  of 
Ute  reserve,  501;  mining  in,  501-3; 
Cal.  gulch,  new  discov.  in,  504  et 
seq.;  smelting,  508;  miners'  strike, 
513;  smelters,  Leadville,  1879,  516; 
prospecting,  Gunnison  country,  516 
etseq;  coal  discov.,  1877,  522-3; 
silver  and  gold  discov 's,  1879,  523; 
geology  of  Gunnison  mines,  524; 
national  mining  exposition,  565; 
Chaffee  county,  581-90;  Silver  Cliff 
dist,  596-7;  Gilpin  co.,  610;  sum 
mary  of,  639-40;  yield,  18S6-7,  645; 
Wyoming  geology,  663;  De  Smet's 
gold  discov.,  686-7;  early  prospect 
ing,  695;  gold  discov.  by  RevnoHs, 
etc.,  700;  gold  discov.,  1867,  730; 
quartz,  733;  Custer's  mineral  report, 
773;  Black  hills,  attempts  to  pur 
chase,  etc.,  774  et  seq.;  coal,  785. 

Mint,   Nev.,    founding,   etc.,  of,  314; 
Colorado,  428. 

Mirage,  Nev.,  mention  of,  5. 


820 


INDEX. 


Missionaries,  Wyo.,   1834-9,  685-6. 

Missouri  Fur  co.,  677—8. 

Mitchell,  H.  K.,  mention  of,  142;  de 
feat  of,  election,  1866,  188. 

Moffatt,  D.  H.,  biog.  of  572. 

Mojaves,  Indians,  GarceV  visit  to, 
28-9. 

Monahan,  Deane,  biog.  of,  801. 

Monetary  commission,  Nevada's  share 
in,  198  et  seq. 

Monheimer,  J.  H.,  biog.  of,  625. 

Montrose  county,  Colo,  hist,   of,  628. 

Moonlight,  Gov.  T.,  app'tment,  etc., 
of,  754. 

Moore,  M.  K,  biog.  of,  586. 

Morgan,  C.  S.,  biog.  of,  801. 

Morgan,  G.  T.,  biog.  of,  800. 

Morgan,  T.  G.,  biog.  of,  269. 

Morgan  exploring  exped.,  67. 

Mormon  battalion,  Colo,  357-9, 

Mormon  cave,  Nev.,  descript.  of,  4. 

Mormons,  Nev.,  settlements  of,  65-6, 
68;  in  Carson  valley,  78;  exodus  of, 
80;  discov.  of  Potosi  mines,  104; 
legislation  against,  317;  in  Wyo 
ming,  694,  696. 

Morrisites,  Wyo.,  703. 

Morrison,  Geo.  H.,  biog.,  etc.,  of, 
316. 

Morrison,  J.  H.,  biog.  of,  384. 

Morrison,  S.  B.,  biog.  of,  384. 

Morrissey,  J.  D.,  biog.  of,  508. 

Mott,  Judge  G.  N.,  app'tment  of,  157, 
166;  elected  delegate  to  cong.,  1862, 
176;  resignation  of,  173. 

Mottsville,  mention  of,  72. 

Mount  Vernon,  founding  of,  380-1. 

Mountain  City,  founding  of,  382. 

Moynahan,  James,  biog.  of,  573. 

Munkers,  G.  W.,  biog.  of,  728-9. 

Murat,  H.,  biog.  of,  371. 

Murdock,  N.  E.,    mention   of,  254. 

Murphy  company  in  Nevada,  1844, 
59-60. 

Murphy,  M.  H.,  mention  of,  795. 

Musser,  Delegate  J.  J.,  election  of, 
90. 

Myers,  J.  W.,  biog.  of,  786. 


X 


Nagle,  E.,  biog.  of,  806. 

Names  of  persons  (early  pioneers,  etc.), 
Nev.,  member  of  ter'l  gov't  meet- 
iiT  1857,  82:  committees  for  govt, 

1858,  83;    officials  and   candidates, 
election    1S58,    85;    earlv   settlers, 
86:    mining    locators   up  to  Sept.,  | 

1859,  105-6;    locators    Gold    Hill  ' 


mines,  109;  councilmen,  represen 
tatives,  etc.,  1861,  158-9;  1862-3, 
177;  county  commissioners,  1861-2, 
162;  Lake  co.  officers,  164;  early 
school-teachers,  etc.,  168;  members, 
state  conven,  etc.,  1863,  179;  1864; 
180;  volunteer  officers,  1863,  181-2; 
state  officers,  1864,  184;  1868-70, 
189-90;  1874-5,  191-2;  1878-9, 
193-4;  members  legisl.,  1865,  185; 
Ormsby's  Indian  rangers,  209  et 
seq.;  road  and  railroad  owners,  etc., 
232-3;  railroad  incorporators,  238  et 
seq.;  stock-raisers,  247-8;  clergy 
men,  293-301;  Colorado  members 
Escalante's  explor.  party,  339-40; 
residents  of  Pueblo,  1846-7,  358; 
early  prospecting  parties,  364  et 
seq.;  Cherokee  prospecting  party, 
1858,  364-5;  founders  of  Denver, 
369;  mine  discoverers,  1859,  379; 
town  founders,  1859,  381;  Arkansas 
valley  settlers,  387  et  seq. ;  Colorado 
city,  town,  co.,  389-90;  Canon  city 
founders,  391-4;  Fremont  co.  set 
tlers,  394;  Pueblo  pioneers,  394-5; 
residents  Cal.  gulch,  1860,  396; 
pioneers  at  Granite,  397;  county 
commissioners,  etc.,  1859,  402; con- 
stit.  convention  delegates,  1860, 
405;  ter.  officials  of  Jefferson,  1860, 
406;  ter.  officers,  1861,  413;  grand 
jury,  1861,  414;  members  legisl. 
1861,  416;  councilmen  2d  session, 
420;  members  constit.  conven., 
1864,  431;  1876,  433;  judiciary, 
1865-75,  439-40;  1876,  445-6;  other 
state  officials,  etc.,  440-3;  state 
officers,  1876,  444-5;  1886,  647;pres. 
electors,  1884,  452;  the  Sand  creek 
participants,  467;  immigrants  to 
Montana,  483;  mines  and  mill 
owners,  483-4;  silver  discoverers, 
493-4;  bankers,  and  officials  of 
Leadville,  511  —  12;  explorers  of 
Gunnison  co.,  516  et  seq.;  journal 
ists,  527-32;  Denver  officials,  1861, 
549;  Pioneer  association,  571;  pio 
neers  Boulder  co.,  575-80;  Chaffee 
co.  pioneers,  583  et  seq. ;  Silver 
Cliff  officials,  1 879-8 1.  598;  Gilpin 
co.  pioneers,  615;  settlers  Golden 
city,  620-1;  pioneers  of  Pueblo  co., 
630  et  seq. ;  Wyoming,  Missouri 
fur  company.  677-8:  early  trappers, 
681;  milit.  officers,  etc.,  Y847,  689, 
698;  miners,  1868,  732;  Cheyenne 
founders,  etc.,  734-5;  Laramie  co. 
officials,  1867,  737:  ter.  officials, 
1869,  741;  members  legis.  1870, 


INDEX. 


821 


743;  county  officials,  744;  Cheyenne  f 
officials,  18139,  746;   judiciary,  747- 
8;  officials  Hoyt   and  Thayer's  ad- ' 
minist.,  751-2,  ter.   officials,   1884, 
753;  officials  Moonlight's  administ. ; 
754;      university      regents,       761; 
members  Doaue's  exped.   1873,  769; 
Uinta    co.     pioneers,     etc.,    784-6;  i 
Wind  river  valley,  787;  Carbon  co., 
788;  Cheyenne  editors,  798-9. 

Natrona  county,  Wyo.,  758. 

Nevada,  general  discript.  of,   1  et  seq. ; 
origin  of  name,  23,  150;  earliest  ex 
plorations  of,  26  et  seq. ;  first  Euro 
pean  in,  27;  maps  of,   27,  28,  30-6; 
immigration  through,  54;  first    set 
tlements,   1849,   65-6;    organization 
of  Deseret,  66;  organization  of  ter.,  ' 
etc.,  82  et  seq.;    Comstock    mines,  > 
92  et    seq.;  area    and    boundaries.  : 
151    et   seq.;  organization    of  ter.,  | 
1861,  157;   election  1861,    158;  ter.  | 
seal,  161;  the  silver  question,  198  et  j 
seq.;    transportation,    etc.,  226   et 
seq.;    general     condition,     1883-6, 
285;    finances    of,   1871-88,  310  et  j 
seq.;    politics,     1862    et  seq.,    176;' 
admission   as  state,   179;  state  seal,  j 
180;  loyalty  to  union,  etc.,  1861-5; 
181  et  seq. 

Nevada  Central  R.  R.,  238-9. 

Nevada,  Colo,  founding  of,  380-1. 

Nevada  silver  association,  organiza 
tion  of,  200. 

Nevada  and  Oregon  Narrow  Gauge  R. 
R.,  240. 

Nevers,  S.  A.,  biog.  of,  81. 

New  Mexico,  Colo  boundary  line, 
1868-9,  498-900. 

New  river,  see  Reese  river. 

Newspapers,  Nev.,  hist,  of,   169;  list 
and  founders   of,  305-8;   Colorado, 
527;     Leadville,     515;     Wyoming,  j 
'  Sweetwater  mine, '  732;  Cheyenne  ; 
Argus,  Leader,  and  Rocky   Moun-  i 
tain  Star,  735;  Laramie   city,  794; ' 
Cheyenne,  798-9. 

Nickerson,  H.  G.,  biog.  of,  768. 

Nidever,  George,  explor. ,  etc.,  of,  39- 
41 ;  battle  with  Blackfeet,  40;  with 
Shoshones,  42-3. 

Niles,  Surveyor  H.  W.,  election  of, 
1854,  76. 

Noble,  Lieut,  defeat  of,  218. 

Noble,  Worden,  biog.  of,  732. 

Nomenclature,  Nevada,  23. 

North,  Judge  J.W.,app't'dsurv.-gen., 
1861,  157-8;  app'tment  and  decis 
ions  of,  173;  resignation  of,  174. 

North  American  fur  co.,  679-80. 


Northern  mystery,  mention  of,  32. 

Northington,  B.  F.,  biog.  of,  790. 

Nuckolls,  E.,  biog.  of,  622. 

Nuckolls,  Delegate  S.  F.,  election  of, 
743. 

Nuestra,  Sefiora  las  Nieves,  Colo, 
Escalante  at,  340. 

Nye,  Gov.  James  W.,  boundary  ad 
dress  of,  153;  app'tment  of,  157; 
elected  senator,  186-7;  defeat  of, 
1873,  190-1. 

Nye,  M.  C.,  mention  of,  47. 

Nye  co.,  Nev,  hist,  of,  269. 


Oakes,  D.  C.,  biog.,  etc.,  of,  367,  373 

et  seq. 

Obiston,  F.  F.,  biog.  of,  592. 
CTBrien,  Maj.  N.  J.,  biog.  of,  715. 
O'Brien,  W.    S.,   Con.    Virginia  pur- 

chase,  134  et  seq.;  biog.,  135. 
O'Connor,  Dr  J.  W.,  biog.  of,  584. 
Ogden,  P.  S.,   biog.  and  explorations 

of,  36-37. 

Ohmertz,  Miss  Millie,  biog.,  584. 
Oil-basins,  Wyo.,  804. 
Olds,  John,  mention  of,  73. 
Olds,  L.,  mention  of,  73. 
Olerichs,  Harry,  biog.  of,  801. 
'Ophir,'mine  discov.,  etc.,  of,  98  et 

seq.;    timbering  system  of,   113  et 

seq.;  lawsuits,  etc.,  of,  122  etseq.; 

yield,  132. 

Oregon  battalion,  689. 
Oregon   immigration,    route    of,    60; 

Scott- Applegate   co.,    62;    map    of 

route,  63. 
O'Riley,  Peter,  the  Comstock  discov., 

100  et  seq.;  biog.  and  death,  107. 
Ormsby,  Maj.,  Indian  battle  of,  210; 

death  of,  211. 

Ormsby,  W.  M.,  memorial  of,  83. 
Ormsby  co.,  Ner.,    railroad  troubles 

of,  236-7;  hist,  of,  255. 
Oro  city,  Colo.,  see  Leadville. 
Osborn,  W.  B.,  biog.  of,  626. 
Osburn,  J.  A.,  member  Ophir  co.,  105. 
Otis,  H.  G.,  founds  Central,  382. 
Ouray,  Ind.  chief,  biog.  of,  473. 
Ouray  co.,  hist,  of,  629. 
Outcalt,  J.  B.,  mention  of,  618. 
Overland  Telecrraph  co.,  231. 
Overland  Traffic,  Colo,  398-400. 


Pacific  Coast  Pioneer  society,  305. 


822 


INDEX. 


Pacific  Telegraph  co.,  555-7. 

Pacific  Wood,  Lumber,  and  Flume  co., 

288-9. 
Paddleford,     G.     F.,     settlement     of 

Elko,  276. 
Pah  Utes,   Inds,   hostilities  of,  1857, 

206  et  seq. ;  reservation  of,  221. 
Palmer,  J.  A.,  settlement   of   Carlin, 

276. 

Pattee,  J.  M..  Wyo.  lottery,  745. 
Palmer,  Gen.  W.  J.,  R.  R.  enterprises, 

etc.,  of,  553-5,  600;  biog.,  603-4. 
Paris  exposition,  Nev.  mineral  speci 
mens  at,  305. 

Park  co.,  Colo,  hist,  of,  629. 
Parker,  C.  M.,  biog.  of,  656-7. 
Parkinson,  Controller  R.  W.,  election 

of,  188. 

Parks,  gold  discovd  by,  Colo,  364. 
Parsons,  prospecting  exped.   of,  519- 

20. 

Patio  mining  process,  descript.,  117. 
Patterson,  A.  H.,  biog.  of,  626. 
Patterson,  E.  H.  F.,  silver  discov.  of, 

493. 
Patterson,    Delegate  T.  M.,   election 

of,    1874,    437;    defeat   of,   election 

1878,  449. 

Patrie,  biog.  of,  352. 
Patton,  R.  F.,  bravery  of,  716. 
Paul,    A.   B.,    sec.    sanitary  commis., 

182. 

Paul,  Henry,  biog.  of,  616. 
Pauly,  P.  J.,  biog.  of,  651. 
Payne,  Capt.,  battle  with  Utes,  474-7. 
Pease  co.,  Wyo.,  boundary  of,  784. 
Peck,  Geo.,  biog.  of,  366. 
Penitentiary,  Nev.,    hist,  of,   314-15; 

Wyo.,  745. 

Penrod,  Emanuel,  the  Comstock  dis 
cov.,  101  et  seq. ;  mention  of,  107. 
Penrod,    Comstock,  &  Co.,   mine  of, 

etc.,  103. 

Peralta,  battle  at,  423. 
Pesse,    E.   L.,   defeat,  election   1878, 

750. 

Peters,  T.  W,,  biog.  of,  801. 
Petrified  forest,  Nev.,  4. 
Physical  features,  Nev.,  descript.  of, 

6  et  seq.;  Colo,  323-4,  333-6;  Wyo., 

659-71. 

Pierce,  J.,  mention  of,  553. 
Pierson,  Capt.,  battle  with  Pah  Utes, 

206. 
Pierson,    O.  H.,    mention   of,  86,  90, 

108. 

Pigeon  rancho,  battle  at,  422-3. 
Pike,  Z.  M.,   explorations  of,   344  et 

seq. 
Pike's  Peak,  discov.  of,  345. 


Pile,  Gov.,  prospecting  party  of,  500. 
Pioche,  F.  L.  A.,  mention  of,  272. 
Pioche,    Nev.,    settlement,    etc.,    of, 

272. 

Pioche  and  Bullion ville  R.  R.,  239. 
Pioneer   Stage   line,  organization  of, 

227. 
Pitkin,  Gov.  F.  W.,  election  and  biog. 

of,  448;  defeat  of,  senatorial  election 

1883,  451-2. 

Pitkin  co.,  Colo,  hist,  of,  630. 

Pitt,  Thomas,  mention  of,  74. 

Placer  ville  and  Humboldt  Telegraph 
co.,  230. 

Plans,  see  maps. 

Playter,  J.  H.,  biog.  of,  624-5. 

Plumas  co.,  Cal.,  jurisdiction  troubles 
of,  164. 

Politics,  Nev.,  elections,  Carson  co., 
1854,  76;  Id.,  1856,  78;  1859,  89- 
90;  1861,  158;  1862,  176;  for  state 
couven  1863,  177-8;  1864,  180- 
4;  1866,  188;  1868  and  1870,  189; 
1874,  191-2;  1876,  192;  1878,  193; 
1880,  203-4;  Mormons  and  anti- 
Mormons,  84-5;  state  convention, 
177  et  seq.;  party  split,  178-9;  state 
admission,  1864,  190;  1861-5,  181 
et  seq. ;  republicans,  Nev.,  victory 
of,  1868,  189;  defeat  of,  1870,  189- 
91;  election,  1876,  192;  1878,  193; 
legislative  majorities  of,  198;  de 
feat  of,  203-4;  senatorial  elections, 
1865,  186-7,  1873,  190-1;  demo 
crats,  defeat  of,  1868,  189;  victory 
of,  1870,  189-91;  election,  1876, 
192;  1878,  193;  victory  of,  203-4; 
1886-7,  320-1;  Colorado  elections, 
at  Auraria,  1860,  403;  1862,  429; 
1874,  436-7; 1876,  442-5;  1878,  449; 

1884,  452;  1886,   647;  constit.  con 
vention,  etc.,  1860,  404  et  seq  ;  re 
publicans,     victory     of,      election, 
1861,  416;  convention  1861,  415-16; 
politics,     1861-86,     426-54;    demo 
crats,    organization    of,    1862,   429; 
victory  of,   1874,  433-7;  Wyoming, 
women's  rights  in,   746;   elections, 
time  fixed  for,  748;  Laramie  county, 
election,    1867,    737;    1870,    742-3; 
elections     for     delegate,     1870-84, 
749-50. 

Pollock,  I.  J.,  biog.  of,  623. 

Pomeroy,  Justin,  biog.  of,  785-6. 

Pony  express,  213,  228,  399. 

Population,  Nev.,  1860-1.  167  et  seq.; 
Lincoln  county,  273;  Colo,  census, 
1860,  414;  1876,  446;  Wyoming,  783. 

Post,  Delegate  M.  E.,  biog.  of,  734; 
election,  etc.,  of,  750. 


INDEX. 


Potosi  Mining  co.,  litigation  of,  173. 
Powell,  in  the  Cole  divorce  case,  74. 
Powell,  Maj.  J.  W.,  explor.  of  Gun- 

nison  country,  517;  Ind.  battle  of, 

725. 

Pray,  A.  W.,  mention  of,  254. 
Preble,   C.  S.,    important   advice   of, 

252. 
Public  buildings,  Nev.,   314  et  seq.; 

Colo,  606-8. 
Pueblo,    Colo,    residents   of,    1846-7, 

358;  founding  of,   394-6;   hist,   of, 

630-3. 

Pueblo  county,  Colo,  hist,  of,  630. 
Pursley,  James,  gold  discov.  of,  347. 
Putnam,    C.    A.    V.,    elected    state 

printer,  191. 

Pyramid  lake,    descript.    of,   12;  dis 
covery  of,   1844;  58;  battle  of,  209 

et  seq. 

Q 

Quivira,  mention,  of,  32-3. 


R 


Railroad  builders'  fort,  cut,  733. 

Railroads,  Nev.,  232  et  seq.;  fares 
and  freights,  234-5;  interstate  com 
merce  bill,  318-19;  business  and 
progress  of,  319-20;  Colo,  act  for 
survey,  1853,  360;  beginning,  etc., 
of,  552  et  seq.;  map,  556;  progress, 
1886-8,  646;  Wyo.,  construction, 
etc.,  of,  733,  804. 

Raynolds,  Capt.  W.  F.,  explor.  of, 
765-6. 

Rector,  William,  map  of,  1818,  33-4. 

Red  Cloud,  Ind.  chief,  718,  769. 

Redding,  John,  mention  of,  72. 

Reel,  A.  H.,  biog.  of,  806. 

Reese,  John,  mention  of,  67,  73;  trad 
ing-post,  etc.,  68-70;  bridge  fran 
chise  of,  72;  explor.  of  route,  75. 
lawsuit  of,  76. 

Reese  river,  origin  of  name,  24. 

Reithmann,  Emile,  biog.  of,  654. 

Reithmann,  J.  J.,  biog.  of,  372. 

Reithmann,  L.  D.,  biog.  of,  3/2. 

Reitz,  Henry,  biog.  of,  372-3. 

Religion,  Nev.,  293-301;  Colo,  560-4. 

Reno,  Major,  Sioux  campaign,  778- 

Reno,  Nev.  hist.,  etc.,  of,  255-6,  293, 
315. 

Republicans,  see  Politics. 

Reynolds,  Col,  explor.  of,  361. 

Reynolds,  Genl,  battle  with  Crazy 
Horse,  1876,  777. 


Reynolds,  James,  robberies  of,  1864, 

425. 
Reynolds,  Capt.  W.   F.,  explor.   of, 

1859,  699,  700. 
Rhodes,  L.  R.,  biog.  of,  655. 
Rice,  J.,  biog.,  etc.,  of,  633. 
Richards,  J.  W.,  biog.  of,  385. 
Richardson,  A.  I).,  mention  of,  382. 
Richardson,  S.,  Gunnison  exped.  of, 

etc.,  519  et  seq. 

Rickman,  Robert,  mention  of,  47. 
Riley,  Capt.,  milit.  exped.  of,  351. 
Riling,  John,  biog.  of,  623. 
Riner,  C.  W.,  biog.  of,  805. 
Rio  Buenaventura  mystery,  mention 

of,  34. 
Rio  Grande  county,   Colo,    hist,    of, 

632. 

Rische,  biog.  of,  507. 
Rivers   (see   also  Physical  Features), 
Nev.,     descript.    of,    14-16;    Colo, 
227-8. 
Roads,  Nev.,  1854,  227;  1856-9,  232; 

Colo,  1859,  397;  Wyo.,  699. 
Robinson,  Lyman,  biog.  of,  507-8. 
Robertson,  N.,  biog.  of,  734. 
Robison,     G.    B.,     assassination   of, 

448. 
Robinson,  Judge  R.,  app'd  boundary 

comm'rs,  154. 
Roche,  Mayor,  closes  gambling  dens, 

649. 
Rock    Springs,    Wyo.,    riot    against 

Chinese,  1885,  753-4. 
Rocky  Mountain  Furco.,  680-1. 
Rogers,  W.  B.,  biog.  of,  654. 
Rollandet,  Edward,  biop;.  of.  655. 
Roller,  W.  W.,  biog.  of,  582. 
Rollins,  A.  J.,  mention  of,  71. 
Hooker,  Mrs,  at  Denver,  1858,  371. 
Rooney,  S.  R.,  mention  of,  293. 
Roop,  Gov.  S.,  election,  etc.,  of,  90; 

mention,  164. 

Roop  co.,  Nev.,  descript.  of,  262. 
Rose   J.  H.,  mention  of,  72,  78,  80-1. 
Rothwell,  Dr  E.  J.,  biog.  of,  657. 
Routes,  post,  in  Colo,  438. 
Routt.  Gov.  J.  L.,   appointment  and 
biog.  of,  437;  election  of,  1876,  444; 
disposal  of  school  lands,  <U7-8. 
Routt  co.,  Colo,  hist,  of,  635. 
Rowell,  C.  J.,  biog.  of,  507. 
Roy,  H.  A.,  biog.  of,  799. 
Rudd,  Anson.  biog.  of,  393-4 
Ruff,    Capt.    C.   T.,   establishes  Fort 

Kearnv.  689-90. 
Russell,  W.  G.,  exped.,  etc.,  of,  364 

journal.  373;  biog.,  379. 
Russell,  W.  H..  mention  of,  2 
Rutledge,  T.  W.,  mention  of,  802. 


824 


INDEX. 


Ryan,  B.  T.,  biog.  of,  789. 
Ryan,  J.  J.,  biog.  of,  626. 


Sabine  boundary,  arrangem't  for,  343. 

Saguache  co.,  Colo,  hist,   of,  636. 

Salaza,  A.  A.,  biog.  of,  594. 

Salida,  town,  hist,  of,  584;  map  of  and 
vicinity,  585. 

Salomon,  F.  Z.,  mention  of,  371. 

Salt  Lake,  descript.  of,  11. 

Salt  Lake  City,  founders,  mention  of, 
65. 

Sampson,  A.  J.,  biog.  of,  444. 

San  Francisco  Stock  and  Exchange 
Board,  organization  of,  1862,  129. 

San  Francisco  and  Washoe  R.  R., 
233. 

San  Juan  co.,  Colo,  hist,  of,  636. 

San  Juan  mining  district,  map,  195. 

San  Miguel  co.,  Colo,  hist,  of,  637. 

Sanborn,  Gen.,  Ind.  treaty  of,  1865, 
468. 

Sand  creek  affair,  Colo,  468  et  seq. 

Sangree  de  Cristo  grant,  see  Beau- 
bien  grant. 

Sanitary  fund,  contributions  to,  Nev., 
182. 

Santa  Fe"  trail,  350-2. 

Sarpey,  P.  A.,  biog.  of,  353. 

Sawyer,  E.  H.,  mention  of,  608. 

Schleier,  G.  C.,  biog.  of,  369. 

Schnitger,  Gustave,  biog.  of,  796. 

School  land,  Colo,  legisl.  on,  447. 

Schussler,  H.,  survey  of,  257. 

Scott,  J.  D.,  gold  discov.  of,  376. 

Scott  J.  H.,  mention  of,  71,  73. 

Scott,  Levi,  explor.  of,  62. 

'Scott  Bluffs,  descript.  of,  693. 

Seal,  territorial,  Nevada,  161;  Colo, 
state,  418. 

Sears,  H.  D.,  mention  of,  76. 

Sears,  J.  P.,  biog.  of,  384. 

Sea,  inland,  Nev.,  supposition  of. 
10-11. 

Seavy,  M.  M.,  biog.  of,  385. 

Seaton  mine,  mention  of,  485. 

Serre,  M.,  in  Bonneville's  party,  681. 

Sessions,  D.  R.,  mention  of,  316. 

Sharon,  Senator  Wm,  withdraws  sen 
atorial  contest,  1873,  190-1;  elec 
tion  of,  1875,  191-2;  biog.  of,  204; 
R.  R.  built  by,  236-7. 

Shattuck,  J.  C.,  biog.  of,  445. 

Sheldon,  M.,  biog.,  etc.,  of.  633. 

Sheridan  co.,  Wyo.,  758. 

Sheridan,  Gen.,  Ind.  reserve  orders, 
1874,  774. 


Sheridan,  town,  hist,  of,  793. 

Shermantown,  descript.  of,  280-1. 

Sherrer,  Jacob,  biog.  of,  654. 

Shoshones,  Indians,  Nidever's  battle 
with,  42-3. 

Shute,  Rufus,  biog.  of,  622. 

Sibley,  Gen.,  milit.  movements  of, 
1861,  421  et  seq. 

Sides,  R.  D.,  co.  treasurer,  1854,  76. 

Sierra  de  la  Grulla,  Escalante  names, 
340. 

Silver  congress,  Denver,  1885,  451. 

Simpson,  Capt.  J.  H.,  mention  of,  24, 
699. 

Sinclair,  William,  mention  of,  40-1. 

Sioux,  hostilities  of,  1854,  709;  Har- 
ney  defeats,  1856,  710;  1867,  724; 
war  with,  1876,  777  et  seq. ;  removal 
of,  781. 

Sitting  Bull,  Ind.  chief,  battle  with 
Crook,  June,  1876,  778;  Custer, 
778-9;  in  British  possessions,  780. 

Six-mile  canon,  mining  camps  in,  95. 

Skerritt,  Thomas,  biog.  of,  384-5. 

Skull  valley,  origin  of  name,  23-4. 

Slack,  A.  E.,  biog.  of,  798. 

Slingerland,  Lt-gov.  J.  S.,  election  of, 
188. 

Slough,  Col,  resignation  of,  423. 

Smedley,  Wm,  biog.  of,  655. 

Smith,  A.  J.  mention  of,  402. 

Smith,  Capt.  E.,  mention  of,  750k 

Smith,  E.  B.,  biog.  of,  484. 

Smith,  H.  P.  A.,  resolution  of,  404. 

Smith,  J.  R.,  biog.  of,  793. 

Smith,  J.  S.,  explorations  of,  38-9. 

Smith,  Martin,  memorial  of,  1858,  83. 

Smith,  P.  L.,  biog.  of,  789. 

Smith,  Maj.  S.  P.,  Ind.  vict.  of,  220-1. 

Smith,  Wm,  Ind.  massacre  of,  768. 

Smoke,  Mrs,  mention  of,  371. 

Smythe,  S.  S.,  biog.  of,  656. 

Sness,  Henry,  biog.  of,  655. 

Snyder,  A.  C.,  mention  of,  800. 

Snider,  E.  N.,  biog.  of,  790. 

Snyder,  J.  R.,  mention  of,  60. 

Snyder,  J.  W.,  mention  of,  800. 

Society,  Nev.,  first  marriage,  ball,  and 
divorce,  73;  Mormon  plan  of,  1856, 
79;  gambling  penalties,  etc.,  1861, 
162;  crime,  167,  171-2,  291-2;  Chi 
nese,  292;  education,  292-3;  religion 
and  churches,  293-301;  benevolent 
societies,  301;  fraternal  societies, 
302;  libraries,  303;  sciences,  3C5; 
newspapers,  305-8;  Colo,  crime, 
1860-3,  408-10,  412,  512-13;  general, 
567-70;  summary  of,  641-2;  Wyo., 
crime  and  vig.  committee,  Chey 
enne,  738. 


INDEX. 


825 


Solomon,  Dr  J.,  biog.  of,  657.  I  Stoddard,  mention  of,  70.1. 

Sopris,    Richard,   biog.,    etc.,  of,  368,    Stone,  A.  W.,  judge,  1885.  440. 

382. 

South  Pass  city,  founding  of,  731. 
Southard,  Samuel,  biog.  of,  639. 
Spaulding,  C.  W.,  mention  of,  795. 
Spencer,  Samuel,  wan    .rings  of,  350. 
Spickeman,  A.  H.,  mention,  622, 


Spink,    Delegate    S.    L,    election  of, 

1868,  739. 

Springmeyer,  Senator,  mention  of,  290. 
Squires,  Al,  mention  of,  73. 
St  Vrain,  Col  C.,  biog.,  353. 
Sta*e  lines,  Nev.,  1857-9,  227  et  seq.; 

Colo,  399-400. 
Stable,  E.  F.,  biog.  of,  805. 
Stallcup,  J.  C,  biog  of,  573. 
Standart,  S.  H.,  biog.  of,  573. 
Stanford,    Leland,   railroad  affairs  of, 

232. 

Stanley,  R.  H.,  biog.  of,  624. 
Stansbury,  Capt.  H.,  mention  of,  695; 

explor.  of,  764. 
Stanton,  I.  N.,  biog.  of,  635. 
Statehood,    Colo,   efforts    for,   1862-4, 

430-1;  admission,  432-3. 
Stard,  J.  H,  biog.  of,  585-6. 
Stebbins,  Mart,  mention  of,  81. 
Stedman,  Dr  A,  biog.  of,  657. 
Steele,  Gov.  R.  W,  biog.  of,  410. 
Steele,  Delegate  W.  R,  elections  and 

defeat  of,  1872-6,  749. 
Steinberger,  A,  delegate  to  congress, 

1858,  403. 
Steptoe,  Col,   mention  of,   24,  explor. 

of,  1854,  361. 

Steptoe  valley,  origin  of  name,  24. 
Stevens,  Elisha,  trip  through  Nevada, 

59-60. 
Stevens,    W.    H,   mineral  discov.  of, 

504-5. 
Stevenson,    C.    C,    gov.    1886,  320-1; 

biog.  of,  321. 
Stewart,  Capt,  Indian  victory  of,  213 

et  seq. 

Stewart,  Frank,  mention  of,  100. 
Stewart,  Senator  Wm  M,  pres.  Sutro 
Tunnel  co.,  142;  att'y  fees  of,  127; 
biog,    etc.,    of,    174;    secedes  from 
Union  party,  178-9;  election  of,  1865, 
186;  1887,    320;  Idaho    annexation, 
317. 
Stiles,  Judge  G.   P,  appointment  of, 

76. 

Stock-raising,  Nev,  247;  Colo,  543  et 
seq.;     first    attempts,   etc,    cattle, 


Stone,  Judge    \V.    F.,    biog.    of,  411; 

election  of,  446. 

Storey,  Capt.,  death  and  biog.  of,  215. 
Storey    county,    Nev.,    descript.  of, 

256-7;  R.  R.  troubles  of,  236-8. 
Stowel,  C.  S.,  quartz-mill  of,  494. 


r;  horses  and  mules, 
Wyoming,  802-3. 


Strait,  W.  W,  biog.,  etc.,  of,  633. 
Streeter,  Judge  Rienzi,  biog.  of,  650. 
Strike,  Denver  &  R.  G.   R.  R.,  1885, 

453. 

Strock,  D.  D.,  biog.  of,  615. 
Sublette,  W.,  mention  of,  40,  683. 
Sully,  Gen.  A.,  Indian  victories,  1804, 

714. 

Summit  county,  Colo,  hist,  of,  637. 
Sumner,  E.  C.,  biog.  of,  385. 
Sumner,  Col  E.  V.,  defeats  the  Chey- 

eunes,  711-12. 

Sunderland,  T.,  mention  of,  236. 
Sutro,   Adolph,  organization,  etc.,  of 

Sutro  tunnel,   141   et  seq.;  defeat, 

senatorial  contest,  1875,  191-2. 
Sutro  tunnel  co.,  organization,  hist., 

etc.,  of,  141  et  seq, 
Swan,   Delegate  A.   H.,  election  and 

biog.  of,  750,  800. 
Swan,  W.  R.,  biog.  of,  805-6. 
Swasey,  W.  F.,  mention  of,  60. 
Sweet  water    co.,  Wyo.,    name,    744; 

hist,  of,  786. 
Symes,   G.    K,    congressman,    1884, 

449- 


Tabor,  Senator  H.  A.  W,  at  Cal. 
gulch,  1860,  3%:  wealth  of,  507; 
biog.  of,  508-9;  elected  lieut-gov, 
448 

Tahoe,  lake,  descript.  of,  13;  origin 
of  name,  24-5. 

Talbot,  Theodore,  mention  of,  02. 

Talcott,  M,  mineral  discov.  of,  264. 

Taylor,  D.  C,  biog.  of,  654. 

Telegraph,  Nev,  1861,  230;  1863-6, 
231;  Colorado,  555-8. 

Teller,  Senator  H.  M,  election  and 
biog.  of,  445;  app't'd  Sec.  of  Inte 
rior,  451 ;  Ind.  service  of,  463. 

Territorial  organization  (see  also  go\ 
eminent  and  politics),  Colo,  II  IN, 
413;  \Vyo,  efforts  for,  739;  admis 
sion,  740.  .. 

Terry,  Gen,  Soux  campaign,  /  /8. 


>  75°- 


826 


INDEX. 


Thomas,  John,  mention  of,  69. 
Thomas,  Rufus,  mention  of,  69. 
Thombs,  P.  R.,  biog.  of,  632. 
Thompson,  Allen,  biog.  of,  805. 
Thompson,  H.  S.,  mention  of,  90. 
Thompson,  J.  A.,  stage  line  of,  227. 
Thompson,  James,  mention  of,  100. 
Thornburg,     Capt.,    death,     etc.,    of, 

474-7. 

Thornburg  battle-ground,  map,  475. 
Thornton,  H.  I.,  mention  of,  191. 
Thorrington,  W.  B.,  mention  of,  73; 

execution,  etc.,  of,  84. 
Tilton,  Virginia,  Virginia  City  named 

for,  168. 

Timpanogos  river,  descript.  of,  15. 
Tooele  co.,  creation  of,  72. 
Topography,  great  basin,  descript.  of, 

1  et  seq. 
Towns,  Nev.,  founded  by  Mormons, 

1856,   79;   hist.,   etc.,   253  et   seq.; 

Colo,    birth    of,    380-2;     founded, 

1886-7,  644. 
Townsend,  U.  S.  marshal,  mention  of, 

427. 
Trading  posts,  Nev.,  66  et  seq.;  Colo, 

354-6. 

Treasure  City,  descript.  of,  280. 
Trefen,  Rev.  J.  L.,  Methodist  Mining 

co.,  295. 

Tritle,  F.  A.,  defeat  of,  1870,  190. 
Truckee  river,  mention  of,  16. 
Tucker,  A.  W.,  biog.  of,  615-16. 
Tucker,  L.  R. ,  Leadville  riot,  514. 
Tucker,  explor.  of,  388. 
Tuffy,  G.,  treasurer,  322. 
Tulloch,    James,    mining    convention 

of,  118. 
Turner,  Judge  G.,  app't'd  chief  just., 

1861,  157,  166;  resignation  of,  174. 
Tutt,  Lieut  J.  W.,  mention  of,  207-8. 
Tuttle,  J.  E.,  biog.  of,  806. 


U 

Uinta   co.,   Wyo.,    creation   of,    744; 

hist,  of,  784-6. 

Uiiitah  mountains,  descript.  of,  8. 
Uncompahgre  agency,  map,  478. 
Uncompahgre  co.,  see  Ouray  co. 
Union  Pacific  R.  R.,  Colo,  552. 
Unionville,  Nev.,   founding,   etc.,  of, 

263-4. 
United  States  and  Mexico  Telegraph 

co.,  557-8. 

Utah  lake,  descript  of,  12. 
Utah  territory,  division  of,  72. 
Utah,  western,  see  Nevada  and  Car- 


Ute  reservation,  treaty  releasing  por 
tion,  1873,  301. 

Ute  Inds,  removal  of,  etc.,  450;  ter 
ritory  tribes,  etc.,  of,  470;  raids 
of,  etc.,  1863,  471;  councils  with, 
1865-6,  471-2;  treaty  and  head 
chief,  1868-75,  472;  devastations, 
etc.,  of,  1876,  473;  war  with,  474- 
8;  Thornburg  battle-ground,  map, 
475;  treaty,  1878,  479-81. 


Van  Deren,  A.  J.,  biog.  of,  484. 
Van   Sickle,  Henry,   mention  of,  73, 

76. 

Valleys,  Colo,  329. 
Verendrey,  S.  De  la,  exped.  of,  1743- 

4,  674. 

Vickers,  W.  B.,  mention  of,  347. 
Vidal,  Louis  P.,  biog.  of,  787. 
Vigilance  committees,  see  Crime. 
Virginia  City,  founding,  etc.,  of,  108; 

population,    etc.,   167-8;   hist,    and 

descript.  of,  257. 
Virginia    Consolidated     Mining    co., 

mill  of,   118;    hist,  of,  133  et  seq.; 

output  of,   etc.,   137;   taxation  of, 

196. 

Virginia  and  Truckee  R.  R.  co.,  sub 
sidy  to,  etc.,  195,  236-8. 


W 


Wasatch  mountains,  descript.  of,  9. 
Waid,  0.  C.,  biog.  of,  806. 
Waldheimer,  M.  J.,  biog.  of,  573. 
Walker,    E.    T.,    democratic    rioter, 

649. 
Walker,   Capt.   R.,  trapping   exped., 

41,  44;  in  Bonneville  party,  681. 
Walker,   Joseph,   party  of,  mention, 

62. 

Walker  lake,  descript.  of,  12-13. 
Walker  river,  descript.  of,  15. 
Walrod,  A.,  biog.  of,  367. 
Walsh,  James,  purchase  of  Comstock, 

mining  share,  etc.,  105-6. 
Walton,  R.,  mention  of,  254. 
Wanless,  John,  defeat,  election  1870, 

749. 

Ward,  Judge  J.  S.,  mention  of,  164. 
Warren,  Gov.  F.  E.,  app'tment,  etc., 

of,  753-4;  biog.,  754. 
Warren,  Lieut  G.  K.,  explor.  of,  361, 

765. 

Warren,  G.  W.,  mention  of,  254. 
Washburne,  H.  D.,  explor.  of,  361. 


INDEX. 


827 


Washington  co.,  creation  of,  72. 

Washoe  co.,  Nev.,  hist,  of,  255-6. 

Washoe  lake,  waters  of,  14. 

Washoe  mines,  name,  104. 

Washoes,   Ind,    troubles,    etc.,   with, 
206-7. 

Wasson,  Warren,  Iml.  agent,  216. 

Water  rights,  Nev.,  mining  and  other 
purposes,  1855,  77. 

Watkins,  R.  G.,  Ind.  battle  of,  211. 

Watt,  Cullen,  biog.  of,  792. 

Weatherlow,  Wm,  app't'd  Ind.  corn- 
mis.,  209. 

Webb,  E.  H.,  biog.  of,  582. 

Webb,  Joseph,  mention  of,  72. 

Webber,  N.  T.,  biog.  of,  792. 

Weber,  Charles,  mention  of,  47. 

Weber  co.,  creation  of,  72. 

Weber  river,  descript.  of,  15. 

Weld,  secretary,  removal  and  death 
of,  427. 

Weld  co.,  Colo,  hist,  of,  638. 

Wells,  E.  T.,  judge,  440,  445. 

Wells,  Geo.,   'Book  of  Deeds,'  MS., 
101. 

Wells,  J.  H.,  biog.  of,  650. 

Wells,  R.  C.,  mention,  622. 

Wenbaii,  Simeon,  biog.  of,  282. 

Wenzell,  C.  H.,  biog.  of,  625. 

Wessels,  Gen.  H.  W.,  mention  of,  724. 

Western  Utah,  see  Nevada  and  Car 
son  co. 

Westonn,  Eugene,  biog.  of,  394. 

Wheaton,  Gen.,  Ind.  peace  proposals, 
717. 

Wheeler,  B.  A.,  biog.  of,  653. 

Wheeler,  B.  C.,  biog.  of,  651. 

Wheeler,  F.  A.,  biog.,  623. 

Wheeler,   Geo.   M.,   explor.  of  Colo, 
362,  519. 

Whitaker,  Bishop,  efforts  to  promote 
education,  293. 

Whitcomb,  E.  W.,  biog.  of,  800. 

White,  D.  D.,  mention  of,  483. 

White,  James,  the  Comstock  discov., 
101. 

White  Pine  co.,  Nev.,  hist,  of,  277. 

Whitsitt,  R.  E.,  biog.  of,  369. 

Wiggin,  O.  P.,  biog.  of,  353. 

Wilkinson,  Gen.,  Pike's  exped.,  344. 

Williams,  A.  J.,  biog.  of,  368;  men 
tion  of,  543. 

Williams,  B    T\,  resolution  of,  404; 
election,  1861,  416. 

Williams,  Bill,  mention  of,  62.  _ 

Williams,  E.,  wanderings  of,  350. 

Williams,  Evan,  biog.,  etc.,  of,  225, 
290. 

Williams,   Ezekiel,   explor.   of,    1807, 
676-7. 


Williams,  J.  A.,  mention  of,  76. 

Williams,   T.    H.,    defeat,    senatorial 
contest,  1874,  191-2. 

Williamson,  G.  R.,  biog.  of,  369. 
:  Wilson,  A.  D.,  explorations  of  Colo, 
499. 

Wilson,  B.  F.,  biog.  of,  269. 

Wilson,  C.  F.,  biog.  of,  623. 

Wilson,  P.  S.,  biog.  of.  652. 

Wilson,  W.  S.,  biog.  of,  266. 

Winnemucca,    Ind.    chief,  208;   trou 
bles  with,  219-20. 

Winnemucca  lake,  descript.  of,  13. 

Winnemuccas,  Inds,  hostilities  of,  209 
ot  seq. 

Winterbotham's  History,  mention  of, 
33. 

Winters,  J.  D.,  the  Comstock  discov., 
101. 

Withrow,  Chase,  biog.  of,  615. 

Witter,  Daniel,  biog.  of,  572. 

Wolfskill  party,  mention  of,  39. 

Womack,    S.    P.,    discov.    of    Seatorj 
mine,  493. 

Wood,  F.  J.,  biog.  of,  589. 

Woodburn,   W.,    congressman,    1886, 
320. 

Woodruff,  J.  D.,  biog.  of,  787. 

Woodward,  mail  contract  of,  226. 

Woodward,  A.,  mention  of,  69. 

Wooten,  R.,  mention  of,  371. 

Workman,    J.,  wanderings  of,  350-1. 

Worrall,  C.  C.,  biog.  of,  656. 

Worthington,  Congressman  H.  G., 
election  of,  184. 

Wren,  Thos,  defeat,  senatorial  elec 
tion,  1880,  204. 

Wright,  A.,  biog.  of,  576. 

Wright,  Wm,  writings  of,  95. 

Wyeth,  N.  J.,  trapping  exped.  of, 
682. 

Wynkoop,  Major,  recovers  Ind.  pris 
oners,  etc.,  464-5. 

Wyoming,  hist,  of,  659  et  seq. ;  boun 
daries  and  surface,  659-71;  early 
explor.  of,  672  et  seq.;  settlement 
and  prospecting  for  gold,  694;  po- 
lit.,  social,  and  material  affairs, 
730  et  seq.;  railroads,  733;  name 
and  admission  of,  18(58,  740; 
finances  of,  755;  education,  761;  re 
sources  and  development,  1868-88, 

783  et  seq. 
Wyoming  Development  co.,  //o,  <W 

802. 


Yamajabs,  see  Majaves.  _ 
Yatcs,  J.  E.,  biog.  of,  <9o. 


828 


INDEX. 


Yellow  hills,  clescript.  of,  8. 
Yellowstone  lake,  clescript.,  665. 
Yellowstone  national  park,  map,  etc., 

770. 

Yellowstone  river,  descript.,  664. 
Young,    Brigham,   the  Potosi  mines, 

104;  in  Wyoming,  1848,  694. 


Young  L.  M.,  mention  of,  73. 
Younker,  J.  T.,  biog.  of,  366-7. 


Zweck,  George,  biog.  of,  649. 


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